Where can I buy the bats and equipment, why can’t I buy online on the Salix website?
Please click here to purchase through our cricket specialist stockists, or here to find out about visiting the Salix workshop.

Can I visit the Salix factory?
Yes, but please see Contact Us for full details.

Does Salix offer sponsorship?
Yes, please go to the Sponsorship section for more information.

My bat is damaged - what do I do?
Go to Repairs & Returns for full advice on bat preparation, maintenance, returns and our guarantee.

How do I knock-in and care for a Salix bat?
Go to Repairs & Returns for full advice on bat preparation, maintenance, returns and our guarantee.

Do you service older or non-Salix bats?
Yes we do – please see Repairs & Returns for more information and a form to send in to us with your bat.

Can I buy Salix bat labels?
In common with most manufacturers we do not supply labels either to buy or as replacements. If you need new labels you are of course welcome to return the bat to us or to take it your retailer who can obtain a set from us. Our labels are durable and of the highest quality: sub-surface screen printed on polycarbonate by specialist UK plastic printers with 3M adhesive. They will inevitably suffer from wear and tear in use and should be removed carefully across the grain. The bat should then be sanded and polished by Salix before new labels are applied.

Can you help me with my school or university coursework? Can you send me information?
The majority of all questions we are asked have their answers within the site.
The following are also useful sources of information:
www.cricketbatwillow.com
'Quilt Winders and Pod Shavers' by Hugh Barty-King, Macdonald & Jane’s, ISBN 0354085476. Out of print but can be found through Amazon, Ebay and book finders.
For information on buying a partmade bat for a batmaking project please click here (Workshop fittings)

Why can't I find Salix in shops overseas?
At the moment we still cannot supply retailers overseas due to demand at home. For individuals who wish to order overseas, please contact us for duty free prices and postage estimates.

Will Salix donate to our charity, club or fund raiser?
As you can imagine, we receive many requests but have to restrict our donations to supporting local cricket and local causes – each season we donate to hospices, cancer charities and many small clubs and organizations, but cannot of course help everyone. You are of course welcome to try us and we will always help if we can, but unfortunately have to say no more often than yes. Please telephone requests rather than email or post. Thank you.

How do you make the bats?
Please see Manufacturing and the film which show the key stages from tree to Salix bat.

What does the ‘Grade A’ or ‘Type A’ label on the back of the bat mean?
The MCC has updated Law 6 (the bat) to protect the game by ensuring bats are not artificially enhanced and will not damage the ball. The aim is to preserve the balance between bat and ball so that the game remains about skill rather than technological developments. Confusingly, ‘Grade A’ does not relate to the grade of willow, but to the construction of the bat, but this is now to be changed to ‘Type A’. All our bats are ‘Grade (Type) A’ which means that the blade is entirely one piece of willow and the handle is 90% cane, wood and twine. For full details see: lords.org/laws-of-cricket

Why are cricket bats made of willow, how do I find out the rules of the game?
Cricket bat blades must be made of wood and cricket bat willow is the lightest wood with the properties essential for play.
The ICC defines the laws governing bats and equipment and the MCC are the custodians of the game. Please see:
lords.org/lawsandspirit/lawsofcricket
icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rules-regulations (‘Clothing and Equipment Rules and Regulations’)

What does ‘ex Salice Præstantia’ mean and why are you called Salix?
Ex Salice Præstantia is our company motto and literally means 'out of willow, excellence', which we call 'excellence from willow'. The motto is Latin as Salix is the generic word for willow, with cricket bat willow being specifically salix alba, var. cærulea. Since founding Salix in 1990 Latin has been a recurrent theme with many of our bat names past and present being Latin, currently of course Præstantia, Fera and most recently, the Dæmon. Interestingly a very large brand has used Latin names and definitions in their advertising – the sincerest form of flattery we hope!

I have a willow tree - can Salix use it for bat making?
Cricket bat willow is a crop which is specifically grown for the industry and needs to be maintained and harvested correctly in order to be viable for bat making. Only one variety is grown and used in the UK for bats, so it would be very unusual to find suitable cricket bat willow trees by accident or domestically. If you do think you have cricket bat willow then please see www.cricketbatwillow.com which is the website for JS Wright & Sons, specialist suppliers of cricket bat willow, before cutting the trees down.

How can I stock and sell Salix bats?
For more information on trade accounts please contact us. We do require stockists to be cricket specialists with premises and we have minimum stock orders with long lead times for bats. At the moment we are oversubscribed with account applications, but we look at every enquiry on its own merits and if we cannot help now, then we will contact you when we can.

I would like to supply Salix, who do I contact?
If you have a product or service which you think may be of interest to us then we would be grateful if you could post details to us for the attention of Victoria Kember. We have long established suppliers for raw materials and also imported equipment (luggage, clothing and soft leather) so we cannot see or speak to anyone without prior arrangement.

Useful Information

Bat weights

It is difficult to be absolute with sizing, especially with bats as these are handmade and are often tailored beyond the standard sizes. With our bats, sizing is scaled down completely so that junior bats are in proportion as you move through the sizes – this is not generally the case with mass produced or imported bats. Please see individual models for senior bat weights; for all Salix junior bats, great care is taken to create bats which both play and pick-up well and a rough guide is:
Harrow: 2,4 to 2,6
Six: 2,3 to 2,5
Five: 2,2 to 2,4
Four: 2,1 to 2,3
Three: 2,0 to 2,2
Two: 1,12 to 2,0
One: 1,10 to 1,12

Bat size guide

Bat size	LH	SH	SSH	H	6	5	4	3
Overall length	34¾"	33½"	32"	32¾"	31¾"	30¾"	29¾"	28¾"
Blade width	4¼"	4¼"	4¼"	4 1/6"	4"	3 7/8"	3¾"	3 5/8"
Approx age in yrs	15+	15+	15+	12-14	11-13	10-12	9-11	8
Approx height	over 6'2"	5'9+	5'8+	5'6-5'9	5'2-5'6	4'11-5'2"	4'9-4'11"	4'6-4'9"

Clothing size guide

Size	Waist	Chest
B	26/28	28/30"
Y	28/30"	32/34"
S	30/32"	36/38"
M	32/34"	38/40"
L	36/38"	40/42"
XL	38/40"	42/44"
XXL	42/44"	46/48"

Batting legguard, from top of instep to centre of knee roll:

B	15"
Y / SM	16½"
M	18"
XOS	19"

I still have a question not listed here?
Please take a look through the website then if you still need help please contact a Salix stockist or Contact Us.