English Willow
Grade 1 Blade
A Grade 1 is the best looking blade money can buy, though it will not necessarily play the best. There may be some red wood evident on the edge of the bat. The grain on the face will be straight and there will be at least 4 grains visible. There may be the odd small knot in the edge or back but the playing area should be clean.
Grade 2 Blade
A Grade 2 blade is also very good quality and normally a larger amount of red wood can be seen on the edge of a bat, this has no effect on the playing ability of the bat it is purely cosmetic. Again there will be at least 4 straight grains on the face of the bat with maybe some blemishes, pin knots or "specks" visible.
Grade 3 Blade
This is the grade we produce and sell most of and it offers very good value for money. A Grade 3 Blade has up to half colour across the bat and is sometimes bleached, again this has no direct relation to the playing ability of the wood, it just has less visual attraction. There will be a minimum of 4 grains on the face of the bat which may not always be perfectly straight. Again some small knots or a little 'butterfly' stain may be present with perhaps more prominent "specks".
Grade 4 Blade
A Grade 4 Blade is normally over half colour or contains butterfly stain . This wood is also normally bleached just to make it "look better", it will still play as well as the other grades. Any number of grains are possible and the willow containing 'butterfly' stain is very strong, there could also be more "specks".
Other Grades and What makes a good bat?
We have many other Grades which have been developed over the years to satisfy the different demands from all the different markets across the world.
We often get asked "What makes a good bat?" The answer is that it depends on the taste of the customer and the skill of the bat maker. A bat should always be chosen on "feel" and not merely what it looks like. There are bound to be some small knots or blemishes on the bat, after all it is a natural product and cannot be expected to be perfect, with no faults at all, it is just not possible.
The only main differences in the grade are the varying degrees of brown wood and / or butterfly stain plus the number of blemishes or knots on the bat. Generally the more colour in the bat the lower the grade, there is however negligible difference in the playing ability, it is purely a perception that if it looks good it will play well, this is not the case.
Butterfly stain (the stain resembles the shape of a butterfly), for example, used to be very popular for its superior strength and playing ability. Unfortunately, these days because it does not "look clean and white" people do not buy it. It does however make bats that are both very strong and perform well.
The Wide Grain Myth
Generally we would expect a bat to have wide grain if it has less than 6 grains on the face. The width of the grain is entirely dependant upon how fast the tree has grown, each grain represents one years growth. The factors that effect the rate of growth are the soil quality and amount of water available.
In these modern times when growers want a quick return on their investment trees have been planted in the most ideal site for the tree to grow quickly. This means that in the future there are going to be less narrow grain trees available to buy as we have cut a lot of this type of tree and re planted in better sites. This is because not so many years ago we could not supply enough wide grain wood which was in demand, now it has gone back the other way.
Unfortunately when it takes all this time to grow a tree you cannot allow for changes in 'fashion' which could alter from year to year.
In this respect we have cut mature trees in as little as 10 years, but generally 12 to 18 years gives a wider grain with 25 years or more a narrower grain. A narrow grain bat will certainly play well, quicker, but will not have a particularly long life.
On the other hand a wider grain bat (with as little as 4 grains on the face) will play as well, given time, as a narrow grain, it will also , without doubt have a longer life span. The reason for this is that the wood is not as old, so it is stronger and will stand up better to the beating with some of the very hard, cheap balls used in matches.
Weight of Cricket Bats
The highest factor affecting the weight of the finished bat is the moisture content, and hence naturally dried bats are the preferred options to look for. This method (which takes 12 months) has, by experience, proved the best method to dry cricket bat blades. The blades are allowed to lose moisture over a long period of time which gives a far more even moisture content and means that you are far less likely to get moisture trapped inside the blade, which causes heavy weight.
The other factor that can alter the weight of a bat is of course in the making. When choosing a cricket bat a most players ask for a specific weight. In our opinion when choosing a bat more emphasis should be put on the pick up and feel of the bat than any specific weight. A bat can weigh 2lb 14oz but if made a certain way with the weight distributed differently it could feel like a 2 lb 7 oz bat, it is basically down to the skill of the batmaker. I would argue that if asked to guess the weight of a bat to the nearest ounce no player could get it right more than once in ten guesses at the very best.
Imperfections
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 actually attributed to the tree being of a hybrid of English Cricket Bat Willow, it is very strong and plays well. It is just a matter 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.
Next 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.
J.S. Wright & Sons
