Bradbury are introducing a Toe Reinforcement Wedge to all of their senior bats. The hardwood wedge will stregthen the toe area and prevent the toe splits from going all the way through. This means it can be easily repaired.
Out of all the submissions for 'Pick of the Week' the top three for week one are now on display! Vote for your favourite to help entrants make it to the top ten!
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Gallery
Veiw images of Bradbury bats in the process of being handcrafted and finished...
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2011 Best Bat Winner
All Out Cricket Magazine Gear Test 2011 Best Bat Winner.
Perth Cricket Bat Repairs
Perth Cricket Bat Repairs- WA.
Quality Repairs for your damaged or time-worn bat...
About
A Brief History
Bradbury Bats first began manufacturing cricket bats in 1993 in Launceston, Tasmania. Paul and Sally Bradbury hand crafted the bats out of quality English willow using mostly antique tools such as the block plane, draw knife and spokeshave. Another unusual technique used to polish the bats, was a horses shinbone.
After two years in Tasmania, Paul and Sally returned to Fremantle, Western Australia, working from a shed in the backyard. They then expanded to a more convenient workshop, as well as investing in machinery that allowed them to do more work from their new premises.
In 2001, along with their three young children, the Bradburys moved overseas to Somerset, England. Working from a barn on a dairy farm, the business expanded and developed over the six years they spent between Somerset and Perth. They spent six months operating in each country, alternating between cricket seasons. The Bradbury market grew from professional cricketers to more and more of the cricketing public.
Since Bradbury first began manufacturing cricket bats in 1993, they have evolved greatly and produced some of the finest quality cricket bats and equipment on the market today. The Bradbury standard has been achieved through many years of hand-craftmenship, creative and innovative design, a unique perspective on technique and dedicated workmanship. They maintain this standard through the quality products they present on the market that are proof of how far they have come and where they are today.
Click on the link to view the latest Bradbury catalogue for 2012.
RI0012_BradburyrangeBrochure_2012_HR.pdf
Australia
United Kingdom
New Zealand
Bradbury Cricket (Aust & UK) are pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Hardy & Co LTD as their new Distributor in the UK for the Bradbury Cricket range of equipment.
Jon Hardy & Co Ltd have extensive experience in the cricket industry, responsible for Masuri helmets and Cotton Graphics embroidery . Trading as Chase Sport Ltd since 1987, it was decided that along with a number of updates in 2011 a change of trading name was appropriate.
Jon Hardy & Co Ltd has recently appointed Sam Miller as General Manager, Sam has extensive experience in the cricket industry gained over the last 15 years, most recently managing Puma Australias cricket business.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Sam Miller on (01256) 398 666 or 07590452672
Bradbury Cricket is very excited about the way forward in the UK, and thank you for your continued support.
Greg Chappell Cricket Centre
Brisbane - North & Head Office
15 Dover Street, Albion QLD 4010
PH: 07 3262 3166
Brisbane - South
Unit 11, 126-130 Compton Road
Underwood QLD 4119
PH: 07 3808 2644
Melbourne - CITY
43 Dudley Street,
West Melbourne VIC 3003
PH: 03 9329 8611
Clayton
1708 Princes Highway
Clayton VIC 3168
PH: 03 9558 6600
Ringwood
Cnr New & Charter Streets
Ringwood VIC 3124
PH: 03 9487 0048
Sydney - North
283A Miller Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
PH: 02 9954 6881
Hobart
17 Lampton Ave
Derwent Park TAS 7009
PH: (03) 6272 1944
Canberra
20 Collie St
Fyshwick ACT 2609
PH: (02) 6239 3299
Meulemans Cricket Centre
134 Canning Highway
South Perth WA 6151
PH: (08) 9367 6216
Slater Gartrell Sports
66 Helena Street
Midland WA
iPhone: 08 9274 5788
The Cricket Shop
27 Port Pirie Drive
Bibra Lake WA
PH: 08 9434 2965
Bunbury Indoor Cricket Centre
32 Zaknic Place
Bunbury WA 6230
PH: (08) 9721 4854
Bridges Brothers
71 Bathurst Street
Hobart TAS 7000
PH: (02) 6234 3791
The official supply of Bradbury Cricket equipment into New Zealand is through Better Gear .
Based in Palmerston North, Better Gear has been appointed for all stockists to contact in New Zealand.
For all trade enquiries email
bettergear_inspire.net.nz .
For further contact details, see
Stockists
Bradbury cricket bats are manufactured in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the business is wholesale to recognised cricket specialists only. In order for production to be continuous, we rely heavily on the stockists as our point of contact with all end users. Please contact your local stockist in Australia for all your cricketing needs.
Various players stand out to be exceptional in one way or another. These players have been selected for their outstanding cricketing abilities and are using Bradbury bats and equipment to perform some of the best cricket in Australia. They have all made it to state level and some may have the potential to go international, like Lauren Ebsary. Bradbury are proud to have these sportsmen and women embracing the quality of their products.
Please note that for Australia, Paul and Sally Bradbury select and approach players personally for sponsorship. Talent identification is performed by existing coaches, agents and team managers. Therefore, we do not accept personal applications for sponsorship- rather recommendations from these key cricket experts. Please do not apply for sponsorship.
No matter the quality of a player or bat, there is always the risk of breakage. After a bat is repaired, it's performance is a reflection of the quality of the repair. Just like Bradbury, Perth Cricket Bat Repairs understand the importance of a good repair.
For quality repairs that last, Perth Cricket Bat Repairs is the #1 choice for cricketers in the Perth region.
Visit the website
For contact details :
perthcricketbatrepairs.com.au
Latest news and what's happening at Bradbury.
Fake Bradbury Stickers
Genuine Bradbury Stickers
Fake Bradbury Labels
How To Identify a Genuine Bradbury Bat
All Bradbury cricket bats have our "B" logo burnt into each edge. Any other bat without this is not a product of Bradbury Cricket.
Lately there have been some fake Bradbury stickers (claiming to be genuine) for sale on ebay. These are not endorsed by Bradbury Cricket and are theft of our intellectual property. Any cricket bats sporting these stickers are not genuine Bradbury cricket bats.
The cricket season is starting on a high note for Hamilton Hill couple Paul and Sally Bradbury.
The couple, who design and manufacture bats for top-class cricketers around the world, have taken out the award for best bat in a British competition run by the Professional Cricketers Association magazine All Out Cricket.
Big-name England players including Graeme Hick and Mark Butcher tested the bats.
The couple started their company, Bradbury Cricket, in 1993.
Mr Bradbury played district cricket for local club Fremantle for many years.
While playing, he was looking for a local bat maker who could turn his heavy bat into a lightweight version.
Friend and Perth cricket identity Kevin Gartrell referred Mr Bradbury to a local bat maker.
Two weeks later the company hired Mr Bradbury as an apprentice bat maker.
His wife, a former State player, is the only woman in Australia who makes bats for a living. "There is one other woman (in England) who does," she said.
They have made bats for many cricketing legends, including Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
Article website
By John Townsend
WHEN Steve Waugh held his clean skin bat aloft after scoring a century at Edgbaston, it was a blade made by Fremantle podshaver Paul Bradbury.
Ricky Ponting, who uses Bradbury willow with different livery, is hoping to do likewise at Trent Bridge.
Two other Australian batsmen have recently road tested the bats and are now considering following suit.
In the superstitious world of cricket equipment, where Waugh has carried the same ragged red hanky in his pocket for a decade, there should be no surprise that players are so critically interested in the tools of their trade.
For all the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars they receive for endorsing certain bats, many players will use a rival product if it feels better and will bring them a few more runs.
It is an open secret in cricket circles, with players happy because they are both being paid handsomely and using the bats they want. Manufacturers are content at the massive exposure that comes from their logos being shown on television, and the bat maker, though unable to make an impact on the mass market, is satisfied that the world's best players want his work.
"If a player comes to me and wants to buy one of my bats, I will sell it to him" Bradbury shrugged. "What they do with it is their business".
Bradbury, who is still playing WACA grade cricket with Fremantle, has just returned to the place where his bat - making, or podshaving, apprenticeship started 11years ago under Julian Millichamp, another batmaker who went the opposite way by moving from Somerset to Perth. Bradbury and his wife Sally, who also make bats, have moved into the old barn on a farm at East Lydeard, just outside Taunton, where they spend half the year working to supply the English market.
Bradbury is also playing league cricket at Exeter in Devon while the couple's three children are becoming accustomed to the jet setting lifestyle.
The Australian summer is spent at home in Fremantle where hundreds of more bats are turned out from the pods of willow he selects in England
Using ancient techniques - old cattle shinbones are used to provide the final polish to the face of the bats - he turns rough chunks of wood into gleaming works of art.
There is something aesthetically pleasing to the eye and hand about a pristine bat, its potential for cracking cover drives and meaty pulls still unrealised but its balance, or pick-up, promising plenty of both.
Mind you, Bradbury has had one unusual request. That was from young British artist Damien Hirst, famous for his installations of animals in formaldehyde, who walked into the old barn and asked for a roughly hewn bat.
"He wanted an unfinished bat stamped 666," Bradbury said. "We stamp and log every bat made but this was a special request and we made it up for him".
"Goodness knows what he wanted to do with it - stuff it in a vat of some sort of goo I suppose".
Most sales are strictly orthodox, with Test or State players being good value because they often buy several bats at a time.
Bradbury also has another iron in the fire and may stand to benefit from changes to International Cricket Council bat endorsement rules.
Unlike his teammates, Steve Waugh's bare bat indicates he does not have a bat contract as he waits to see if the rules are relaxed to allow non - manufacturers to advertise.
Brian Lara has already used a gambling company's logo on his bat while Sachin Tendulkar, who has a lucrative sponsorship with the Madras Rubber Factory, can use bats with their emblem because they set up a bat making arm simply to meet the ICC rules.
Waugh knows that his potential market value is enormous and is prepared to forego a series without a sponsor in a bid to sign a bigger deal in the future.
If a major company is then allowed to advertise on Waugh's, or other players', bats, it may be required to manufacture a certain number of bats - opening the door for the likes of Bradbury to provide the product.
By Jonathan Gifford
ABC Radio Perth
With another Ashes series upon us, vision of batsmen wielding willow blades will again be everywhere, but how are those powerful slices of wood transformed from tree to bat?
Breakfast Reporter Jonathan Gifford went to WA's only manufacturers of hand-made cricket bats to get an insight in to how these it all happens.
It takes the skill of a craftsman and the ear of a musician, making the perfect cricket bat and a good piece of willow helps as well.
Naturally the little factory was full of stacks of willow and also a century-old (no pun intended) wooden bat press used to harden the bats.
Paul and Sally Bradbury showed how they hit the bats with a wooden mallet to hear whether the willow has what it takes for top cricketers to hit sixes and fours.
Sally described the process and it's been suggested that she is the only female cricket bat maker in Australia and maybe the world!
listen:
Every year, UK based magazine All Out Cricket conducts
a blind test of cricket bats. This year 110 bats had all labels removed and were subjected to testing by notable cricket professionals. Read how Bradbury came out on top, this was achieved without contributing any advertising to the magazine.
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article image
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Bat Care
Assessment Guide:
We receive return requests for cricket bats unnecessarily as due to the nature of the sport, cracks, dents and bruising are inevitable and will not affect the playing qualities of the bat.
Please take a look at the pictures below
(click for full size, click to exit):
Multiple/Surface crack
Edge cracking
Toe dent/cracks
As soon as the bat leaves the workshop, it will be subject to wear and tear. Bats will also be supplied ready play in Australia, to lessen the possibility of damage due to inappropriate preparation. These bats should still be knocked in.
All staff at Bradbury have played cricket long enough to make an accurate assessment of what has happened to a cricket bat.
Willow is by its very nature, a soft wood, that when pressed, provides the rebound qualities required to strike the ball. Some small cracks are bound to occur on the bat, due to wear and tear, these will not effect its performance.
CHEAP BALLS are less resilient than well made, reputable brands. To use them is false economy. Basically, cheap balls will damage your bat in a very short time.
USE PROTECTIVE FACING. This is a prime example where modern technology provides an exceptional solution to an old problem. In the OLD days, oiling with linseed oil over a prolonged period of time, married with countless hours of knocking in was required to prepare and season the willow prior to match play. We do not recommend more than one very light coat of oil. When this is dry, apply a protective facing. Then begin the knocking in process.
Bat willow is soft and light, but hardens when subjected to pressing with rollers, or hand hammering. The knocking in process aims to gradually stretch and press the fibres of the willow- like wearing in a pair of new leather boots.
To ensure a long lasting future, the bat should be gradually knocked in with soft, old balls- with controlled hitting. Gradually progress to newer balls. Avoid bowling machine practice until the bat is well knocked in. If seam marks are visable, knocking in is not complete. An accurate time frame cannot be put on this process, however, the greater time spent on knocking in, the greater the likelihood of a longer lasting bat.
A guarantee is honoured against the workmanship and materials, when the bat is used in a proper and responsible manner, within the first season (this is not a 12 month period). Water damage to toes causes cracking, yorkers and edges will cause additional damage that is not covered under warranty. A toe guard fitted will go a long way towards protecting against severe water damage- though best action is to keep the toe dry. Despite the elements- the most major cause of excessive damage is cheap cricket balls, particularly in the UK. Cheap balls are so hard, no bat maker can protect against them.
Proof of purchase (receipt) must be provided to the original place of purchase before any warranty work is considered.
All warranty claims MUST be returned to the place of purchase, with receipt of original purchase. It is here where the first assessment will be made.
If your bat looks like any of the above pictures, the damage to your bat is normal and acceptable as normal wear and tear.
Irrespective of make or finish of a bat, superficial face and edge marks will almost certainly appear, together with indentations or bruising of the willow. In these circumstances there is no need to worry as the durability and performance of the bat will be unaffected.
Bats returned to us by worried and sometimes ill-advised customers, in a similar condition to the pictures, are not complaints due to manufacture but merely reactions of willow.
THE DAMAGE TO YOUR BAT CAN BE ADDRESSED WITH PVA GLUE AND BAT TAPE.
THIS WILL NOT AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BAT.
Bradbury love hearing from you about memorable performances. For the next three months, we will be featuring our favourite shots as well as your favourites, in Pick of the week .
Each week Bradbury will pick three favourites out of the pictures you submit. The picture with the most votes will be awarded a place in the final 10.
In April we will announce an overall winner out of the final 10, who will win full Bradbury kit , regardless of age, ability or level of cricket played.
Using the form on the right, submit your favourite picture of you or someone you know using a Bradbury bat or gear. Add a title and caption. Anyone can enter as well as vote on their favourite entry.
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Defensive Shot Opening
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Sam
A bouncer is Hooked over fine leg's head for a maximum.
Lachlan
Representing Western Spirit under14's in the 2012 Victorian Pathway championships.
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