Not for the defensive/classical player, bat - power comes too easily
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Being a love of all things cricket, I have gone through my fair share of bats. I get bored easily or find faults easily. In fact, I often end up blaming poor performance on the bat if times are bad.
So, in a nutshell, a good piece of wood is key to cricketing satisfaction.
This was, unbelievably, my first Kookaburra bat of any description. It was purchased for me by a family member so I cannot honestly be sure of the cost of it but I knew from when I first picked it up that it was of good quality.
Being a very aggressive player, I rely on the bats being chunky in order for them to be regularly hit for the maximum and this bat is definitely chunky alright. A common balancing problem is that a bat will be really chunky and therefore very heavy which makes life uncomfortable for the batsmen, unless they possess extreme power, which I do not. It is therefore a great thing for Kookaburra that the were able to make this a relatively light weight and easy pick up. A sign that the game is developing at a real pace.
Ok so once you have enjoyed checking out the bats size and weight it is time to give it a go. Cue a trip to a net session, or a team traning session or for those crazy enough to do so, straight into a match situation.
I personally prefer to try it out in the nets first. I found that when I connected properly, i.e. hitting the middle of the bat (the sweet spot) it was going much greater distances with more ease than before even with maintaining the same level of balance as previous. Although this sounds great in principle, in my very first match using this I lofted the ball into the leg side just trying to get a single or maybe two runs and due to the extra batpower generated actually managed to perfectly pick out the boundary rider and therefore take my walk of shame.
Before I had this bat I was very much a Gray Nicholls or Gunn and Moore man, I liked to stick with the traditional English brands but this really opened my eyes to Kookaburra, who, if you didn't know are an Australian bat maker.
Different bats are for different players of course and I certainly wouldnt advocate this type of bat to a more classical style of batsmen ala Jacques Kallis or Rahul Dravid. Not really a bat for the finesse player or grinder. If you are a budding Yuvraj Singh or Andrew Flintoff then maybe this might be for you! I am just a cheap imitation of a cricket player, but with a good bat, at least I give myself half a chance!
My Ultimate Belta bat is now officially ruined thanks to a ball travelling at roughly 75-80mph bowled by a charming individual. The toe of the bat was destroyed. Serve me right for playing a daft shot at a good length delivery. The bat lasted a good 12 months so can be considered as durable for sure.
Highly recommended.
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