Interview with Ed Garrard, J.N. Garrard Head Bat Maker

Yesterday, I interviewed Ed Garrard, the Head Bat Maker at J.N. Garrard. Ed spoke to me from their newly extended workshop, which originated as the family’s workshop on their farm in Suffolk. J.N. Garrard are one of the country’s best-renowned bat makers and all cricket bats are handmade, by Ed himself, from English Willow, which is locally sourced from Foskett Willows in Suffolk. 

Origin Story
J.N. Garrard was founded in 2015, by school friends, Edward Garrard and Liam Flack. Before starting J.N. Garrard, Ed would often repair and refurbish cricket bats of friends at his local club and as a boy would help his dad with woodwork in the family workshop. This combined with a fascination with bat making which Ed has held since he was a boy, provided the perfect recipe to start J.N. Garrard and since launch, the business has gone from strength to strength. Benefitting from the tight-knit Suffolk cricketing community and beyond, with a strong social media following, Ed’s handmade English Willow Cricket Bats are prized by cricketers across the UK. 

Design Process
In addition to handcrafting every cricket bat, Ed also designs the bat stickers and has done so since launch. The very first J.N. Garrard bat stickers were designed in Microsoft Word and as the bats have since advanced, so too have the stickers, with J.N. Garrard maintaining a traditional elegance in their stickers coupled with a clean design which really stands out.

The softs follow the same principle, with an all-white design offset with black, ‘G&F’’ branding maintaining the traditional feel throughout the entire range. Following the classic styling of the J.N. Garrard range, the names of the range reflect this. Garrard & Flack’s premier cricket bats, handpicked by Ed Garrard himself, are the “J.N. Garrard - Special Stock” range. The three other bats in the 2020 range are the “Series 1”, “2.20” and “2.3.2”, with the latter two names referring to the distance from the highest point in the spine of the bat, down to the toe. 

Looking Forward
Whilst the 2020 cricket season has been postponed, sales for J.N. Garrard have remained stable which is a testament to the quality of the bats and strength of the brand that Ed has developed over the past 5 years. Looking forward Ed’s focus remains on bat making and maintaining a fully customised bat service, providing each customer of J.N. Garrard with a unique cricket bat experience. 

The Cricket Store is proud to partner with J.N. Garrard and aligns with Ed’s philosophy of bat making. When you order a J.N. Garrard cricket bat on The Cricket Store, you can schedule a bat consultation with Ed, to ensure the perfect bat is selected for you. This service is unique to The Cricket Store and is one that we offer to all customers in partnership with J.N. Garrard. 

You can browse & order the entire J.N. Garrard 2021 range on The Cricket Store, here & if you would like to learn more about J.N. Garrard, my interview with Head Bat Maker, Ed Garrard is linked here. 

Get 5% of the J.N. Garrard 2021 range with promo code: G&F5