Cricket: New radical bat over the top - way Vincent likes it

Aces batsman Lou Vincent says he can still get good results from mishit shots. Photo / Dean Purcell

Call the new Mongoose bat a stroke of genius and you won't get an argument from Lou Vincent.

The radical bat, which combines a pygmy blade with a long handle, is the brainchild of Marcus Codrington Fernandez, an advertising guru who came up with the idea while at home in England convalescing after a stroke.

It might be ugly as sin - former Australian international Stuart Law called it "half a brick on a stick" - but it has been mighty effective in the hands of Vincent.

So much so that he is shaping as a potential dark horse in the Indian Premier League auction tonight.

Vincent is one of four New Zealanders among 66 hopefuls in the auction.

With about 12 spots expected to be up for grabs, the odds are not great, but the 31-year-old has done his chances no harm with an excellent HRV Cup campaign.

After seven rounds Vincent leads the run-scoring with 253 at an average of 43, the highlight an unbeaten 105 against Wellington.

During that innings he even switched his normal three-quarter length Mongoose, the CoR3, for the most extreme version, the MMi3, described by its own promotional guff as "the single most radical change to cricket equipment since 1771".

The theory is that the wood at the top of the bat is wasted in Twenty20 cricket, as there was not a great deal of need for the back-foot defence.

Instead the splice is integrated into the handle and the weight shifts down the bat, so much so that even yorkers that hit the toe of the bat can be hit for four.

"There's certainly more bat-speed and power going through the ball," said Vincent, who said he needed a couple of net sessions to get used to the different feel.

"I've mishit some and they've still gone a long way."

The theory of bat dynamics will be a long way from his mind tonight, but then again so is the IPL auction.

Vincent described his inclusion in the auction as "a complete bonus" and was so relaxed about the outcome he did not plan to follow it.

"I'm down in Whakatane taking a sunset horse ride along the beach with the family," he said.

Vincent has given himself one year to re-launch a professional career.

"I'm three weeks into the resurrection, if you like, so anything other than playing for Auckland on a game-by-game basis is a bonus.

"It's been a tricky three years for me but I'm back doing what I'm in the business of - being a batsman and scoring runs. I'm definitely proud of where I've come to after where I was."

Two years ago Vincent was engaged in a well-documented battle with depression.

He was dropped from the national squad and then left New Zealand Cricket bosses gobsmacked by his decision to walk away from his central contract into the arms of the "rebel" Indian Cricket League.

Now he is on the cusp of securing a contract that could give him a degree of financial security, even if it is just a one-year deal.

"It's not much fun being unemployed," Vincent said.

Even if it doesn't happen immediately, Vincent can take comfort from the fact his name is at least being bandied about.

Like Shane Bond, Vincent has the added advantage of being available for the whole series, given they will not be in the frame for national duty during the test series against Australia, a series that overlaps with the third IPL tournament.

The big names up for auction tonight include Australians Brad Haddin, Philip Hughes, Doug Bollinger and Damien Martyn.

England's Monty Panesar and Mark Ramprakash are available, and West Indian quick Kemar Roach appears, with Bond, to be the pick of the pacemen.

IPL Auction

* Any capped international player is eligible for the auction. The players indicate they would like to be included by writing to IPL management and they are placed on the Registered Available Player Pool.

* The IPL distributes the pool (about 100 players) to the eight franchises and they indicate which ones they would like to see in the auction.

* 66 players have been included in this auction and there are expected to be 12 slots available. Four New Zealanders - Lou Vincent, Shane Bond, Nathan McCullum and Grant Elliott - made it on to the shortlist.

* Each franchise has a salary cap of US$750,000 for this auction.

* The contracts will be valid until December 31, 2010 and include the Champions League.