Why India's $12 Million Cricket Bat Industry Is Fueled By UK Trees | So Expensive | Business Insider

India is home to a number of the top cricket-bat manufacturers, including Sareen Sports, SS. But the wood used to make the highest-quality bats needs to be shipped halfway across the globe from England. JS Wright & Sons, an English willow tree supplier that has been in the industry since the 1800s, supplies 75% of the willow for the world's cricket bats. English willow bats are durable, yet lightweight and sell for up to 10 times as much as cheaper, lower-end Kashmir willow bats. Growing these trees and using them to create a perfect bat is a more than 15-year-long process that requires a careful eye and years of experience. The trees need to be regularly inspected and maintained so they grow slowly and produce a clean, tight-grained cleft. But the best trees could be in short supply as the sport spreads into more countries, like the United States.

Editor's Note: At 2:30, the video incorrectly states that an English willow tree is ready to be cut down when it is 60 inches in diameter. It should say 60 inches in circumference.

00:00 - Intro
00:58 - $1,000 Cricket Bat
01:30 - The Perfect Tree
02:14 - English Willow Forest
03:11 - Sawmill Process
04:22 - Sawing And Waxing
05:30 - Grading And Drying
06:46 - Shipping Bats To India
07:13 - How Cricket Bats Are Made
07:46 - Carving The Bat
08:52 - Pressing The Wood
09:23 - Finishing Touches
09:56 - Counterfeit Cricket Bats
11:02 - The Growing Demand
11:41 - Picking The Perfect Cricket Bat
12:53 - The Future Of English Willow
13:40 - Credits

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Why India's $12 Million Cricket Bat Industry Is Fueled By UK Trees | So Expensive | Business Insider

[Tazinio]

He goes around giving trees the hug of death.

[occamraiser]

I just watched a 13 minute video about cricket bats.... and feel it was 13 minutes well spent :) Thanks.

[EKJ]

“500 to 800 bats each day, and it takes 24 to 36 hours for one bat”… thats a lot of workers

[imviiku]

I am pretty sure the Cricket bat industry is more than mere $12 million in India

[whatshappenedhere]

I cant imagine the amount of pride that the workers feel when they watch the cricket world cup knowing that they may have crafted the bat being used

[emilchirambattu]

Look at the difference in working conditions between India and the UK. To define this, the workers and the boss in the UK are wearing similar clothes, and the boss in India is wearing a Polo while workers have no shoes or a proper environment with health and safety. But he is keen on cracking down on the counterfeit products which is eating his profits 🙄

[johnshipley]

As a tree surgeon in England I’ve been contracted to soft fell these specific types of willows.
Pretty cool to see the rest of the process

[arlingtonhynes]

7:36 “Bandsaw”.

Funny looking bandsaw there.

[omiohassan]

Imagine playing cricket for 16 years, and still can't bat properly.

[nycalien]

That Skeik guy, said he has been playing cricket since he is 16 but his shots are like someone who holds the bat for the first time.

[Chainsaw-ASMR]

2:36 I think you meant to say 60” circumference not diameter. The logs shown are nowhere near 60 inches wide.

[Joqgtf-]

Those workers need N95 respirators, not flimsy masks.

[PaulColeCricket]

Great video! Worth noting that it's not just professional players that use English Willow bats. The vast majority of amateur players do too, particularly here in the UK. As a former cricket specialist retailer, I know that the market for Kashmir willow bats in the UK is very small.

[school]

That’s a dangerous workshop setup. So much find dust everywhere and they have old open fans if one day it gets just a bit to dusty and theirs a spark game over.

[Serenity_Dee]

Also, sixty inches in _circumference_, not diameter.

[majorburke]

This “slow growth” wood is the reason old furniture is better than new fast-growth commercial wood. New wood is weaker and tends to warp. It’s better to refurbish your old furniture.

[Jaszi]

13:34 THAT sentence just made the Indian Willow bats a legitimate option for players and he’s a professional when it comes to know wood…. Whoops, dude might’ve just killed his own industry.

[truesy]

48 Years at one company is astounding. The knowledge Bruce must have from being the first line of quality for that company is impressive. Thanks for a 48 year commitment Bruce.

[ThatGuy]

Lets make all the salty kids mad with this comment 🤣
Its interesting that they say they like old English willow trees with tight grains because they are dense but that they have to compress it to make it denser so the ball goes somewhere because they are using a soft hardwood that is not even a dense hardwood. So instead of using a harder wood from the start like a baseball bat uses they go though a round about away but still claim its a superior wood. Honestly it just looks like they want to use a classic English native tree for a sport created in England just to keep the tradition alive more then anything. Which is completely fine. I support that. Kind of like how certain wine can only be made in certain areas with a certain kind of ingredient. It's a normal thing to do.
but lets not try to act like a soft wood tree like a willow is a good bat material when its not because its not that dense, but then still claiming that its a dense wood throughout the video and the best there is when a minute later they are saying its not that strong and they then have to compress it and how bats dont even last that long because they are not that hard.. Using English Willow is for nothing more then tradition and that's all. Just cut to the chase and stop trying to word it like a politician with backwards lies and half truths.

[KOdi]

They are expensive indeed. Are those gentlemen who makes them gets paid expensive as well?