Willow is in really high demand worldwide, but yet large parts of the industry are making bats which won't last as long, so willow will be in even greater demand. Consumers get what they want with big edge bats etc more common, but end up buying more often as they break quicker. Ultimately they pay more as willow becomes more expensive (due to demand) and so therefore pay higher prices more often too. It's crazy when you think about it really!
Interested to hear everyone's thoughts on the current trends, what effects it's having and where people see it going?
1. Isn't "global" inflation driving the prices up for everything?
2. Let's put the rising prices due to expensive freight aside...
It'd be interesting to find out exact year-over-year demand increase of cricket bats. Also, in which markets are we seeing this demand? How's the market doing in India? Is it the largest importer of English willow? Are cricket bat prices rising or falling in India? Pre-inflation and pre-pandemic, prices of bats made in India was cheaper than UK/AUS and quality was very good - nice ping/performance. PAK made bats vary in price depending on brand, market, etc.
3. Lets say that the price continues to climb and many young players are priced out of the game. Two things are possible: a:) sport shrinks; b:); alternative materials would emerge (something that I have talked about in the past) such as aluminium, non-English willow, heck even polymer.
4. I don't have the numbers but I think the only growing market for cricket is Asia. If prices do grow out of control, people there could look at alternative materials sooner than UK/AUS. And, I really hope they do that. This willow monopoly serves only one business entity and we all know who that is!
5. At the lower, non pro-levels, non-willow options should be encouraged. That will keep the sport alive. If the sport of cricket falls into oblivion, it'd because of religious adherence to traditions. With shorter attention spans, shrinking interest in physical activities, and rising interest in meta/virtual/video games , cricket admins needs to make changes at the lower levels of the game to attract new players. It is hard as it is. Throw in expensive bats, equipment in the mix, we have far too many discouraging factors for young people. ICC/MCC really need to have a deeper look at this.
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Topic: Modern trends, pro's, cons and where it's going next? (Read 4802 times)