About Millichamp and Hall
Millichamp & Hall was founded in 1987 by Julian Millichamp and Jonathan Hall. In October 1987 the Partners sent 100 clefts of willow, their faces pressed and handles fitted, to Perth. There they found enough space on a workbench in an existing sports goods repair shop to shape the pressed and fitted clefts into bats using Julian's personal collection of antique tools; drawknives, spoke shaves, even a horses shin bone. The bats were sold directly to cricketers through Slater Gartrells sport shop in Midland, Perth. Millichamp and Hall were born.
The partners returned to the UK for the northern summer and started in the same modest fashion on a workbench in a backroom of Jonathan Hall's home in Somerset. Then with the Ashes tour of 1989 came a significant breakthrough for the company. Word of the quality of Millichamp and Hall bats spread to the Australian test squad and before the end of the tour 11 of the 16 tourists were using Millichamp and Hall bats, albeit disguised with the labels of their better known sponsors. In fact by 1990, 27 of the top 40 Deloittes rated batsmen were doing the same. Remarkably, Millichamp and Hall never had to give away a single bat. Test players, most of whom hadn't bought a bat since they were twelve or thirteen, were digging into their own pockets to buy the best. This enviable international reputation still remains today.
Both Julian Millichamp and Jonathan Hall have now moved on, but the company continues to thrive. Millichamp and Hall are now based in the Somerset County Cricket Ground where they strive to produce the finest hand crafted, bespoke cricket bats in the world. |
