The bat made for greats, now the cheap beginner’s favourite
Slazenger is a brand etched into sporting history, once known for its high-quality sporting equipment across a diverse range of sports. During their long prestigious history, they have been one of the leading brands at many world events. These include: the official Wimbledon tennis ball supplier since 1902 and 1966 FIFA World Cup ball manufacturer. Slazenger has also sponsored many high-profile cricketers, golfers and hockey players. However, in recent years they have been seen on television less and less with big names choosing other bat brands. Why is this? Well in this article all will be uncovered.
The history of the Slazenger cricket bat (The rise and peak)
Slazenger was established in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger and made cricket equipment from the very start. However, in the late 1920s and early 30s the brand really took off cricket wise and became recognisable on the cricketing world stage. The driving force for this rise was smart sponsorship deals specifically, Sir Donald Bradman. The publicity he brought was game changing. As a result, many began choosing Slazenger bats for their quality. During its peak, Sir Garfield Sobers, Geoffry Boycott, Rohan Kanhai, Sir Viv Richards and Sir Len Hutton all used Slazenger. The brand stayed popular throughout the 20th Century.
The silent disappearance from the professional scene
In the 2000s and early 2010s Slazenger still had some big names such as Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Steve Smith and Jacques Kallis. However, in this period Slazenger was bought by Mike Ashley in 2003 and the brand was soon dumped on the shelves of Sports Direct and left to lose relevance. Jason Roy cut ties with Slazenger in 2018 and since then they have made no deals with quality talents.
Reasons for the downfall
Firstly, I would not like to try not to pin the downfall all on Mike Ashley and Sports Direct. However, it is undeniable that many of the reasons for the demise of the Slazenger cricket bat could have easily been avoided with a little more attention towards the brand.
Change of direction
In recent years, Slazenger has moved towards making cheaper lower quality bats. They haven’t made any bats fit for top professionals since about 2019 and have instead made bats for beginners and low-level village cricketers. Currently, Slazenger’s bats are popular among beginners because of the price, with some as cheap as about £15. Whilst it is sad to see such a historic brand being so neglected, I cannot be too frustrated as it gets people into cricket. My first bat was a bargain blade Slazenger from Sports Direct and whilst it was terrible it was what started my cricketing journey, and I know this is the same for many others.
Lack of big-name partnerships
Considering Slazenger rose to the top due to smart sponsorship deals, it baffles me how they have not signed any professionals let alone big names. I always remember watching players like Ben Stokes with his GM and thinking he’s incredible, I wish I could have a bat like him. However, Slazenger do not have any ambassadors for their bats and without this people don’t desire to use them. Due to this, the bats have become lesser known.
Mike Ashley’s priorities and the little room allocated for Slazenger bats in Sports Direct
The simple matter of the fact is big companies will priorities what makes them more money and Mike Ashley is no exception with how he runs Sports Direct. Football is bigger than cricket so obviously makes Sports Direct more money. When you walk into the shop their focuses are clear. Depending on the size of the store the size of the section can differ but there are often hundreds of different football boots, but you will be lucky to find three different types of Slazenger bat. The football section typically has a large wall for boots at the front of the upstairs and plenty of other space for balls, kits and other football related things. The cricket section can take some finding though and is often tucked away in a corner and can often only be two meters wide and mixed in with other sports such as golf and hockey. The same tactics for manufacturing are applied meaning cricket bats are ignored, resulting in poor quality and cheap goods.
The rise of modern cricket brands
For some to rise others must fall and this would be correct in the case of Slazenger cricket. Many more modern bats brands are fully fledged to making cricket bats. This means they can afford to spend all their time, energy and resources on developing new technologies, designs and making bats whereas, Slazenger often has to split this between clothing and lots of other sports. These brands are also seen as elite and high quality, which in truth they are, compared to Slazenger.
Lower quality Willow
Slazenger claims “Handmade using the highest quality willow to ensure each bat sold in the UK has been carefully crafted to create the best possible performance, used by some of the world’s best players.” However, many of Slazenger’s bats are made from cheaper lower performance Kashmir willow. Whilst they do make some more expensive English willow bats, in my experience they are typically never found in Sports Direct stores and can only be found online. Their bats are usually made from Grade 3 or Grade 4 with the odd Grade 2 willow bat, providing a less aesthetic look. We also know from earlier in the article Slazenger is currently not used by any superstar cricketers.
Can they make a recovery
Overall, I think they could get back to the top of the sport if they wanted to. However, Slazenger cricket bats are clearly not in Mike Ashley’s personal interests. This can be especially seen by the lack of area allocated in his Sports Direct stores and the continued underdevelopment of the bats. To make a recovery Slazenger needs big changes but these are unlikely to happen.
Struck for a duck 