There are a pile of willow trees not very far from the River Thames and Abingdon Vale Cricket Club. All have been marked with the same identifier.

A notice says they are Cricket Bat Willows (Salix Alba Caerulean). So these uniform, light coloured, trees with tight grain are ideal for bats. Each tree can take about 20 years to grow, and can provide enough wood for between 25 and 50 bats.

Cricket bats are graded, but being made of a natural product each is different. Some will fetch a high prices for test players, others will be sold for cricket on the beach . It would be nice to think some of these trees will be used at the nearby Abingdon Vale Cricket Club.