Worlds Largest English Cricket Bat Willow Supplier

J.S.Wright & Sons Ltd.

Imperfections in Willow

There are many imperfections found in the English Willow Tree that go on to still be present in the finished bat. Here we give an overview of the most common to reassure the consumer that they are only cosmetic.

Probably the most common imperfection found is the small knot or "pin knot". These are generally up to 10 mm in diameter and are still living. Normally they will be present in the edge and / or back of the bat although sometimes they are visible on the face. They will not affect the playing of the bat at all.

"Speck" is another which is due entirely to the growing conditions of the tree. The tree has grown in earth containing a lot of gravel and / or stones. The tree has taken tiny molecules up into itself with water and this gets deposited along in between the grains. It is purely cosmetic and is also the sign of a strong bat that will last.

This is "Butterfly Stain", so called as it resembles the body and wings of a butterfly. It is either attributed to the tree being of a hybrid of English Cricket Bat Willow or some in the industry believe it is the same variety and the marks are caused by slight damage to the tree from pruning. Those as J.S Wright feel the former is more likely as generally the weight of the cleft is heavier which indicates a different species. However clefts with this are very strong and play well, very unlikely to break or split. It is just a matter of if you like to have a bat that looks a bit special.

This is a more pronounced form of Butterfly Stain and is known as Bar Stain. Again the wood is very strong and you can tell the difference from Butterfly Stain by the fact that this has many "Bars" of stain very close together.

A very common imperfection is the "False Growth". This is caused when for some reason the tree has stopped growing for maybe one season. It can be caused by drought, fire or weed killer. Nine times out of ten there is no weakness in the bat and they will certainly not break along the False Growth. It will normally run parallel to the normal grains.

This blade has a brown line down the middle as you can see in the photograph. It has been caused by the roots having been cut either by a digger or perhaps a plough. It is rot in the very early stages but not to the detriment of the playing ability.

This is a "dead knot". The tree has been trimmed up very late and the resulting branch has been left to grow for many years. Before this can be used to make a bat the knot is drilled out and filled. As long as it is not on the face of the bat it will have very little detrimental effect on the playability.

Storm Damage ( also known as Wind Damage) This is when the tree has been affected by very strong winds which has blown the tree from side to side in a very excessive manor and has broken the cell structure of the willow, it will happen more in the tops of the tree which get whipped around more and therefore it is also more prevalent in narrow grain bats (the grains of a bat are always narrower in the top of the tree than the bottom). If you imagine the cell structure of a willow tree running from top to bottom, if there is lateral movement to excess these cells will break and cause a weakness. This wind damage is a natural occurrence and there is absolutely nothing us or the bat manufacturer can do about it. The majority of these bats are found when they are in the manufacturing process but some will still get through to the customer. They will not always break ( they normally break as per the attached photo by snapping across the grain) but if slightly misused or they catch a fast Yorker on the toe with perhaps a poor quality ball they are more likely to break. A good way to reduce the chances of this are by having extra toe protection on the bat. You can see from the photo that storm damage is obvious as the bat will split right across the blade (across the grain) , or sometimes halfway across.

Bleached Bats The public generally want a bat that looks good, which means they want top grade willow with no knots or blemishes and no red wood ( or very little). In the 1970's and 1980's bats that were bleached were all the rage, this hid any imperfections and colour although it did look a little un natural. Due to modern farming methods and the lack of labour on our farms it is harder and harder to find large numbers of Grade 1 and Grade 2 willow, therefore the bleaching has started to re appear to make the Grade 3 and below willow look more pleasing to the eye. This has no detrimental effect on the bat and is purely cosmetic. You can see the results from this treatment in the picture to your right.