Recommend me a cricket bat

[Barny79]

Looking to start playing cricket and wondering what bat would be the best to go for, no budget, just looking for recommendations.

[Art Vanderlay]

Probably not worth spending too much on your first bat I wouldn't have thought.

My brother picked up a really nice Slazenger from Sport Direct. Don't go for the cheap ones as they are just restickered Kashmiri willow rubbish, but the £60 ones in there are pretty much the same as the ones that are £120+ in cricket shops. Look for one with nice straight grains on the willow and you should be OK.

Otherwise for a cheap bat, http://www.thesportshq.com/mens-cricket-bats.aspx do decent cheap bats. I got a CA Power from there for £40 for my work team bag and it is perfectly usable.

If money was no object, I would probably buy a Newberry or a Fusion.

If you can borrow something to get you by until the end of the season, you can often pick up a good bat at the end of the season at a good reduction. Gives you time to knock it in over the winter, too.

[LouBarlow]

If you are going to play club cricket they will always have bats you can use, rather than forking out if it's only going to be a passing phase. I was all due to play this season but my back has put paid to that. First football now cricket...on the scrap-heap at 31 :cry:

[statto]

Keep an eye on sales in sports shops. I got a lovely Kookaburra bat reduced from £150 to £40.

[vulture]

A cricket bat is really down to personal choice. The weighting, the middle, handle size, feel etc all matter.

Best bat I ever had was a Slazenger v12 5*

[Alan b]

So what are you Barny, opening bat, middle order player, all rounder or tail-ender who likes to slog :D

[singhstar]

if you're just starting out go to a local independent sports shop and you can buy bats which are already prepared so they don't need ages of 'knocking in' and oiling - mine was a Duncan Fearnley bat which lasted me very well until i played regularly for a team, now upgraded to a Kookaburra