From Tree to the Middle
How an OX29 bat is born — from sett to the crease.
At OX29 Bat Doctor, we pride ourselves on crafting cricket bats to the highest standards, using only the finest English Willow, grown and hand-selected locally in Oxfordshire. While other brands may turn to Serbian, Dutch, Australian, or Kashmir willow, we stay committed to English Willow for one reason: it delivers the best performance, durability, and feel in the hands of serious cricketers.
A bat might only take a few hours to craft in the workshop, but its journey begins many years before it ever reaches our hands.
1. Planting
The process begins with the planting of a sett — a young willow sapling placed into the right soil: moist, loamy, and low-lying. These are the conditions found in parts of Oxfordshire, where English Willow flourishes best.
Willow trees take between 15–20 years to reach maturity, at which point they measure roughly 60 inches in diameter — about the size you could just wrap your arms around. The species we use, Salix Alba Caerulea, is specifically grown for cricket bat making, offering both spring and durability.
2. Felling & Milling
Once mature, the tree is felled and the trunk is cut into 29-inch rounds. These are split into wedges with a triangular cross-section, with the point of the triangle typically coming from the centre of the tree. The split timber is then milled into clefts — the rough blanks from which bats are made.
Each cleft is capable of becoming a bat, assuming there are no faults or knots. A single tree can yield 30 to 40 clefts, but only a select few will pass our standards for grading and performance.
3. Drying
Before entering our workshop, clefts are left to air dry for several months. The ends are waxed to prevent splitting as moisture escapes naturally. After this period, the clefts are transferred to a kiln — a controlled environment where the moisture content is carefully reduced to between 8–12%, the optimum level for bat making.
4. Handpicking the Willow
Unlike larger brands who receive mass shipments, we handpick every cleft ourselves right here in Oxfordshire. This gives us full control over what we bring into the workshop — selecting clefts by their grain structure, weight, and balance before any shaping begins.
5. Bat Making — The OX29 Way
Once in the workshop, the transformation begins. Every cleft is first cut to oversized width and length. We then cut the face to reveal the grain using a surface planer. From there, the cleft is passed through a series of machines including the rip saw and spindle moulder to bring it into the initial form of a bat.
We then regrade each cleft into one of our internal categories: Players’ Grade, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, or Butterfly. We inspect for drying cracks, knots, and internal faults. Moisture content is double-checked to avoid surprises during pressing or shaping. Quality control at this stage is absolutely vital.
6. Shaping & Finishing
After pressing the cleft, we splice in the handle, cut the shoulders, and trim the toe to length. Then the real handcrafting begins — using a trusted combination of:
- Drawknives
- Spokeshaves
- Planes
- Rasps and sanding tools
The bat is then polished, bound, and finished to spec. Final details include:
- Stickers (choose from 9 designs)
- Grip (with dozens of colours and textures)
- Anti-scuff sheet (available in 4 variations)
- Optional oiling and knocking-in
Each bat is either built to order through our Custom Bat Builder or added to our ready-made stock, where customers can select their desired finish and performance profile.
Every OX29 bat is crafted by hand, tested for quality, and ready for the middle.
