adidas Incurza

The colourful adidas Incurza is a sizeable piece of willow made for those who like to play big shots.

The adidas Incurza is a sizeable bat made for those who like to play big shots - so why does Ian Bell - someone known for his superb touch and textbook technique - using one? Well, despite looking a little on the heavy side, the Incurza picks up superbly thanks to the combination of an oval cane handle and excellent weight distribution across the blade. An extended middle, with plenty of wood focused right near the bottom, might also explain why the Warwickshire right-hander seems to send his cover drives scorching across the turf. Like the Pellara range - which is the weapon of choice for Bell's England team-mate Kevin Pietersen - it has a curved spine down the back, albeit to a lesser extent. But, unlike its adidas colleague, the top of an Incurza is much thinner, with a much chunkier toe making it a more bottom heavy piece of willow. It also comes in short handle, making it tailor-made for players who like to use the bottom hand a little more than the MCC Coaching Manual may suggest. However is not just a bat for belting sixes over cow corner. The Incurza's sizeable sweet spot made it all too easy to push through the line when playing forward during its trial run in the indoor nets. And when it became time to be a little more aggressive, the bat really began to show off. Admittedly I didn't look anywhere near as good as Bell when leaning on the front foot to a half volley, and the bowling machine was also sending them down a good 20mph slower than the deliveries he's used to facing, but straight drives seemingly disappeared at a rapid pace. It proved to be a similar scenario when it came to having a go at horizontal bat shots. While flicks came off nicely enough; the big middle really shone when it came to cutting and pulling anything pitched just short of a length. In summary, the bright and bold Incurza could leave any cricketer feeling pretty good in pink, or crimson, or cerise, or whatever colour the majority of the handles happens to be according to a Dulux colour chart. While batting like Bell may be beyond us all, the Incurza at least provides us with a little taste.