Making the M&H Cricket Bats

Making cricket bats is a traditional and highly skilled job that has changed little since the game began. To make the worlds finest quality cricket bats we require the world's best raw materials. The timber we use is Salix Alba Caerulea (Cricket Bat Willow). The willow is renewably harvested across the whole of England and sold through the wood yards of Essex. Only the highest grades of willow are hand selected by our willow merchant J.S.Wright and sons.

The density of the wood and consistency of the grain through the playing area of the bat is of vital importance to the end balance and performance. To learn more about the willow we use, please visit our suppliers website: www.cricketbatwillow.com.

Millichamp & Hall Bat Makers

Stages in the Bat Making process

Stage 1:
The first job of the batmaker is to roughly shape the clefts using a circular saw; the clefts are then left to dry out further and graded.

Stage 2:
Each blade is then individually shaped to achieve a workable cleft. During the shaping process the blade’s performance is tuned under the roller of the cricket bat press. Here the face and edges are compressed, ensuring resilience and a hardened surface not only capable of withstanding the impact of a cricket ball but sending it to the boundary with ease!

Stage 3:
The bat is generally subjected to a load of up to 2 tons per square inch.  After pressing, the splice (V) is cut at the shoulder end of the blade to accept the handle.

Stage 4:
High quality handles are produced using Manau cane harvested from the jungles of Sumatra. These canes are initially boiled in oil and dried in the sun for several weeks before being cut to the right length. They then split the faces and plane to ensure a good gluing surface. The planed pieces of cane are glued together with three rubber laminations for shock absorption. PVA adhesive is used to ensure a strong joint is made.

Stage 5:
The bat is now expertly shaped using traditional drawknives, spokeshaves and wooden blockplanes, the greatest care being taken to obtain the correct shape and balance. Traditional drawknives allow the batmaker  to quickly remove a large amount of wood from the blade and start to form a rough shape. A wide, flat drawknife is used to carve the back and toe of the bat whilst a thin blade with a steep bevel is reversed to blend the shoulders into the handle of the bat.

Stage 6:
The wooden blockplane is then used to achieve a more refined profile. The final smoothing process is done with a specially adapted, adjustable smoothing plane. The shoulders and lower part of the handle are smoothed and tidied up with a wooden spokeshave.  The handle is then rounded off to the customers requirements with a rasp, taking care to get rid off all ridges that could prove uncomfortable to hold for the batsman. The blade is sanded on a sanding drum inflated to varied pressures for sanding different bat profiles.

Stage 7:
We hand sand the whole bat with finer grades of sandpaper and then polish the bat with a horse's shinbone to give a smooth finish. We also burnish the bat blade with a burnishing mop and chalk/wax compound for a more appealing finish.

Stage 8:
The bat is then ready to have the handle bound with twine to provide more strength. The binding is done on a simple pedal operated machine to ensure the uniformity of the twine and the application of PVA adhesive helps prevent movement and deterioration of the binding. Once this has dried the rubber grip is rolled on using a gripping cone and finally the graphics are applied.