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[alee]

Hi guys, new here all the way from Canada

so my question is as far as i know, most of english willow comes from j&s wright farm in the uk. So what

about the bats made in India are they shipped there from the willow farm? if yes then how so, it must be of huge quantity? and what about the climate? as places in India or Pakistan can get quite hot so what do they do to keep the moisture levels intact?

i read online that 90% of bats are made in India so it is just a curious question

[joeljonno]

Have you heard of Kashmir willow? Its grown in the Kashmir area of the sub continent. The willow is not as good as English, but is often used for the cheaper bats.

Wrights provide most of the English willow, but some companies have their own willow supplies on here, such as Kippax

MSR for instance buy bulk from Wrights and send the crate full for making before getting the bats shipped back.

There's many ways, have a read through some of the threads to see what you can find out.

And welcome to the forum.

[Vitas Cricket]

Yes, the wood is shipped to India, made into bats and then shipped back.

The ends of the clefts are sealed (with wax I believe?) to help retain moisture.

Most clefts are arrive in India with a moisture content that would require a period of time to dry out to a suitable level for bat making.

I'm sure some of the bat makers and other knowledgable forum folk can provide a better answer.

[alee]

Have you heard of Kashmir willow? Its grown in the Kashmir area of the sub continent. The willow is not as good as English, but is often used for the cheaper bats.

Wrights provide most of the English willow, but some companies have their own willow supplies on here, such as Kippax

MSR for instance buy bulk from Wrights and send the crate full for making before getting the bats shipped back.

There's many ways, have a read through some of the threads to see what you can find out.

And welcome to the forum.

thanks,

yes i know kashmir willow never played with it but i have seen some on ebay. Some sellers have these colourful GM stickers

here's my source

http://www.middlepeg.com/cricketbatwillow.htm

also bat handles come from indonesia so is everything really well supervised? i mean i was talking to someone here

locally and he was saying english willow in india is sort of not the real english willow they may supposedly "cheat" if

they may. But i think that case would be for bats made for the local market.....

I was thinking about it lately because, besides Gunn and Moore, Gray Nicolls and kookaburras are made their.

Puma cricket bats are sort of all over the place. 

Speaking of GM, they also licence or produce bats for the Indian market.

[MD2812]

Interesting, I thought majority of gunn n Moore were made in notts.

How are clefts/ bats treated in flight?
Odd pressures and humidities to contend with raw willow?

[Vitas Cricket]

thanks,

yes i know kashmir willow never played with it but i have seen some on ebay. Some sellers have these colourful GM stickers

here's my source

http://www.middlepeg.com/cricketbatwillow.htm

also bat handles come from indonesia so is everything really well supervised? i mean i was talking to someone here

locally and he was saying english willow in india is sort of not the real english willow they may supposedly "cheat" if

they may. But i think that case would be for bats made for the local market.....

I was thinking about it lately because, besides Gunn and Moore, Gray Nicolls and kookaburras are made their.

Puma cricket bats are sort of all over the place. 

Speaking of GM, they also licence or produce bats for the Indian market.

GM make their bats for the UK (and I assume Australian) market here in the UK. You are correct, they license India made bats for the Asian market.

English willow nurtured in India or EWNI is baby trees shipped over and planted in India to grow there for most of their life. At best the bats the are made into perform at a substandard level compared to a proper English willow bat, which grew for its entire life in the UK. At worst they will be indecipherable from a Kashmir willow bat.

Generally, if a bat has genuine, originally applied stickers from a reputable brand, and is labelled as English willow, it will be.

[Vitas Cricket]

Interesting, I thought majority of gunn n Moore were made in notts.

How are clefts/ bats treated in flight?
Odd pressures and humidities to contend with raw willow?

Unlikely they are flown over. Cost would be astronomic for the number of clefts we are talking about.

[BigBlueMachine]

It amazes me that the best willow is willow grown in England. It seems such a small area to be supplying the world of willow. With today's modern technologies you would have thought it was possible to recreate the English climate and perfect willow growing properties in an artificial facility.

[Vitas Cricket]

It amazes me that the best willow is willow grown in England. It seems such a small area to be supplying the world of willow. With today's modern technologies you would have thought it was possible to recreate the English climate and perfect willow growing properties in an artificial facility.

Willow trees take a good few years to grow, an artificial facility would be very expensive.

There are few places on earth that replicate the climate in the east of England (where the majority of cricket bat willow is grown, and I'm (un)fortunate enough to live) on a regular basis. Over the course of let's say a decade (i have no idea how long the average is for a willow to grow to bat making age) the general trend is for cold wet winters, and mostly dry warm summers.

I believe laver and wood have experimented with NZ grown willow as the climate there is similar, but the results were pretty dreadful.

[alee]

i thought it goes by the grains you have on a bat.

Say 7 grains would mean a willow that has grown to 7 years?

that is why a cricket bat with 7 grains is younger wood and has more durability while a bat with 14 grains is good from

the start but won't last long because it is old

[IQ]

I live in Melbourne, Australia. Went to Daylesford (country town close by) and they had a farm with quite a few full size Cricket Willow trees. They were growing them in other nearby farms as well. Making bats at the same place too. The profiles were a bit too old style for my liking so didnt end up buying a bat.

here:

http://cricketwillow.com.au/14.0.html

Not sure if anyone on these forums has used one of their bats- Jabaroo Branding.

[IQ]

Forgot to add, someone in the farm told me that Fisher bats (custom bat maker in Footscray, Melbourne) had used their willow. Not sure if they are still using them or not. have met loads of club cricketers who have gotten a Fisher bat one time or another. Not sure if any of those would have been from that willow.

Master bat maker Julian Millichamp was around the area (near Daylesford) as well but wasnt available on the day. Missed out on meeting him. What a tragedy!

[alee]

the question really is about climate i guess because the main manufacturers in India are located in punjab which is a

bit cooler than the climate in the south.

but bats in australia are expensive though. I remember just checking a website and the Dilshan CA 12000 was for

close to $800! that's a markup of more than $500 that you can get that bat directly from Pakistan.

I remember Fisher bats were on eBay a while back probably 5 or 6 years ago. They were going for around AUS $300

What about Bellingham and Smith in South Africa? i think they have their own farm. And there was an article that

even Canadian trees may be suitable for making cricket bats but unfortunately we are not so much into cricket

although bradman came to vancouver and claimed that the Stanley park cricket ground is the most scenic he had

seen in the world

[Wedge2408]

Forgot to add, someone in the farm told me that Fisher bats (custom bat maker in Footscray, Melbourne) had used their willow. Not sure if they are still using them or not. have met loads of club cricketers who have gotten a Fisher bat one time or another. Not sure if any of those would have been from that willow.

Master bat maker Julian Millichamp was around the area (near Daylesford) as well but wasnt available on the day. Missed out on meeting him. What a tragedy!

Fisher has two different ranges of bats, his Fisher bats made from genuine english willow from England and the cheaper OZblades which are made from english willow grown in Australia. I own a Fisher bat and it is great and have also used a team mates oz-blade which performed quite well but didn't look as aesthetically pleasing as the willow from england.

[IQ]

Fisher has two different ranges of bats, his Fisher bats made from genuine english willow from England and the cheaper OZblades which are made from english willow grown in Australia. I own a Fisher bat and it is great and have also used a team mates oz-blade which performed quite well but didn't look as aesthetically pleasing as the willow from england.

Thanks for clearing that up.

what are the prices of the OZBlades like?