English Willow Cricket bats are made from English Willow which is a soft fibrous wood with a honeycomb cell structure.  This wood is perfect for the making of cricket bats because it has natural moisture within the wood and it has the ability to be pressed further in the manufacturing process to give the bat excellent striking qualities. Nowadays most top batsmen bat mainly with cricket bats which are made out English Willow wood. Most of the cricket manufacturing companies provide bats made up of English Willow, the likes of Gray-Nicolls, Gunn & Moore, Slazenger, MRF, Adidas, Woodworm and many more.

Many batsmen today choose their bats in various ways, some batsmen like heavy meaty bats with thick edges, others like light bats with medium edges to place the cricket ball between the gaps. The powerful hitters like Virender Sehwag, Ms Dohni, Chris Gayle prefer these big heavy bats as these guys tend to muscle the ball to the boundaries with great speed and power. They also have the ability to clear the boundaries on any cricket ground easily because they have big bats and strong forearms. Other batsmen like the stroke makers prefer lighter bats as they are not as strong in their forearms have the ability to gently caress the ball between the gaps to the boundary, but that does not mean that they cannot clear the boundary for six runs should they be required to do so.

There are different grades of English Willow Cricket bats:

Grade 1:  These cricket bats are made from the very best of English willow and they are sponsored to professional players that use the manufacturer’s equipment. These English Willow Cricket bats are of supreme quality and are meant for maximum performance. These English Willow cricket bats are unbleached with straight even grains and minimal marking or discoloration in the face. They are quite expensive as well.

Grade 2:  Also unbleached, but they come with some irregular grain patterning and some minor blemishes on the blade.

Grade 3: English Willow cricket bats come with some irregular grain patterns and some markings but they are unbleached.

Grade 4:  English Willow cricket bats are the lower end bats and are usually bleached and are not oiled witch provides that extra covering to the face of the bat.

Choosing your English Willow cricket bat comprises of various factors:

·    The first thing you want you want look for is the size of the bat. There are many sizes you need to choose one witch fits you correctly. If    you choose a bat that’s to big you will struggle to play your shots because you not be able to follow through your with perfect timing. Bigger and heavier bats often times forces you to be a bit late on your shot which could result in you getting clean bowled or getting an edge.  So it’s vital that you get the right size bat which is right for you.

·    The second thing is the weight of the bat. This usually depends on how strong you are. Guys that are strong in their forearms can easily manage heavier bats. On the other hand if you as strong a lighter bat is suitable.

·    You also need to know what type of player you are. If you type of batsman that maneuvers ball between the gaps for ones and twos the lighter option is for you. If you the guy that muscles the ball to the boundary then might want to choose a heavier bat.

·    Normally a pacific bat range comes with two types of handles, the short handle and the long handle. The longer handle is generally for guys with bigger hands but there is no thumb and rule to this one it’s purely up you as the batsman to make that choice.

·    As I mentioned earlier the grade of your English Willow Cricket bat is important as this determines the quality of your bat.

·    The grain of the bat is also important as fewer grains running down the face generally mean a better quality bat.

The look a feel of the bat is basically up you as the batsman. Bat manufacturers offer various models of their bat range and the bats can be customized to your own preference. You can change the color of the stickers as well the grip of the bat.

·    The sweet-spot of the bat is an important factor because in the Sub Continent where the does not bounce that high, you will generally go with bat that has its sweet-spot towards the bottom of the bat. If you are living areas like South Africa, Australia, England ect. you will predominately bat with the sweet-spot towards the middle of the bat because the ball get bit pace and bounce which forces you to play your shots in that middle region. You can buy your English Willow cricket bat with the sweet-spot either towards the middle or the bottom of the bat.

Young up and coming batsmen of today always has two or more bats in his armory one of batting practice the other for matches. Some guys even possess a bat for different match situations, he would have a bat made for power hitting and the other for caressing the ball between fielders.

The various bat manufactures all have top players who they sponsor to use their equipment to sell more of their products the likes of Sachin Tendukar who now uses the Adidas bat, Ricky Ponting who bats with Kookaburra, Jacques Kallis who uses Slazenger and Gautam Gambir that uses Reebok and many more.

All these different bat manufactures all offer good quality apparel in various price ranges. If you as player is good enough, the scouts of these different manufactures might spot you and will want you to play with their gear and often times they will even pay you play with their apparel.

Now that you bought your new bat you will want to pre-prepare the bat for match use. This is important as you want to strengthen your bat and allows you more longevity as well as the power to murder balls to the boundary. Some bats come pre-prepared at the factory already, this includes the pressing under a roller, oiling, and some hand mallet knocking in.

On receiving your English Willow cricket bat its recommended that you give the bat some extra knocking in. This can be done by using a bat mallet and gently knocking around the edge of the blade. Before the knocking in process first coat your bat gently with linseed oil with a soft cloth. Do not oil the back of the bat and do not to oil the side (splice), because this loosens the glue. Give bottom of the bat a few more coats, to prevent water seeping in at the bottom of the bat. Knock the face edges, where a genuine ‘nick’ might make contact with the bat and keep knocking until they have a rounded and compacted appearance. Do not strike the side edges or toe of the bat. Now all you need to do is go out and have some net practice with an old ball and your bat will be set for the match.

Now that you have your new English Willow cricket bat and it’s prepared go out and have fun and score many, many runs.