The CricHeroes English Willow Bats

An English willow range. Sourced from the best willow farms in England, and crafted in India. Built for the cricket you actually play.

The bat is the only piece of cricket equipment that is not there to defend you.
Pads protect, gloves protect, helmets protect, thigh guards protect.
The bat is the only thing in your kit bag that is there to do something. To attack.

It does not absorb the bowler. It answers them.

That makes the bat the most important conversation in your cricket.
And like most important conversations in life, it is the one that needs to have the right partner.

You have probably been using the wrong bat all along.
Unfortunately, most cricketers will never know it.
Not because the bat was bad. There is no such thing as a bad bat.
Just the wrong fit for your hands, the wrong pickup for your bat speed, the wrong shape for the way you score.

The cover drive that felt heavy through the shot was the bat in the way.
The pull that found mid-on was the bat in the way.
The inability to clear the boundary in the 18th over was the bat in the way.
You blamed your form. The bat was happy to let you.

This is the part of cricket the bat industry does not talk about, because it cannot afford to.
The industry has spent 50 years selling you the bat that the famous player used, the bat with the right number of grains, the bat with the flashy stickers. It has never sold you the bat that suits your game, because to do that, the industry would have to know your game.

And it does not. We do.

Why we are making bats.

For nearly a decade, the cricket of the world has been recorded on CricHeroes.
1.7 crore matches. 4.8 crore players. Every run, every wicket, every dot ball, and every detail.
The largest record of grassroots cricket that exists anywhere.
We did not set out to become this. We just kept showing up, season after season, ground after ground, while the matches kept coming.

What we learnt in that time is something the bat industry has never been close enough to the player to learn.
We learnt that a cricketer's approach to batting, the conditions they play in, and their style of play, all combine to make up a highly specific requirement of the bats they use.

A 33-year-old all-rounder in Pune who bats at No. 6 scores most of his runs square of the wicket on the on-side, and almost none on the off.

A 19-year-old middle-order batter in Delhi who has been called defensive by his peers actually has the lowest dot-ball percentage in his league.

A dangerous opening pair in Bengaluru scores runs at different strike rates, in different areas of the field, and against different types of bowling.

All of these batters cannot be playing with similar bats.
Their conditions are different, their approach to the game is different, and their style of play is different.
Their choice of bat needs to reflect this individuality.

The bat that is right for any of these cricketers does not exist on a wall in a sports shop.
It exists in the answer to a set of questions; no one has ever bothered to ask them.

That is the conversation we are starting. The bats are the consequence.

What goes into a CricHeroes bat.

Every CricHeroes English willow bat begins in Essex, on the river plains of southeastern England.
The cool climate, the high water-table, and the clay-rich soil make this the ideal region to grow the Salix alba caerulea tree, more commonly known as the cricket bat willow.

Our willow is sourced from J.S. Wright & Sons, whom the world's best bat-makers have trusted across generations, for more than 130 years.

Each tree has spent between twelve to twenty years growing.
It is nurtured, looked after, and regularly monitored.

Upon reaching maturity, the trees are harvested, evaluated, and graded before the clefts are shipped to Jalandhar, India. Where the craft of shaping willow clefts into cricket bats has been refined over the last 30 years.

Here, each cleft is air-dried slowly, never forced, because a willow that loses its moisture too fast loses its life with it.
This entire process of selecting and conditioning the willows makes the ping of our bats very responsive, something which cannot be manufactured later.

Working closely with the craftsmen, we ensure that every bat is shaped with generous sweet spots, sturdy spines and shoulders, and best in-class handles. These form the core of every bat to ensure peak performance and durability, and then we proceed to shaping the willow to suit different batting styles.

A duckbill profile for the batter who relies on timing and middling the ball, and a full profile for the cricketer who wants a larger hitting area through the blade. A low sweet spot for those who play more at the death, and a mid-low sweet spot for those who need more versatility.

Every little detail is optimised for the balance you feel in your pick-up and downswing.

Weight between 1,140 and 1,220 grams. Bat face 105 to 109 mm. Edges 40 to 46 mm.

No two bats are identical. That is not a flaw to be managed, but the nature of working with real willow. And we would not have it any other way.

Every bat ships with a knocking mallet, a padded bat case, scuff tape, and an extra grip. Not because we are being generous.
Because a bat without these things is a bat you have to babysit, and cricket is hard enough already.

The four bats.

What separates one CricHeroes bat from another is the grade of the willow, the age of the cleft, the grain count, and the cricketer the bat is meant for. The craft does not change. The choice does.

CricHeroes Infinity. Grade 1 English willow.

• The top 10% of clefts we receive. Six or more straight, evenly spaced grains. Minimal blemishes
• The kind of willow you get when nature gets everything right. Soft, dense, mature, and quietly alive in the hands.
• This is not the bat to learn cricket on. It is the bat that finds a cricketer who has already arrived, and then makes them a little more themselves.
• Short Handle. ₹39,999.

Check CricHeroes Infinity

CricHeroes MVP. Grade 2 English willow.

• The top 10 to 20% of clefts. Six or more grains, with the small natural marks that come from real wood.
• The performance sits a hair's breadth from the Infinity. The price does not. The MVP earned its name because it is the cricketer it is built for. 
• The player who the opposition knows is the real deal. The player you rely on, and always delivers.
• Short Handle. ₹29,999.

Check CricHeroes MVP

CricHeroes Hard Hitter. Grade 3 English willow.

• The top 20 to 30% of clefts. Mature willow with minor blemishes and the occasional knot that does not affect performance.
• Takes a little longer to open up, which is also why it lasts longer. 
• The Hard Hitter is built for the cricketer who plays every weekend, plays every shot, and wants the bat to still be there at the end of the season as well as the start of the next.
• Short Handle. ₹24,999.

Check CricHeroes Hard Hitter

CricHeroes Destroyer. Grade 3 English willow, just with a different character.

• Slightly younger willow, five or more grains, irregular grain structure, but a higher impact resistance. 
• The Destroyer is built to take maximum punishment without flinching. 
• The bat for the cricketer who has decided that the boundary is the answer to most questions. 
• It will not back down when you do not.
• Short Handle. ₹22,999.

Check CricHeroes Destroyer

How we find the bat that is right for you.

The Infinity is not better than the Destroyer.
The Infinity is better at being an Infinity. The Destroyer is better at being a Destroyer.
They are different bats for different cricketers and different seasons of a cricketing life.

When you talk to us, we will ask where you bat in the order, how often you play, what pitches you face most, and where your runs come from.

If you already have a CricHeroes profile, we will know most of the answers before you finish telling us.
Then we will help you find the bat that fits. If we do not have the right bat for you, we will tell you that too.

Because for us, your cricket matters.

Get the right bat for you here. https://store.cricheroes.com/collection/18/english-willow-bats