Photos essay- Inside Indian cricket equipment factory

[Mr_Rat]

I had it bookmarked long time ago and thought you guys would enjoy it. I think their logo should be on the bats too! Sponsors logos have resulted in actual manufacturer's logo biting the dust. http://totallycoolpix.com/2011/02/inside-a-cricket-equipment-factory/ Lot of hard work compared to western bat manufacturers.

[shoki]

u r right

[ludhianvi]

Amazing pictures and considering how it's done all manually..superb

[shoki]

hand made bats are much better thn others

[Mr_Rat]

I thought more people would be interested in this thread :hitler::punter:

[Jersey #10]

I agree, the real manufacturer should get some sort of a mention on the equipment. You can't really blame the big brand name companies without whom the equipment would not sell. Manufacturing and marketing always go hand in hand so it's quite important to have those big name stickers on the bats and balls. IMO, the real manufacturers should have a very tiny logo in some corner of the equipment just like the painters get to write their name in small fonts in one of the corners.

[veer]

wow.. most of it is hand made.. working conditions isnt that gud though..

[Sir_Afridi]

Dhoni & Sachin must give bonus to all these workers.

[apuk79]

really good pics they say english willow is better than kashmir willow that true?? i mean is tendulkar adidas like some other make with just adidas stickers on it??

[Mr_Rat]

really good pics they say english willow is better than kashmir willow that true?? i mean is tendulkar adidas like some other make with just adidas stickers on it??

Yeah main sponsors I think just put a sticker on it. I think there is or was a rule about it but not sure any more. I remember reading Yuvraj and Veeru use Kashmiri willow. I think the main difference is that English willow is lighter compared to heavier Kashmiri willow. ______ Edit- These BDM bats are stripped of their original logos and rebranded by big companies who sponsor the world's cricket stars. Meerut, India – When the world's batsmen dazzle crowds at this month's cricket World Cup, many will use bats hand-made in India. But lucrative global branding that masks the bats' true makers threatens the country's craftsmen. In cricket-mad India, family businesses that have supplied the country's leading cricketers for generations face an uncertain future of anonymity as global giants swamp the game with cash in exchange for TV-friendly logos on the big-hitters' bats. “Buying players with advertising is far cheaper than investing in making bats. We are crafting bats, they are using stickers. They are ruining our brands, because we cannot afford to give that kind of money, those royalties to the players,†says Rakesh Mahajan, director of B.D. Mahajan and Sons (BDM). In his dust-filled workshop in the northern Indian city of Meerut, dozens of workers cut, glue, sand and bend hundreds of bats everyday to the exact specifications of international superstars, who rely on their decades-old techniques. “Sponsorship is no harm, but removing the manufacturer's branding is not fair. We are building the bats, but people are not recognising us: the sponsors are taking the credit,†says Mahajan. Sat in his wood-paneled office, over the sounds of sawing and banging below, Mahajan proudly shows photos of players using BDM bats. But the pictures are undeniably dated: Former superstars carry the logo, but the current crop have followed the money. “We have no issue with Gray Nicholls, or Kookaburra,†says Mahajan, referring to the long-established UK and Australia-based equipment manufacturers. “The problem is Nike, Reebok, Adidas, people like Brittania and Hero Honda. They make biscuits and motorbikes, not bats!†BDM employs 300 people in its two factories in Meerut, 80 kilometres north-east of Delhi, where hundreds of sports companies gather at a major hub in the country's estimated 10 billion rupee ($219 million) cricket equipment market. Wood shavings carpet the stone floor of the bat workshop, where scores of workers squat, filing the edges of countless bats to a smooth finish under towers of willow planks and cane handles that climb to the ceiling. Boxes of finished bats pile up in every direction from the factory entrance, ready to be distributed across India and the world to global superstars, academy players and amateur batsmen. Despite Mahajan's fear of cricket's commercialisation, which exploded with the launch of the billion-dollar Indian Premier League in 2008 that sent player wages and TV rights skyrocketing, he admits the globally-viewed World Cup is good for business. Demand is strong, and Mahajan's sparkling 4x4 on the dusty lane that runs through the industrial estate filled with sports manufacturers attests to BDM's 10-15 percent annual growth. With the first match just weeks away, the factory is churning out 1,200 bats a day for its largest ever order, and to meet soaring demands from schools and local authorities, while sacks are stuffed full of cricket balls branded with carmaker logos for promotional release during the tournament, which begins February 19. The company produces an average of 150,000 bats and 220,000 balls every year, using willow from England and India's northern Kashmir region. Ten percent of its products are exported, mainly to the cricket heartlands of the UK, Australia and Pakistan. English willow bats sell for 12,000 rupees ($263), while those made from Kashmiri wood range between 500 and 1,200 rupees ($11-$26). BDM's balls cost retailers 60-600 rupees ($1.30-$13). “For the top bats, willow is imported from England, and cane for the handle is imported from Singapore. From India comes the labour and the technique,†says Mahajan. His is a very local operation. Having filled its dingy ball factory, BDM has turned to local villagers, who collect scores of unstitched balls and return with the finished products a few days later, which will be used in professional matches across the country. Yet when these balls are smashed around stadiums by India's top batsmen, hundreds of millions of adoring young fans will see the logos of international sports brands and other firms, rather than the domestic producers such as BDM, and its Meerut-based competitors Sanspareils Greenlands and Sareen Sports Industries. They still count global superstars as customers. In the factory's reception, a huge kit bag stuffed full of BDM equipment sits ready to be delivered. The name of Sanath Jayasuria, Sri Lanka's big-hitting all rounder, is emblazoned across the top in shining silver letters. “The top players come in and want to feel the wood before we make their bats. They want to test the quality, thickness and the speed that the ball comes off it,†says Lalit Verma, factory supervisor. “They know we can give them what they want.†“We are the leaders, the pioneers in this country,†says Mahajan defiantly. “Reebok is here, Nike is here, but our business is growing, because the right people know who the real manufacturers are.†– Reuters

[Mr_Rat]

The success of Indian Premier League (IPL), where the franchise owners splashed millions of dollars to acquire their favourite players this weekend, is having a positive effect on the cricket bat manufacturing industry in Kashmir as well. As the IPL bandwagon spread to two more cities -- Pune and Kochi -- in the fourth edition, the manufacturers are hopeful that the league's expansion will translate into more orders for cricket bats this winter. The cricket bat sector in Kashmir Valley has more than 200 units, both registered and unregistered, with a collective turnover of over Rs 10 crore per year. "The IPL has been a huge bonanza for our sector as the number of bats sold since the inception of the league has gone up. We are expecting more orders from cities like Pune and Kochi this year as these cities will be featuring also," Abdul Majeed Dar, the president of the cricket bat manufacturers' association, said. Dar said over the past three years, the bat manufacturers have expanded their dealings directly to cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad and Jaipur. "Cricket is undoubtedly the number one followed sport in every city and town of India but our business dealings were mostly restricted to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and to some extent Bangalore. Now we have enquiries from other areas like Baroda and Indore as well," he said. Feroze Ahmad, who has a bat manufacturing unit in this highway town, 40 kms from Srinagar, said although the first three months of the year were generally low on sales as the students across the country were busy with annual examinations, the IPL has changed that. "Since the IPL is held in the months of March, April and May, the dealers from across the country place advance orders so that they can cash on the popularity of cricket following the conclusion of the event, which coincides with school holidays," Ahmad said. While the things look rosy for the bat manufacturing units, which provide direct and indirect employment to nearly 15,000 people in the Valley, they have many worries to take care of. Smuggling of clefts, the raw material for bats, and dwindling plantation of willow trees are just two of these. "Thousands of clefts are illegally smuggled to some cities in neighbouring Punjab even after the state government imposed a ban on the practice. This has caused a major dent in our earnings as the processing units have better seasoning facilities at their disposal in Punjab which results in a better product," Dar said. He said the state government has installed a seasoning unit in Sangam area, where most of the units are located, but it has not been made functional yet. The mushrooming of plyboard peeling units in the Valley has also led to decline in growing of willow trees, considered best after English willow. "The Poplars grow faster and bring better returns to the farmers from the peeling units. The farmers are now focusing on growing the Poplars only," Dar said. With demand for bats rising every year and the supply of raw material dropping sharply, the cricket bats are going to be expensive in coming years, he said.