Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
timeIt was pouring rain on a cold January day in Robertsbridge. Flood defenses are stationed on the banks of the Rother River tributary as it winds through the village, a remnant of history The outbreak of 2000 haunts this quiet corner East Sussex and many other places love it. Wandering along Station Road from the railway line, huddled under a decidedly inadequate umbrella, splashed by the morning traffic, a faint smell of wood drew me into the cornucopia of cricket I had come to seek.
it is cricket In many ways, the bat was Robertsbridge’s claim to fame. For 150 years, master craftsmen have been polishing willow The village has a long history, dating back to LJ Nicolls in the late 19th century. “Dear Sir,” W.G. Grace wrote in an 1894 letter to the bat manufacturer. “I used one of your bats at Hastings in 1894 and scored 131. I may mention that it was brand new. I kept it until this year and scored 2,000 runs with it. I used it at 100 and scored 1,000 with it in May. So I guess I can call it my record bat.” Excellently, If this is good enough for WG…
Nicholls’ original studio can still be found on the street – long since converted into a residence – but his legacy remains in one of Britain’s institutions. Gray-Nicolls, formed from the merger of Old Bat Manufacturers and Grays of Cambridge, is just one of many businesses on the site, and gear from rugby equipment giant Gilbert isn’t hard to find. But it was on my pilgrimage to cricket that I found a slightly more extraordinary place.
The entire process of bats from sapling to finished product can be followed virtually at this single site. I was given a tour by Richard Gray – it’s still a family business – and he showed me the newly planted white willow trees on the river bank. In 15 to 20 years, these will be ready for felling; each will contain about 40 bats. Unlike most other companies of its size, every Gray Nichols bat is made from wood grown by the company in the UK and handcrafted by bat makers in factories like this one.
“I’ve been here almost 20 years,” Alex Hohenkerk explains as he puts down tools in his studio. “As bat manufacturers, we’re looking for and honing those woods that make for a really nice rig. If I can find something with a high density and rebound level, I’ll happily sacrifice a really nice piece of wood. That’s more important to their needs than finding something nice.”
It’s this approach to customization that’s one of the reasons these bats are so popular. “When I came here, I was very lucky that I joined a team of people who have all been working together for almost 50 years,” Hohenkerk added. “When bats were less specific, they were mass produced. When you do mass production like this, yes, if you produce 10,000 bats, you’re more likely to find 100 that you really, really like. But they’re not tailor-made for anyone.” It feels a little churlish to admit that I have a Gunn & Moore in my bag right now, so I’m glad to see one on the repair bench that’s more important than his.
As any cricketer knows, the bat is more than just a piece of equipment, it is an expression of identity; an extension of one’s personality. Can form attachments. “Over the past five years we have seen more and more players trying to take care of their cricket bats through care and maintenance,” Horncock said. “We’re now back to square one, where players are constantly refurbishing and maintaining their favorite bats and only using them in the crease. This has trickled down to show that if you take care of the bat, the bat will last.” Harry Brookefor example, there are already Used the same red bat for two and a half years. “That bat has scored a lot of runs.”
At the top level, some cricketers are able and willing to tinker with the exact specs they need. Although the former England captain Heather Knight and Alastair Cook Pakistan have a relatively stable squad – Cook has been there since 2013 – and vice-captain Saud Shakeel is considered a player of exacting standards. Not a bad word to say about Gray Nichols athletes here though – not even Zach Crowleyproviding two gorgeous examples of Ashes Of the pair in Perth, Mitchell Starc lasted just 11 overs. Alas, that’s cricket.
Since the company’s earliest days, Gray Nichols has been at the forefront of bat innovation. There’s a lot revealed in Gray’s office, chronicling the tool’s history, from its early days as a hockey stick all the way to its latest developments. 51 years ago Gray-Nicolls Scoop, this An iconic bat that was designed to redefine the genre; now it’s conceived just like the Neocore bat, with a cored inner scoop for improved weight distribution and pickup. Notably, the company has also seen tremendous and sustained growth in India, a country where consumers have a strong connection to a brand with such history.
What to do next? Gray and his team hope this may be what’s called a “laminated” or “hybrid” bat. These bats are made by the manufacturer from more than one piece of wood. Currently, the industry’s most pressing concern is a shortage of British willow due to the recent rapid growth in demand. More trees are being planted, but these will take twenty years to mature. Gray-Nicolls and others already allow use in youth cricket and they are in “constructive discussions” with the MCC about allowing use in recreational matches. From a purely sustainability perspective, this is a game changer for wood waste.
“Lamination technology is great, and it’s important to uncover what it is and what it does,” Hohenkerk concludes. “There are a lot of things said about cricket bats that don’t ring true. To say that laminated cricket bats are better because it’s three pieces of wood put together? Actually, it’s more important that you use three pieces of wood, otherwise you wouldn’t be using the wood.
“Everyone has a huge need to have a bat. Country kits with 10 bats don’t exist anymore. Everybody wants their own thing, so you have to try to find a way to make that thing.”
With that we left the warmth of the factory and headed back into the wind and rain for a pint of Harvey’s at the nearby George Inn. Suddenly, summer doesn’t feel so far away anymore—and after a century and a half of bat-making, there’s more to come.