:.Matrrixx.:

Of late a number of professionals have started getting their bats made from "butterfly watermark willow." This is a return to the days of yore when the butterfly willow bat was much coveted and was called 'The Professional's choice.'

These bats are made from the best cuts of timber called special Butterfly willow. This is "Butterfly Stain", so called as it resembles the body and wings of a butterfly. Such an Cricket Bat Willow is very strong and plays extremely well. It is just a matter if you like to have a bat that looks a bit special. A carefully chosen cleft and well made butterfly stain bat will make a bat which provides a better balance and ping. We have made many bats with the butterfly willow in them and most of them became belters and are very good indeed and clients come looking for the same type of timber again.

The process of staining occurs as a result of the following reasons: the tree and its root structure generally growing outwards, with the main roots throwing out bunches of 'loofah' like suckers which, as they search for water and nourishment under the surface of the ground, are confronted occasionally by areas of stone. This slows down temporarily the rate and direction of growth, consequently checking the flow of sap, which then, interacting with the resultant acidity, creates and causes stainy colouring. In the event of the interaction being slight, the resultant stain gives a delicate marking akin to the subtle colours of a King George butterfly.

Hence the vaunted term "butterfly Stain" was coined. The timber Salix Alba Caerulia is often distinguished by a bright orange stain which is known in the trade as "butterfly" stain. When these stains appear on the blades of the bats, players often reject such bats thinking that the stains are faults or knots, whereas they are in fact the hallmark of the finest quality cricket bat willow.

It takes a trained eye to pick such clefts and turn them into the absolute belter bats. I use butterfly willow bats myself and swear by them and would recommend these to those looking for a special bat which will also last longer. We now introduce these bats to all cricketers who wish to buy something really special and are really interested in the hardware and not purely cosmetics. These can be Custom made e.g. Long blade, short handle, low sweet spot, oval handle and weight to suit 2lb 9oz to 3lb 5oz. We can door deliver these bats anywhere in the world at US$365.