Oxfordshire is a longstanding centre for the growing of willows for cricket bats, writes ELIZABETH EDWARDS

The year of 1920 was a very good one for cricket bats. This is the year in which two men who were to become involved in the growing of willow trees for cricket bat timber, trees which are particularly suited to soils in Oxfordshire, were born.

Now in their 86th year, both are still as enthusiastic as ever about this aspect of their businesses and they know of two other growers who share both their year of birth and the continuing enterprise.

The link between these octogenarians is Bill Clarke, who lives in Thame. Through his former forestry contracting business in Charney Bassett, E. J. Clarke and Son, he introduced a number of local landowners to willow production.

England is regarded as being virtually the only country where the true cricket bat willow, salix alba caerulea, grows really successfully, and the timber which Bill himself and other growers supply for the manufacturer of the cricket bat blades, J. S. Wright and Sons Ltd, of Great Leighs, Essex, is sent all over the world.

Among Bill's plans for this spring has been a visit to Friars Court, Clanfield, where his contemporary, John Willmer, has been growing willows since 1977 at his suggestion.

A farmer well-known for his environmental principles and innovative and sustainable farm management schemes, John has willows growing on a site beside the River Thames, one particularly suitable due to the damp conditions.

The trees here serve a dual purpose. In the warmer months, the site is also used for caravan and camping rallies and provides the visitors with a pleasant, leafy location, and is one of the farm's many other enterprises.

Visitors to Friars Court can see a display illustrating the various stages of cricket bat manufacture.

Bill, John, and director Nick Wright, or another of the staff of J. S. Wright and Sons, select the trees that are ready for harvesting this is usually after about 20 years growth. The felling is carried out by specialist contractors at Clanfield this is usually by Richard Fordham, from Suffolk, and his staff.

From each tree, three or four 'logs' of about 4ft are cut, with an average yield of 35 blades.

In true environmental fashion, nothing of the tree is wasted. Wood which is not used for bats will be used by willow workers to make items such as garden trugs, and the top can be chipped as garden mulch or bio-fuel.

On arrival in Essex, each 'log' is split into clefts, ensuring that it divides cleanly without any damage to the grain that could spoil the finished product. Each cleft is then carved into a basic shape, the end sealed with wax to prevent premature drying or cracking, and then dried in a controlled environment for about two months. Specialist cutting then shapes the true bat form, and to strengthen the wood and reduce the risk of splitting, it is compressed in a weighted press. Each cleft is graded for quality and is now ready for despatch to the next stage of production.

J. S. Wright produce several thousand blades a month. They are England's largest and oldest blade manufacturers and were founded in 1894. Their products are exported to manufacturers in all the major cricket-playing countries, from where they will go on sale bearing familiar company names.

"In most cricket matches, whether local or international," says Bill Clarke, "it is likely that at least 60 per cent of the bats being used will have blades produced by J. S. Wright and Sons."

As well as in forestry, Bill has had a lifelong interest in cricket. He had started his business in 1948, on leaving the RAF where he had served during the Second World War. He soon moved from work such as supplying fencing materials into combining his two interests, by sourcing timber for sports equipment.

Together with the willow for the cricket bats, he supplied ash for cricket stumps, and in earlier times, ash also for tennis racquets. Beech and sycamore were also used for the racquets, to create the decorative patterns on the handles.

Bill still grows his own trees on an area of land in South Oxfordshire, and he maintains contact with as many as 50 other willow suppliers, all within a 50-mile radius of Wantage.

He will probably have seen in use many bats to which he has contributed material in his own playing days at Challow and Childrey Cricket Club and for several village clubs, including that which he founded at Denchworth and Charney Bassett, as an umpire for 20 years, in matches throughout Oxfordshire, and on his travels with his wife on many a tour to follow the fortunes of England overseas.

d=3,2,1The handle of a cricket bat comes from a different source, being of cane or bamboo, cut into three lengths with rubber strips inserted to make it supple and springy. The cane needs a hot and humid climate.

"It can grow something like a foot a day," says Bill. Like a batsman playing himself in, however, the willow progresses much more slowly.

From time to time, manufacturers attempt to introduce other materials into their bats, and those with graphite, said to prevent splitting, have recently appeared. Nick Wright says that he has never found any need for this, but he and his growers and suppliers do not need to be alarmed.

In March, the International Cricket Council upheld the ruling of the MCC that cricket bats must be made solely of wood.