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[Sam]

Hey guys , this is something that just crossed my mind and I was just wondering if anyone/any company had experimented using a wood other than willow for a cricket bat  ? What sort of other woods do you think would be suitable for this , I guess you'd be looking at something that is soft enough to actually rebound the ball well , but also strong enough not to be snapped! It would be an interesting experiment though!

[Chad]

I hear Canadian willow is pretty good!

Jokes aside, I hear of people experimenting with Eucalyptus willow. Maybe ask Jason (Hammer Cricket) about his experience with his, as I'm pretty sure he had one.

[Sam]

Will see if he replies then and shares some wisdom  . Maybe birch or pine would be suitable thinking about it  ?

[Ryan]

Will see if he replies then and shares some wisdom  . Maybe ash or pine would be suitable thinking about it  ?

 You've also overlooked the weight issue...

[Sam]

You've also overlooked the weight issue...

Ah yes , so I assume for this you'd be looking for a wood with a similar density to willow?

Edit : Looking around , pine seems to have a similar density?

[The_Bird]

i think the fact that Bat Making/Podshaving as an art has been around for so long tells you that English Willow is the far superior wood and it fits the bill perfectly.

[Sam]

Yes , but if hardly anyone has experimented , then surely there's a chance there's a better wood out there  ?

[The_Bird]

Yes , but if hardly anyone has experimented , then surely there's a chance there's a better wood out there  ?

My point is that these people must've investigated other avenues over its 300 plus year History.

[Sam]

I suppose so. Does anyone know much about the history of cricket bats? Where the firstish cricket bats made of willow or did it develop to willow?

[SillyShilly]

I'd be interested in experimenting with the male willow trees, as most of the willow we use is the female variety. Apparently male willow tends to be a lot harder and dont play as well. Gray nicolls have experimented hugely with the willow and its various cultivars, with some people suggesting the butterfly staining is present only in a specific cultivar of the willow which they have propagated, which might explain why a) the butterfly staining doesn't occur very often and b) it is prized for its performance. Having said this, this is just hearsay and others might a very different opinion or knowledge on such matters. Close to my house in Somerset was an experimental willow farm which was set up in the Victorian era,where they have grown and crossed hundreds of different willow tree species, including our beloved cricket bat willow. Unfortunately a lot of that history and documentation has been lost over e years, but it is quite possible some of the work carried out there has had an impact on the cricket bat willow we all know and use.

As for other woods - loads tried, most failed. From memory Canadian willow has been grown and used successfully - and no, that's not a joke. Willow has been grown in Eastern Europe with little success.
But you must be right Sam, there will be Another wood out there with very similar characteristics that would be suitable to use......but would it be better?

[Sam]

Time for a CBF test? 

Edit : Thinking about it , the less dense a wood , the more meat you can leave on a bat , but does that actually make a difference to the power the bat will give when you hit the ball because all the meat on the bat will actually be less dense?

[Jimmyg]

American Tulipwood springs to mind as a wood with a similar density to willow. Quite light and it I'd very easy to work with. No idea of its strength characteristics though. I'm building a body frame for a vintage car out of it at the moment, as original was mainly tulipwood with some sections in ash (which is too heavy). Poplar is a similar weight as well.

[Buzz]

in the mcc magazine out today there's a wonderful article about this.

the thing about poplar and some other woods is the take on of extra moisture after the bat is finished.

[Sam]

Ooo , may have to take a look at that  . Excuse my scientific ability but I'm currently wondering the following :

Lets say you had a wood identical to cricket bat willow , except it was twice as dense (lets call this one dense willow and the other one normal). If you had a cricket bat made of normal willow with a 70mm spine , and you made another bat , with the same profile , out of dense willow with only a 35mm spine , would it perform the same? Obviously there will be slight differences which you would be unable to judge , but under ideal conditions , would they perform the same  ? I personally would have thought not but me trying to think logically (which I'm not very good at) think they would.

How about douglas-fir? Got a nearly identical density to willow , seems quite strong , and also looks similarish to english willow grain wise meaning you don't get as many weird comments if you're the first person with a douglas-fir bat  .

On the other hand , surely you could get a wood with completely different properties (hardness/strength and maybe density wise) and press it in a slightly different way to give it the correct properties?

[tim2000s]

I seem to remember reading in a book looking at the history of cricket, that many British woods were used in the early days, including Ash and Elm, but willow was found to be the most effective. Pine wasn't mentioned, however the properties of pine woods are different to willow.

In answer to the second question, just because a bat is more dense and has less volume doesn't mean it will hit the ball any less far. Pressing would be most important, and the ultimate example is of course the Scoop.