The ethicality of the English Cricket Bat Willow industry
As the world’s oldest and largest supplier of English cricket bat willow we have a responsibility to maintain ethical and sustainable practices to preserve the future of this wonderful industry. Even after 131 years in business we still maintain numerous practices that help to protect our clients and customers, the cricket willow industry, and ourselves.
Sustainable and timely re-planting
We adopt a ‘three for one’ policy when it comes to re-planting willow trees. Essentially, we will always plant three trees for every one we harvest. This ensures that there will be a steady supply of high-quality willow trees for the foreseeable future. We also pride ourselves on re-planting felled trees the winter following harvest, maximising potential income for our growers as they don’t lose out on growing seasons.
Only ever English Cricket Bat Willow
We firmly believe English Cricket Bat Willow is the best type of timber for making cricket bats, and customers come to us because they trust our strict grading policy which ensures the highest quality. We will never supply inferior European willow; our customers know their willow from J S Wright & Sons is 100% English.
Honouring every agreement
We will always pay exactly what we offer for trees. Offering to pay on turnout, offering 50/50 contracts, and paying for selected trees once they have been felled and removed are unfortunately increasingly common practice in the industry; we feel it is more important than ever to pay exactly what we have offered.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
We routinely remove dead, damaged, diseased, and non-commercially viable trees at our own expense to ensure our clients have well-stocked plantations of saleable trees for the future. We also take care to ensure minimal disturbance during harvest.
Playing with a straight bat
When working with JSW you can be sure that all boxes have been ticked when it comes to rules and regulations. We ensure we have felling licences and waste exemption certificates in place before any felling work is carried out.
We also ‘do our bit’ when it comes to recycling processing waste, with wood chip and sawdust both being used.
Working with landowners
Arguably our most important practice – and certainly the one we are most proud of – is the way that we maintain strong working relationships with landowners, ensuring they get the most from their land. We set up rolling felling programmes to ensure a regular income, provide free advice on planting and felling, as well as maintaining trees with no annual fee.