We got the chance to test the 2024 New Balance range, including Joe Root's TC, Steve Smith's DC, Meg Lanning's Heritage, and Glen Phillips's Burn!
The designs have changed to give them a clean look so Neil and Hinders took all four cricket bats in the net lanes at the Dummer Cricket Centre to decide what players suit each bat.
The New Balance 2024 cricket bat range is here, and we got the opportunity to take them into our nets and review them.
New Balance is one of the most well-known brands in the world, owing mainly to their trainers, but their cricket bats have also been used by the likes of Joe Root, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Meg Lanning, Temba Bavuma, and Glen Phillips for many years.
The New Balance TC, DC, Heritage, and Burn have all received dramatic makeovers since last year, but their profiles are the same. Neil and Hinders tried to focus their reviews on who the bats would suit more.
The New Balance TC cricket bat is now firmly associated with England batter Joe Root which makes it an instantly attractive option. The New Balance TC has had a spectacular makeover to give it a clean look but has stayed true to the red which has been in the TC cricket bat throughout.
The balance of the New Balance TC makes for a very smooth pick-up so before you have even hit one you will enjoy this bat. It is consistent with its weight, so this pick-up does not necessarily make it feel lighter, so we suggest choosing the cricket bat weight that suits you best.
TC stands for ‘Technical Cricketer’ so do not expect to be able to go after the ball like you can with the lighter New Balance Burn bat.
Therefore, the New Balance TC is suited to slightly more conservative strokes with a straight bat.
The New Balance TC is most suited to a top-order batter, who plays more classical strokes because of how the weighting is mostly higher on the bat. As Neil put it, you might want to put this bat away until later in the English season when there is slightly more bounce in the surface.
If one modern great batter was not enough for New Balance, they also have Steve Smith using the New Balance DC. There is a combination of blues involved in the upgraded bat stickers and the hint of those blues are also in the new bat grip.
The New Balance DC has a similar pick-up to the TC but has a slightly better performance throughout the bat.
This was Hinders’ favourite bat but both players found they got great value out of hitting the middle.
The performance across the whole New Balance DC means that despite it being suitable for Steve Smith, it is also suitable for any standard of cricketer because you will get value for your shots no matter where it hits on the bat. For Hinders, the New Balance DC is his “middle of the road” bat so it will be suited to most people.
The design of this bat matches the name perfectly as the New Balance Heritage appears to be steeped in class and history. This perfectly suits former Australian captain Meg Lanning, who used the New Balance Heritage as her Delhi Capitals fell just short in the WPL final.
There is little to no difference between the pick-ups of the New Balance TC, DC, or Heritage cricket bats.
The difference comes in how they perform and the New Balance Heritage is a more similar cricket bat to the TC so for a slightly more traditional batter.
Neil especially found being aggressively much more comfortable with the DC than the Heritage or TC.
The New Balance Heritage is a bat for technical players looking for a lighter option, therefore, it is the TC but more lightweight. So, if you are a top-order batter just moving into a short-handle bat or a female cricketer then this might be the exact cricket bat for you.
The New Balance Burn cricket bat is the point of difference in the 2024 New Balance range as it has a shorter blade and longer handle. This makes it a slightly lighter option and you can clearly bat aggressively with it because Glen Phillips uses it. It has also adopted the camouflage from the DC but it is included in a subtle way.
The New Balance Burn was Neil’s favourite which is consistent with him leaning towards the shorter blade and longer handle.
It takes some getting used to, but it might be something to consider as it certainly makes for a lighter bat and you can swing harder through the ball.
Hinders on the other hand felt a little all at sea with the New Balance Burn because he could not work out where to place his hands on the longer handle.
The New Balance Burn should suit similar batters to the Heritage due to the lighter weight but would be built for more aggressive middle-order options.
New Balance has kept it concise, with only four bat options but have maintained the profiles which is a sign they were successful last year.
The look of the New Balance bats are a striking upgrade on last year both in the stickers and the grip so you’ll certainly look the part if you stride out with any of these in your hands.
We hope we have provided some information about who will be suited to using the TC, DC, Heritage, and Burn cricket bats.
As always, we recommend coming in-store and picking the bat up before you buy it but this review should give you plenty of information to help you make your decision online.
Thanks to New Balance for giving us the chance to try the kit for this review.
