Number of woods are used for the manufacturing of cricket bats but the most preferred wood for the manufacturing of professional cricket bats is English willow. English Willow is the type of wood that is used for the production of professional cricket bats all over the world because it is the only wood that can provide strength and compression needed for the cricket ball. English Willow bats are divided into five grades (1-5) with the higher grade one which means it’s the best quality and the grains are straighter on the bat.

There are two types of willow found for the production of professional cricket bats

• English willow
• Kashmir willow

You can find both types of willow bats at Cricket Best Buy

As by the name English willow, this willow comes from  England and it’s also called white willow. However, kashmir willow and English willow are not the same types of willow. They are different in color and can be recognized easily. That is Kashmir willow is probably brownish in color and English willow is much whiter in color as well as grains density of English willow is higher than kashmir willow.

Why English willow cricket bat?

generally, the top batsman preferred English willow bats although Kashmir willow bats are also famous for its quality and durability but English willow bats are much lighter, softer and have best grains quality than the Kashmir willow bats and that is the reason it is preferred by most of the toppers and experienced batsman around over the world. However English willow bats are expensive as compare to Kashmir willow bats.

Recommendation and Maintenance

English willow bats are recommended for playing with hard cricket ball. Before you start using the cricket bat, it requires knocking in and oiling. Knocking in is the process of striking the surface (face of the bat) with the old cricket ball. This will reduce the risk of bat snapping. The bat’s face need to be oiled with raw linseed oil before play to keep the bat’s surface tacky. It also acts as the protection layer on the wood and gives the better control of the shot to the batman

Some Popular English willow cricket bats

• SG VS 319 Extreme Cricket Bat
• Kookaburra Blaze 150 Cricket Bat
• GM Apex Dxm Cricket bat
• Gunn Moore Flare Dxm Original Le Cricket Bat
• Gray-Nicolls players PP Cricket Bat
• Gray-Nicolls Omega XRD Power Blade Cricket Bat

You can find all these professional Bats from famous brands only at  Cricket Best Buy

Some Brands who manufacture English Willow bats

• Kookaburra
• Adidas
• Gray-Nicolls
• Gunn & Moore
• Sanspareils Greenlands
• Puma