Cricket Bat Willows

A cricket bat willow plantation

The time-honoured game of cricket evolved in SE England in the Middle Ages. The first written rules appeared in 1744.

During Britain's colonial era, cricket was exported worldwide and is enjoyed in many commonwealth countries today. Leading countries compete against each other, with a World Cup every four years.

How cricket is played is complex. Further information is at www.cricket.org and www.lords.org.

A wooden bat is used to strike the ball. The bat has two main parts - the blade is made of a special type of willow and the handle is mainly cane.

Willow is chosen for the blade because it is tough, light and resilient whilst cane for the handle is light and springy.

There are many species of willow but few are suitable for crafting cricket bats - the finest are Salix alba coerulea which grow to 30m high and 4 - 6m in girth in nature.

Growing cricket bat willows is a specialised enterprise.

They are grown from long cuttings called "sets", raised in special stool beds. When ready for planting out, the set must be perfectly straight and free from blemishes, measuring 3.5m. It is planted with or without roots about 75cm into the soil leaving 2-3m above ground.

Cricket bat willows grow best near fresh water streams. In plantations, the sets are in rows 10m apart as they need plenty of air and light.

In their early years, they may need protection from rabbits, hares, deer and livestock. To produce knot-free timber, all shoots and buds must be rubbed off the trunk in early summer to a height of 3m.

Cricket bat willows are one of the fastest growing of all trees in Britain and are ready for harvesting after 12-15 years when they measure some 120cm in circumference at 150cm above ground and stand 12m tall.

The willows are then expertly felled and the trunk sawn into 70cm lengths. Using wooden wedges, these are then split with the grain into sections called "clefts" - each cleft makes one cricket bat blade.

Clefts are then sawn into rough bat shapes which are graded and stacked in drying yards for 9-12 months to season before they are cut down to the correct width and the faces and backs roughly shaped.

Each blade is pressed three times during manufacture to help withstand the impact of cricket balls.

Special machines cut the splice or V shape in the blade. The cane handle is fitted in this wedge and then turned to make it round.

Final shaping or finishing is a highly skilled job, best done by hand using a drawknife, spokeshave and planes followed by sanding and burnishing on machines.

A rubber grip is put on the handle, the bats are checked for defects, graded and then branded ready for sale.

Modern technology has produced new designs for cricket bats, generating greater striking power but no substitute has yet been found for the willow for the blades or for the craftsman's skill in selecting and finishing the bats.

Cricket bat willows can be affected by Watermark disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia salicis.

Cricket bat willows grow along the stream through the Royal Forestry Society's new Battram Wood in the National Forest.