MAKING A CRICKET BAT

The Empire Cricket Way

Stage One

Empire Cricket’s craftsman, Brendon Beckett, sources only the highest quality English Willow from the South East of England, where conditions are at an optimum for growth of the finest willow. Empire cricket has chosen to only deal with the best in the industry and our willow merchant is renowned world wide for consistently delivering only the highest quality, lightweight willow. In fact, their reputation is so good, that they supply most of the world’s manufacturers. Chances are that your present bat originated from them!

Stage Two

The pressing stage begins with the face of the blade being shaped to match the contours of our pressing machine. The blade then undergoes a special process to ensure the fibres of the cleft stretch during the pressing. The blade is then passed through the roller until the optimum rebound and resilience is achieved. Most large manufacturers pass the blade through 3 - 6 times without testing for performance. Empire Cricket's process is unique, in that the pressing stage is not complete until the optimal rebound is achieved for each cleft of willow - thus ensuring the renowned performance that Empire bats are known for. During this process, the blade is subjected to approximately 2 tons/inch2. No gauges are used by Brendon during this process, however. As each individual cleft of willow has its own characteristics, the only way of creating a high quality cricket bat, is personally testing for rebound after each pass through the press.

Stage Three

Using a purpose built machine, the splice is marked and cut in the blade ready for the handle to be fitted at a later stage.

Stage Four

The back of the bat is shaped to the customer’s requirements. This is a labour intensive process, which is carried out personally by Brendon in the old fashioned way, using a Drawknife and Blockplane. As Brendon is not limited to a set number of designs, he is able to create a distinctive bat and even copy an old favourite.

Stage Five

The handle is cut to fit the splice and dry fitted to test the best angle of off-set for the handle. This allows the balance and pick-up to be optimised. Once this is achieved, the handle is glued with our secret formula adhesive for maximum strength. It is then shaped & bound with twine and the blade is burnished to give a lustrous appearance. Finally, the Empire Cricket logos are applied ready for the customer.

What our customers say

"Brendon is very knowledgable which helps when picking a bat from scratch."

Aaron Roberts - Sunshine Coast Scorchers

"Brendon has been looking after my bats for a while now and in that time I've found that the service and workmanship I have received is outstanding. The passion that Brendon has for cricket equipment, especially bats, is obvious in the workmanship that he delivers. I will continue to call Brendon whenever I need work carried out on my bats, as I know I will receive the best personalised service."

Gavin Fitness - Former Qld Bull