Hi all
Is it important to understand the willow? Straight into it I reckon!!!!
Cricket bat willow grain and perform
Lets go over some old ground, why not it is raining afterall…. Ok we know that cricket bats have grains running down the face of the bat and we know the grain itself is the end of year growth, the bark if you like. Well if you didn’t you do now!
So something like this:
Then in between all the grains, the vessels of the willow exist. We know the grain area is denser, so we will see something like this under a microscope.
No need to thank me for the pics. You can now see the grain is dense [here is the link for grains blog http://www.whichcricketbat.com/cricket-bat/cricket-bat-voodoo-willow-and-performance]
Brilliant almost getting to the point
Cricket Bat willow is a natural fibre reinforced composite!
Bear with me here! We know the vessel run through the cricket bat from shoulder to toe. We can see those vessels are layered in the willow itself and mixed with the grain. This longitudinal nature of the willow fibres determine some really important factors in cricket bats. That is, in this vessel orientation and layering we get stiffness, therefore the fibre reinforced composite heading.
So what are you talking about?
Well elasticity and bending frequencies. Due to the vessel layering it affects those aspects of the cricket bat, this leads to cricket bat performance. I wont go to far into this but here is a snippet. They are both intertwined here, elasticity and bending frequencies.
Ok bending modes of the bat, this is based on the bat shape [profile] and if you take into consideration the excitation range [vibration] of a cricket bat based on impact we know you can raise or lower the bending mode frequencies of a bat based on mass of the blade and handles, in layman terms a gain in performance/
But now you can see the willow itself, the vessel layering and the grain effect this as well and why the pressing of the blade is so important as this add another composite layer. Ah I see the composite light turn on didn’t it…
I think as I am just about to finish up here & I’m going to answer my own question!!!!
Yes it is important to understand the willow and not just grab a piece of it and work on it. There is more to look at then just that.
By the way as a quick aside this vessel layering is why Salix Alba Caerulea is used and also the environment in which it has grown in effects these vessels and there layering. Goodbye European willow, Canadian willow, English willow nutured in India and any other rumour you may have heard.
Hope you liked this one
Thanks
Andy
Podshaver and English Willow fan















