Sponsorship

Just read a thread in the equipment forum and this has prompted me to ask this question.

Do players take a sponsorship with one manufacturer and then use other manufacturers bats ie custom made bats with their sponsors logo on??

Haven't heard of this until I have been researching a new bat myself and read it in a few places.

If they do I think it's very misleading.

Anyones thoughts??

I think it's a bit harsh like as it could be a bit misleading. Now I'm not saying I would buy a bat on the strength of say strauss endorsing the powerbow as I've used gray Nicolls most of my cricketing life.

I'm assuming the manufacturers dont know as they would be kicking up a stink as they are paying the player to use someone elses bat!!!

Originally posted by mikeeboy I think it's wrong. Kids might want to model themselves on someone or a player may think that they play in the same style as so and so and then go out and buy their bat on the strength of that. If players are having custom amde bats, any advertising on those bats should be from non bat manufacturers.

Exactly my point.

I could write reams and reams on this subject but I will attempt to summarise in a few lines.

First of all, a batsman wants to make runs and will want to use a bat which allows him to do this task most effectively. However, different batsmen have different personalities and whilst some will not bother too much in terms of what bat they are using as long as it has a good middle, there will be many batsmen to whom a bat is very personal and must be perfect. As a professional sportsman, the facility of a "perfect bat" is available to them.

Now suppose a county batsman at the beginning of his career develops a relationship with a bat maker (not company, I mean the actual maker) who knows his exact requirements and so the batsman is 100% happy with his bat etc, it is likely that he will not want to change if he is making plenty of runs. Then all of a sudden Gunn and Moore or Slazenger or whoever comes along and offers money for "endorsement". This endoresement simply means putting stickers on the bat. Which sane individual will say no?

As far as I know, in many cases, the batsmen ARE using the bats they are advertising. But if you look at things from another angle, they are NOT using the bats which they advertising EVEN IF THEY ARE FROM THAT MANUFACTURER. Allow me to explain:- Basically for you and me buying a bat from Gunn and Moore means going to a shop and picking one from the shelf. This is not what pros do and which is why in many ways it is irrelevant whether pros are using the companies they advertise. Even if Marcus Trescothick is using GM, I am sure that he receives special treatment, reserved willow, special care, special attention. He will not choose one straight from the shelf as it will not be to his liking nor will the willow be as good.

That is why I would always go for a company which guarantees you the same treatment as they give a pro.

Finally, no longer do companies say "used by" - instead they say "endorsed by". Even if they really are used, it is irrelevant to us as they are not picking them from the shelves as you and I have to.

i dont mind the idea of e.g. tres using a gm made for him, becuase it is basically a bat made by the gm team, so when you buy a gm bat it is made by the same people, and the reason why his bat has the Maxi stickers is probably becuase that is the bat shape his is closest to,

so basically i feel it is wrong for people to use other bats than advertised, as this is misleading!

Originally posted by batman100 Paul do you know the cost of a custom made bat?

Aha I didn't want to make it sound like I'm advertising them, but Bill has brought it up so I may as well answer this question: A custom made bat by Fusion is actually a lot cheaper than the top models of major manufacturers!

A lot less than Laver & Wood!

Originally posted by Clobber A lot less than Laver & Wood!

pricey but well worth the money, best bat you can get your hands on

I'm sure they are fantastic but I don't think I am good enough to really notice the difference in my average 

Originally posted by marky I had a Laver and Wood last season and I sold it.It was ok at best.My current Fusion Superbest is miles better,in terms of pickup,balance and power.This is only my experience and others may find a difference.I would heartily recommend Fusion though,lovely bats at realistic prices. Cheers, Mark.

I would like to add to the above point - I don't wish to diss Laver and Wood as I have never tried them, but from what I have read and heard even they do not guarantee that you will get as good as say Ricky Ponting i.e. they have a bit of elitism and double standards when it comes to quality just like the other big names and reserve their best bits of willow exclusively for internationals.

With Fusion they GUARANTEE that you will be given as good as they test players they provide for.

well in the end I plumped for the GN Longbow. Got the 5 star version for 120. It's one of those pre prep thingy's - any ideas on how I go about knocking one of these fella's in as i've never used one with these "face" things??

Tried a powerbow and tbh it felt awful in my hands - very bottom heavy bat which just did not feel right for me. I also tried the pro performance and that felt ok - just didn't want to pay 220 pounds for it!!!

So what are other peoples opinions of Gray Nicolls stuff?? I've always used grays gear and always thought they were good stuff - my bat has a sticker on it that says it was made in the UK - this is true isn't it??


Edited by Paul Alcock

Originally posted by henjam As the pros these days go for the 16+grained pieces of willow, and due to laver&wood making bats for numerous international players like you said most of these pieces will go to the pros (as they require the quickest performing pieces of willow available). But willow is not all about what makes cricket bats good, as bill has mentioned correctly before. pressing is very important, and a top cricket bat requires a top cricket bat maker.

Really do pros go for 16+ grains? If thats true thats useful info Henjam, its just that I was watching Eng vs SL and if you watch on TV the bats the pros use to me there doesnt seem to be a hard a fast rule on grains - I have seen some pros use what looks like only around 8 grains whereas others it seems like more than 20! To me pressing is really important which is why even though I hear such good things about bats like SS and SG I am worried that they may have been overpressed whereas with Bill I know that they won't be.

Well from experience I have to say that grains is definitely not the be all and end all as I have seen some bats with like 20 grains but totally dead middles.

i have seen greame smiths bat and spoken to GM in SA, and he always asks for bats with more than 18 grains! but it doesnt mean the bat will go, as he really like a bat once, came back from aus and asked them to get an exact copy, so some poor guy in nottigham even look for a cleft that had the same features, so it had 18 grains, which had a slight curve in one direction, so he found a cleft exactly the same, but in the end the bat was dead!

i think some pro's are noticing that it doesnt matter how many grains there are, as long as the bat 'pings' or goes

Edited by crick

wel i have a laver & wood with 20 grains and that performs amazingly. definatly not 'dead'!