Are Kashmir willow any good??

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andrew_fordy said:
I read all your posts and wanted to know i just brought these bats off ebay for next season am i wasteing my money
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At that price you may have done. Kashmir bats should be dirt cheap and I reckon you may have paid a little over the odds for those two bats $90 Aussie dollars would be nearer the mark. But, having said that if you oil and knock these in properly, then use bat face tape and additional tape on the edges there's a good chance these bats will serve you well.
 
I'm currently preparing 3 bats ready for the 2016 season here in the UK (May). It's also an experiment in how much (potentially) you get ripped off buying bats from India, dodgy descriptions and images that don't quite match up with what you get, that kind of stuff. Just had one bat arrived that claims to be 'English Willow' and is quite different from the Ebay image. But I'm interested in how they compare with the Kashmir bats made by Slazenger. Have a look at the article on my blog here and share it wherever you like...


http://mpafirsteleven.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/knocking-in-and-preparing-kashmir.html
 
Simple answer - no they're not, unless you're playing with plastic balls or tennis balls or similar. If you're a tail-ender and you get to hit the ball a few times in a season, you might get one that'll last a couple of season, but if you intend to hit cricket balls with them on a regular basis - they're pretty useless see the link in the post above.
 
Ive just brought a grade 1 Kahmir Willow KABOOM and wondering how much i should bother knocking it in?... ive oiled front and edges once...
Also, Ive got some fibretec facing that came with the bat and it is approx. 3-4 cm short of covering from bottom of stickers to toe... should i still put this on???... It has edge tap, toe guard already on it... just wondering how much knocking it needs....

Thanks, appreciate the help....
 
crichead said:
Ive just brought a grade 1 Kahmir Willow KABOOM and wondering how much i should bother knocking it in?... ive oiled front and edges once...
Also, Ive got some fibretec facing that came with the bat and it is approx. 3-4 cm short of covering from bottom of stickers to toe... should i still put this on???... It has edge tap, toe guard already on it... just wondering how much knocking it needs....

Thanks, appreciate the help....
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From the tests I did on the bats I've bought over the last year (3 bats) it's an inexact science. The 2 Slazenger bats knocked in fairly well - one for 2 hours, the other for 4 and they were covered in extratec. The 4 hour bat has delaminated, so it seems 4 hours is far too long, so I'm inclined to say go for 2 hours, but to be honest it's a lucky dip situation with these Kashmir bats as they're not really mean to be used against proper cricket balls. You might get a away with it and one may last you a few years, but on the other hand it... who knows?
 
ok thanks for the help....
i have oiled it once and knocked in with a cricket ball for approx. 2 hours...
should i sand before i give it one last oil before use???...
 
Just FYI, you should never knock in the toe or edges of your bat, only ever the face. All you're doing is pushing the wood back the other way again and the end result will be to weaken it.
 
Everyone will have a different method of oiling and breaking in their bat.

This is the method explained to me by one of my coaches. I have used it ever since and never had a bat fail on me although a couple only lasted 3 or 4 seasons, most lasted 6 or 7.

Purchase some bat oil from a sports store or linseed oil from the hardware store. They are exactly the same, the hardware store is probably cheaper.

Coat the face of the bat with the oil. You can use a rag or your fingers. Either way wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Do not put any oil within 25mm of the splice (where the handle joins the blade of the bat) as this will weaken the glue used to fix the handle to the blade. Cover the edges and heel of the bat if it isn’t covered with a toe guard and about 40 mm in from the edges on the back of the bat. You want the oil on the face of the bat drawn into the face. This will not happen to the same extent if you coat the entire back of the bat and seal the wood. If you cover the entire back, you will end up with a dead bat compared to what its true potential is, if oiled properly.

Lay the bat down, face upwards. Put some packing underneath the bat so it doesn’t tip to one side and allow the oil to drain off. Repeat the same process for at least 3 days. Check the amount of oil left on the face each day. If it has all been absorbed, give it another coat. At the end of the third day wipe off any remaining oil on the face and leave it until the next day.

Use a bat mallet (a cricket ball mounted on a handle) or an old ball. Spend about half an hour or more a day for a week tapping the face and edges of the bat with the mallet/ball. This will compress the wood fibres on the face of the bat. Begin hitting relatively softly and increase each day. Make sure you cover the entire face evenly. Pay particular attention to the edges and near the edges on the back of the bat where you have oiled to help prevent chipping and cracks that can sometimes happen with edges. This will help to reduce the likelihood of damage when you first begin using the bat.

Take it to practice and use it for short fielding practice (use an old ball) a couple of times, then longer fielding practice. Over the next couple of weeks use it in the nets (starting with an older ball and softer strokes).

At the end of the season use 220 grit sandpaper, lightly sand the face, edges and heel to remove dirt, marks and most importantly any dried linseed oil off the bat and then re-coat once as previously described. Leave flat overnight, wipe off any excess and store in a bat cover over the off season.
At the beginning of a new season give it a light sand with 220 grit sandpaper and repeat giving it one coat and leaving overnight. If there is oil left the next day wipe it off and your bat should be ready to use. If the oil has been absorbed repeat the process.
 
No further information needed, however, I'm interested in why you purchased 3 cheap bats? Why not buy one good bat for the same sort of price your 3 bats cost.
 
Neville Young said:
No further information needed, however, I'm interested in why you purchased 3 cheap bats? Why not buy one good bat for the same sort of price your 3 bats cost.
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Because if it breaks the first time you use it, you don't have a bat?


I've given up buying bats. I just use the club bats.
 
Neville Young said:
No further information needed, however, I'm interested in why you purchased 3 cheap bats? Why not buy one good bat for the same sort of price your 3 bats cost.
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I just wanted to test them out and see if they were any good at all, the one we bought here in the UK was going to be bought anyway and then having bought it I was wondering whether you could buy really thick bats from India and how good they might be and it went from there. We've still got them and they're still going okay and we use them for net practice or just mucking around with. Joe my son uses the thick Indian bat and this weekend he high scored batting at No.10 39 not out - hit a couple of 4's and a nice 6 with the red-handled one. We seem to pick up good bats for pennies or have them given to us, so I use a nice Newberry bat at the moment.
 
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