Cricket bats were originally made out of a single piece of wood. This meant there was no shock attenuation when the bat struck the ball. The bat would have jarred in the hands of the batsman every time they...

Part of the craft of hand making bats is understanding the type of bat each individual cleft is capable of becoming. A good bat maker can turn an average cleft into a bat that performs well, and a good...

One of the most common questions asked by cricketers is how different grains perform in cricket bats. There are a number of different factors to consider when discussing grains, and there are no absolutely right answers. The natural variation...

Butterfly stain has a unique place in the world of the batmaker. Butterfly stained willow may not have the aesthetics of a true white grained cleft. They do, however, often perform exceptionally well. The ball can really ping off...

Making a good bat begins with grading the willow. Grading willow is not an exact science. It is more a craft that is developed over time, where an intuitive feel for what a cleft can become is as important...

English cricket bat willow is regarded by batmakers world wide to be the highest quality. The growing conditions in England allow Salix alba var. Caerulea to grow at the ideal rate, especially in the warm, wet summers, which means...

Since the beginning of the twentieth century the cricket bat willow, Salix alba Caerulea, has been subject to a serious infectious bacterial disease, Watermark Disease. Watermark Disease results in the crown of the tree dying back, but rarely brings...

The Laws of Cricket state that the cricket bat blade has to be made of wood. The stipulation that the blade should be made of wood came about when the Australian player Dennis Lillee used an Aluminium bat in...