My new bat - genius typo

[Barney Rubble]

Check this out - not only did the guy I bought the bat off eBay from send me an MRF cover with a Malik bat, but check the spelling on the cover......

 

[Richard]

I've seen Lara called "Brain" a few times before now.
If you think about it, it's nearly inevitable.

 

[Tim]

Thats pretty funny. I bought a Tendulkar MRF bat awhile ago, i've had it checked out and it's apparently genuine.

 

[danish]

Check this out - not only did the guy I bought the bat off eBay from send me an MRF cover with a Malik bat, but check the spelling on the cover......

You find that kind of stuff in Pakistan all the time, especially on bats like MRF. Unscrupulous shopkeepers capitalise on idiots walking in who immediately choose to buy the same bat as Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara. You can also find amusing imitations of foreign bats such as Kookaburas, Woodworms and Gray Nichols. Another tip is to never buy foreign bats sold on eBay as these are almost always imitations sold by illicit traders. Having said that, locally made bats such as CA, Ihsan, AS and Malik bats are top quality, having used them for the past 4 years.
On a related note, the ICC decide to ban graphite strengthened bats made by Kookaburra such as the Kahuna, the Beast and the Genesis. Good decision for the game?

 

[Richard]

As good as was the decision to ban Lillee's aluminium bat in 1979\80.
You let anything other than willow form the bat, you're starting on a slippery slope from where there will be no going back.

 

[danish]

Personally, I thought the graphite added nothing to the bat apart from an aesthetic quality. Kookaburra only made this bat for stupid people who walked into a shop and selected the best looking bat. A clever marketing move, though I think most of the buyers were probably below the age of 12.

 

[Richard]

Indeed.
Question is - how many amateur associations will uphold the ban?

 

[danish]

Indeed.
Question is - how many amateur associations will uphold the ban?

Depends on how many people were stupid enough to buy the bat.

 

[Jamee999]

I got one for Christmas! (A Kahuna)

 

[danish]

I got one for Christmas! (A Kahuna)

Oops! Suppose it's not really your fault if someone gave you it though.

 

[Neil Pickup]

It's a "voluntary withdrawal from International cricket", not a ban.

No one's gonna stop a 16 year old using it in a Colts game.

 

[Top_Cat]

As good as was the decision to ban Lillee's aluminium bat in 1979\80.
You let anything other than willow form the bat, you're starting on a slippery slope from where there will be no going back.

The graphite did nothing other than strengthen the bat. A pretty important feature when the bats are so highly-priced, don't you think?

I thought it was an incredibly backwards move for the ICC to even consider banning it and a part of me thinks that some bat manufacturers have been in the ears of some ICC members. I mean, there's no way in hell I'm spending AUD$600 on a bat. But if I thought it was actually going to last, I'd definitely consider it.

Anyway, there have been plenty of innovations in bat technology over the years and a few non-willow materials added, which have all resulted in more powerful bats; graphite handles, grooves through the centre of the bats to give more power, many and varied types of scoops taken out of the bat, willow treatments, etc. Yet we have an innovation which does nothing to improve power and in fact SAVES people money and it gets banned. Why allow the rest, which give batsmen a power advantage, yet ban one which does nothing other than strengthen the bat against breaking?

 

[Langeveldt]

Yeah good decision to get rid of the hybrid Kookaburra bats.. As if the Aussies weren't good enough anyway..

Whats with the Lara 375 MRF?? He was using a Grey Nicolls when he scored 375

 

[Richard]

The graphite did nothing other than strengthen the bat. A pretty important feature when the bats are so highly-priced, don't you think?

I thought it was an incredibly backwards move for the ICC to even consider banning it and a part of me thinks that some bat manufacturers have been in the ears of some ICC members. I mean, there's no way in hell I'm spending AUD$600 on a bat. But if I thought it was actually going to last, I'd definitely consider it.

Anyway, there have been plenty of innovations in bat technology over the years and a few non-willow materials added, which have all resulted in more powerful bats; graphite handles, grooves through the centre of the bats to give more power, many and varied types of scoops taken out of the bat, willow treatments, etc. Yet we have an innovation which does nothing to improve power and in fact SAVES people money and it gets banned. Why allow the rest, which give batsmen a power advantage, yet ban one which does nothing other than strengthen the bat against breaking?

Why not let people use an aluminium bat? That'd have precisely no chance of breaking.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah good decision to get rid of the hybrid Kookaburra bats..

You're talking about a 2lb 8oz chunk of wood with a 1.5mm thick layer of graphite on one face (the non-usable face) of the bat. Bit of a stretch calling it a 'hybrid' bat. It'd be like pointing to the layer of skin oil which covers your body and calling you a hybrid human/oilslick. Or calling you a hybrid human/amoeba because you have gut bacteria.

 

[Top_Cat]

Why not let people use an aluminium bat? That'd have precisely no chance of breaking.

You have the slight trade-off, though, of the aluminium bat damaging the ball whereas the Kookaburra bat does not have this disadvantage. Too easy, Richard.

 

[Richard]

Don't you see the possibility of slippery-slopes, though?
I quite see how a graphite-coating can help and make bat-manufacturing better, but any bat will eventually damage a ball, so once you start you'll just have things edging closer and closer to aluminium-style damage with everyone using the "but you let ... use ... what's wrong with ..."
Of course we can't gurantee this scenario but can't you see that it's a possibility?

 

[Top_Cat]

Don't you see the possibility of slippery-slopes, though?
I quite see how a graphite-coating can help and make bat-manufacturing better, but any bat will eventually damage a ball, so once you start you'll just have things edging closer and closer to aluminium-style damage with everyone using the "but you let ... use ... what's wrong with ..."
Of course we can't gurantee this scenario but can't you see that it's a possibility?

A possibility so remote as to be not even worth considering, maybe. Geez, if that's a slippery slope which is possible, everything is. Putting the scoop in bats was obviously the slipperiest of all! I mean, the two criteria we're all worried about are damaging the ball and giving extra power to the batsmen, right? Well if ANY innnovation doesn't breach those, who cares what it is?

 

[Richard]

If you look at it that way, there is no hope for anything.
Fact is, some things must be pre-empted.
You think this sort of thing is not dangerous - I do.
The only way to find-out would be to try it.
Can you not see, though, that there have been many problems in cricket which have been the result of lack of direct intervention at the embryonic stage? Once something like the Zimbabwe situation gets out of hand, you can't really drag it back because there'll always be a backlash whatever you do.

 

[Langeveldt]

Or calling you a hybrid human/amoeba because you have gut bacteria.

First time thats happened today, now you mention it