What Happens When You Order a Bat from the Handmade Workshop Stock?

One thing I've realised over the years is that most customers never actually see what happens after they click the 'Place Order' button. So I thought I'd give you a little insight into what goes on behind the scenes here in Standlake. Having said that, I actually just remembered that one of our customers made a YouTube video showing the whole process from visiting the workshop through to choosing a bat, so if you're really bored and fancy half an hour of bat-making, feel free to watch that here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj34xg5xOBE&t=9s).

Usually I'll see your order come through on my phone almost immediately, whether I'm actually in the workshop or out doing something else. The first thing I'll do is mentally work out when I'm realistically going to be able to get your bat finished and dispatched. That depends on a few things; when the order came in, what's already on the bench, and whether you've chosen no knocking in, hand knocking in or machine knocking in.

Hand knocking in naturally takes the longest because it requires my full attention for a considerable amount of time. Machine knocking in is a little different. Although the machine does most of the work over around half an hour, it certainly isn't a case of switching it on and walking away. Before the bat even goes in, I like to bone the edges by hand, which helps prepare them for the process and offers the naturally softer edges a little more protection. Once the machine is running, I'm never far away. The bat receives around 13,000 strikes during the cycle, so I'm regularly checking that everything is progressing exactly as it should. The machine also makes a fair amount of noise, which means it's not something I can really run late in the evening or first thing in the morning.

If you've ordered your bat without knocking in, the finishing process is obviously much quicker. Every bat, whether it's ordered online or selected during a workshop appointment, still has to go through the final stages before it leaves me. It'll receive a final fine sanding, the edges will be boned, the blade polished, the stickers applied and the grip fitted. Even without knocking in, there's still around 15 minutes of work before the bat is actually ready to leave. If you've visited the workshop, that's where our journey together ends. If you've ordered online, it'll then be carefully packed into one of our bat boxes ready for collection by the courier.

Today's order was actually a good example. A customer ordered a stock bat this morning without knocking in, but shortly afterwards emailed asking if I could machine knock it in instead. We took the additional £40 payment, got the bat prepared, completed the knocking in and finished all of the final preparation just in time for DPD to collect today's bats and repairs. Smaller parcels generally leave with Royal Mail, whereas bats usually travel with DPD or ParcelForce. For this customer, everything lined up perfectly. The order arrived in the morning, the bat left just after 2pm, and they'll be opening the box tomorrow.

It doesn't always work quite that smoothly though. Customer appointments, large batches of repairs and, in particular, the Thursday rush to get repaired bats back with players before weekend cricket often have to take priority. That's simply the reality of being a one-man workshop during the height of the season, and sometimes a new bat might have to wait a day or two before I can give it the attention it deserves.

The good news, at least from my point of view, is that there should never really be such a thing as an emergency bat order. Every new cricket bat, whether it's been hand knocked in, machine knocked in or knocked in yourself at home, deserves some time in the nets before it's taken into a match. It's a chance to let the bat continue bedding in, see how it responds to progressively harder balls and build confidence in it before exposing it to a brand new match ball. If you bat further down the order and usually face an older ball anyway, even better. After all, you've probably waited years to buy your next bat, so giving it one or two net sessions before its first game is a pretty sensible investment.