There's a cliché about blokes hitting their 40s and becoming obsessed with either smoking meats or woodworking. I love a good brisket, so it came as a bit of a shock to those who know me when I said I'd started trying my hand at woodworking, specifically the art of podshaving; cricket bat making.

I can't pinpoint a moment in my life where I fell in love with cricket; whenever I cast my mind back I can't remember a time where I didn't love the game. That love has taken many forms over the years, from playing to watching, reading, learning, pouring over stats and old scorecards. Around 2010, in my late 20s, I started to nerd out about bats specifically; how they look, how they feel in the hand, and especially the art and craft of how they're made.

I stepped away from playing after becoming a father and then suffering a back injury; that injury reoccurred more seriously in recent years and required surgery and a long rehab to get over. After not being able to walk for six months pre-surgery, I never thought I'd be able to play the game I love so dearly again, but in January 2025, after 10 years away from the middle, I returned to my old club. 

The thought of making my own bats never left me during this time, and after years of saying "I'd love to do that", I considered what I'd come through to not just be back playing this dear game, but also being able to bowl again!, and instead said to myself, "You're going to do it". And here we are.

Based in Baldivis, WA, the purpose of Wedge Tail Willow is to take my love and fixation for cricket and channel it into something creative and fun. Wanting an icon with a West Australian connection to represent what I am doing, I settled on the wedge-tailed eagle for the feeling of awe, majesty and power they invoke when I occasionally see them soaring around the suburb. And hey, it doesn't hurt that the eagle itself, and particularly that distinctive wedged tail, lends itself to some cool imagery when it came to designing livery and logos.