How cricket bats are made

Willow is so soft that bat makers squeeze it hard before shaping, and listen to the fibers creak.

stations: 7
things upstream: 33
raw sources: 9
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A cricket bat blade is cut from a willow tree grown for 15 to 20 years. The trunk is sawn into lengths, split into clefts, dried and compressed under pressure to harden the soft wood. A cane handle is spliced in, and the bat is shaped, sanded and polished.

Fell and cut the willow

The cricket bat willow, Salix alba var. caerulea, is grown for 15 to 20 years. The butt of the trunk is cut into 29-inch lengths at the yard.

Goes in
Timber
Split into clefts

Each length is split into clefts, the rough planks that each make one bat. The splitter wants as many clefts per round as possible, and sees the first sign of knots, stains and flaws.
Dry the clefts

Clefts are stacked and left to dry. Counting drying time, the full trip from tree to finished bat takes between 2 and 3 months at Gray-Nicolls.
Compress the blade

A press squeezes the willow, and you can hear the fibers tension. Willow is very soft, and without this compression the bat would never send a ball far. Wood that takes the squeeze well makes a better bat.
Splice in the handle

The top of the blade is slit and a cane handle is glued into the gap. This tapered splice dates from the 1880s, and the handle usually wears a rubber grip.

Goes in
Adhesive Vulcanized rubber
Shape the blade

The blade is profiled with edges, a spine ridge on the back and a toe. Many makers use a CNC machine for the outline and refine it by hand.
Balance, sand and polish

A final bat maker shapes the bat for balance, then sands and polishes it. The finished bat still needs knocking in with an old ball or mallet to compact the soft fibers.

End of the lineCricket bat

Worth repeating

Cricket bats are rubbed with raw linseed oil because raw oil dries very slowly and the surface stays tacky.
Kashmir willow and English willow are the same species, though English willow bats sell for more.
In 2005 one maker added a carbon fiber strip down the spine of a bat and it was ruled illegal under the laws of cricket.