County Reflex > Reviews > County Reflex - It'll Do I suppose.

Author's product rating:   

Power	Good
Control	Excellent
Comfort	Good
Durability	OK
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Nice Pick - Up, Decent Middle, Good Value
Disadvantages:	Soft - Wearing, Only Lasted 2 Seasons

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I think that it must be something to do with being back in Gloucester (Land of MY fathers) that draws me to writing reviews about things that I spent a vast amount of my childhood playing with or using.

Cricket is something that, whilst mentioned on my personal homepage, I play one hell of a lot of. In the 17 years that I have played competitive cricket (Yes, I started when I was 8) I have missed a single season, after university because I couldn't find a team to play for in Rugby where I was living.

I'm not a bad cricketer. I played for my county all through growing up, I played for the Leicester University First Team and have played a large amount of high level local cricket, both in Gloucester (1 league below the minor counties) and in Yorkshire (2 leagues below the minor counties). I am a wicketkeeper by trade, was coached by Jack Russell (Possibly *the* best gloveman of all time) and thoroughly enjoy it. Because I gre wup playing in Gloucestershire, I have always been loyal to the County brand, and will probably continue to do so throughout my playing days. Partly because it is all I have ever know, partly because forays into other brands have left me very disappointed and mainly because the County agent that I deal with allows me to choose the individual handle, blade, weighting, knocking in process and finish of my bat. In other words, I have total control over the bat I use.

The first, and most important thing I will say about any bat, is that each individual one is different. No 2 pieces of wood are the same, so you will never get the same performance or life from any 2 seperate bats, regardless of care, use or model line.

Now, onto this bat... I bought this pre-season 3 seasons ago now (think January '03) and it has done OK. No more than that (2 300 run seasons batting at number 6 or 7), before it has finally pegged out, and I will have to buy a new one this year.

For those not familiar with how cricket bats are produced, or what to look for in particular, I shall do my best to discuss the process as the review goes on.

I chose this bat because of the closeness of the grain, it had nearly 14 lines across the face. For a bat of this price, this is virtually unheard of and it was a joy to behold. My agent knew instantly that this was going to be the blade I picked. It was an added bonus that there were no knots in the wood.

if you look at a cricket bat, you will see distinct vertical lines running down the centre of the blade. This is called the grain, and effectively serves to cushion and distribute the impact forces from the cricket ball as you hit it, or it hits your bat. The closer the grains, the more flexibility and the better distributed the forces on the ball. If you get a knot in the face of the bat, reject it immediately. Knots are effectively dead spots within the bat and will severly affect the performance and also the life of the bat if they get repeated impacts.

The back of the Relex is a standard apex, which in my opinion is the more suited traditional design. I am not a huge fan of "scooped backs", but since this bat doesn't have one, I won't dwell on the arguement in this review.

The sweet spot (Premium area to hit the ball) is decent and extends from about 2 inches from the toe of the bat, to 3 inches from the handle. Width-wise, the edges are good (Trust me on that one) but the sweet spot goes to within a inch of the edge. The important thing about preparing a bat for use, is the amount of time you spend "kocking it in". This is essential for extending the life of your bat and improving the power with which you hit the ball.

I think it necessary to discuss how to prepare your bat for use in a live match situation since if you don't it will crack, split and be useless. You won't get any power into the shot and you'll be buying a new bat after about 4 games. Firstly, and most importantly, you need to oil the bat. Pure Linseed oil is best and the purpose of this is to soften the fibres within the wood and make them more malleable when you are knocking the bat in. You kock the bat in using a dedicated bat mallet, or a cricket ball in a sock (old fashioned cheap way *grin*). This, along with the oil, gives some impact resistance to the bat, aligns and compresses the fibres and improves the sweet spot. I would recommend that you knock your bat in for at least 16 hours, spread over 2 weeks, giving a rub down with linseed oil every few days.

I did exactly this with this bat and it served me beautifully for 2 seasons. The colour of the blade also changed with oiling (as you would expect) and in my opinion is a much healthier looking bat for it. With regards to power, as per the brief stats, it is difficult to measure on a cricket bat. It is more about timing and making sure you connect with the ball at the right angle and at the sweetspot. With regards to this, the Reflex is excellent. It retains a high degree of control (But that is more down to the weight being suitable for the wielder) and is comfortable grip and use for extended periods of time (Again down to the bat being right for the wielder, with the right amount of grips and handle shape).

The toe of the bat (bottom 2 inches of the blade" requires particular attention, and whilst some bats come pre-fitted with a toe guard (strip of rubber glued to the toe of the bat) this one didn't. The toe is effectively the dead spot of the bat, and as such is the most likely area to crack and split. After a season and a half with this bat I had to use bat tape to reinforce the toe and the edges since they had become damaged through wear and tear. This is not unusual for a bat, and it was a pleasant surprise that this one lasted longer than most in this respect.

Moving onto the handle of the bat, this is all down to personal choice. The Relfex has a very slightly ovalling towards to the front of the handle to improve grip, although you can just as easily opt for a perfectly round handle. The thickness again is personal choice. I bat with a grip and a half (Which sounds odd, but really means the under grip only comes half way up the handle and there is a full grip over the top of it).

The handle on the Relfex is spliced nicely into the blade, but again this is down to the bat maker, rather than the bat itself, and the job that they have done. Be very wary of any bat where there is obvious twist in the handle and also and gaps or excess glue around the splice.

Stickers and aesthetic appearance on the Reflex are personal choices. By rights, the bat comes with a large county sticker on the reverse showing the stag logo, the name of the bat model and another smaller sticker on the front at the top of the blade. I always choose to have the name of the bat removed since i make so many changes to it that it isn't really a Relfex any more. The stickers on the relfex are purple by the way (in case that made ANY difference to your reasons for purchasing!)

Aftercare on the Reflex is excellent. It is recommended that after the first season of use, the bat is returned to the bat make you got it from for an end of season service, where the blade is smoothed and sanded, stickers reapplied if that kind of thing is important to you, the handle and splice checked and if you want, a new toe guard and protective coating applied. All of this costs about £20 and is well worth it.

Returns on the Reflex (I have had to use it in the past) are excellent. If your bat breaks or splits during a game, it has definitely happened to me, take it back to the agent and they will replace it free of charge for the first couple of years, as long as it has been well prepared and cared for (It is surprisingly obvious when it hasn't).

So, onto the important part. Price. My bat cost me £220 because of the changes I have made, but the Reflex will range from £70-£110 in 90% of stores. You can't purchase it down your local JJB however, you need to find a County agent (Usually small sports shops specialising in a couple of particular locally popular sports, or an actual cricket workshop). Always ask for advice when purchasing a bat, and make sure you have an extended series of practices with the bat in hand.

It is also important to get teh right weight in the bat. The reflex will come anywhere from 2lb 6 ounces up to 2lb 12 ounces. This may sound tiny, but if you have too heavier a bat, you will lose control, be late on your shots and get tired quickly. To light and you will be early, have no real power and will play over the top of the ball a lot. I personally use a 2lb 7 ounce bat because that is what is comfortable to me. I also have it weighted towards the toe, but that is personal preference.

Apologies to people who believe I have waffled on, slightly off topic on this, but a mere bat review would have consisted of.... It's got a decent pick-up, it's not too heavy, nicely sized, strong sweet spot, good edges and it has purple stickers. It costs between 70 and 100 quid and is only available from County stockists... And buying a bat is much more than that.

I think, all in all, you should look at this bat if you are moving into adult sizes, and play regularly and show talent. Definitely not a beginners bat, look at Slazenger for those. The principles of bat care above still most definitely apply however.

Thanks for reading.

Mike