English Cricket bat Willow (Salix Alba Caerulea) is one of many thousand different species of tree and is one of many hundreds of different species of willow all over the world, with many species in the UK.
English cricket bat willow is uniquely suited to cricket bat manufacture. It is lightweight, appealing to the eye, while categorized as a hardwood species, it has softwood properties. It has a “diffuse porous” cell structure with stiffness, density and great impact resistance. It is the impact resistance that sets is aside, there are other trees that are more dense but English cricket bat willow has a similar impact resistance to a tropical hardwood that has a density ten times greater.
They have the right climate and soil types in the UK for English cricket bat willow to flourish, it is relatively fast growing (12 to 20 years) and the trees are ready to be harvested when they are 58 inches (147.5cm) circumference at a height of 4 feet 8 inches (142.3cm) from the ground, with hopefully 84 inches (213.5cm) of clean trunk. Leaving them to get larger means they are more susceptible to effects such as wind damage, which can make them worthless so are best felled as soon as they are large enough.
Approximately 75% of the Worlds English Willow cricket bats come from
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