{
    "id": "4552",
    "author": "13",
    "cnmid": "0",
    "title": "New Zealand bat maker's India connect: Tendulkar, Dravid and more",
    "lang": "en",
    "series": "0",
    "cup_year": "2000",
    "article_type": "Spacial",
    "excerpt": "Nestled in Waipawa, a small town in Hawke's Bay in North Island, a region famous for its wines, James Laver has been carving",
    "subtype": "",
    "editor1": "<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">Hawke&#39;s Bay (New Zealand), Nov 18 (IANS) Nestled in Waipawa, a small town in Hawke&#39;s Bay in North Island, a region famous for its wines, James Laver has been carving many a cricketing dream - literally! With two decades&#39; experience in making customised bats and a clientele of greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara, the master craftsman says almost 60 percent of his customers are Indian.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">This, considering that India itself is one of the leading manufacturers of cricket bats in the world. But Laver offers an edge over most under his brand Laver &amp; Wood.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">He agrees that quality of manufacture in mass production of cricket bats has changed dramatically over the past 20 years, but said that a customised bat ensures a cricketer gets something suitable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">Laver, an expert in shaving and shaping the blade of a bat, himself hand-crafts each piece individually to suit a customer&#39;s specifications after carefully understanding and reviewing the requirements laid down.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">What&#39;s more, this can be done by phone, email or even over a Facebook chat.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">Months ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup, IANS met the man with a towering personality - well, he stands tall at 6&#39; 5&quot; for a walk and talk at the sprawling Te Awanga, where amidst multiple hectares lie green pastures, mountains, sheep and cattle, is a uniquely situated and awe-inspiring cricket pitch for members of a Clifton County Cricket Club.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">&quot;Most customers of my bats, say 60 percent of them, would be from India...actually from Indians across the world. Apart from quite a few in India, there are a lot of Indian expats too,&quot; Laver, who once visited India as a teenager, told this visiting IANS correspondent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">&quot;I&#39;d love to visit the country again. I have a few bats from India as I&#39;ve some friends who send them for me to test. I&rsquo;ve always liked the techniques of how bats are made in India.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">&quot;But some Indian bat makers send them to me to check what&#39;s right or wrong about them. So, we do some consultancy on bats as well,&quot; the 42-year-old said during the tete-a-tete on a bright, sunny and windy afternoon here, just days after the World Cup trophy toured Napier, one of the cities which will host matches here next year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">Laver&#39;s clients range from those who play social cricket to those who play in good leagues and of course those who play first-class cricket. And Indians apart, cricket lovers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brazil and Hong Kong are also a good market for the bat-maker.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">But as he rightly describes it, it&#39;s &quot;people who want something a little more special and personalised&quot;.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">&quot;In the past, I&#39;ve done bats for Brian Lara, (Sachin) Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and a lot of Sri Lankan players. Sachin has used my bats for the past few years. Sanath Jayasuriya has been a very good customer of ours, apart from Mahela Jayawardene,&quot; he said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">In fact, Jayasuriya scored a double ton in a 1998 England-Sri Lanka match with a bat crafted by Laver.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">&quot;It was the first bat I made for him. He still has that bat and always had me make the same bat specifications until his retirement,&quot; he recollected.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">Laver is definite about ending up with &quot;a lot of trade&quot; during the upcoming World Cup, courtesy the players&#39; last minute rush - which by now he&#39;s quite used to.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">He estimates he would have hand-crafted nearly 40,000 bats in his 20-year love story with bat making, before which he was inclined towards carving furniture and random items using wood.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px\"><span style=\"font-family:arial\">A qualified construction engineer, Laver, who was brought up in Kenya and briefly in the Solomon Islands, took up a related job in 1990 in Britain. But when recession struck, he changed track to start a new career in 1991 as a bat maker. He worked as an apprentice with bat maker Millichamp and Hall in Somerset, before moving to New Zealand in 1998 to set up Laver &amp; Wood in 1999.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n",
    "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2015\/02\/sachin-tendulkar31.jpg",
    "alt_img": "sachin tendulkar",
    "alt_title": "sachin tendulkar",
    "image1": "",
    "video": "",
    "seo_title": "New Zealand bat maker's India connect: Tendulkar, Dravid and more",
    "seo_desc": "Nestled in Waipawa, a small town in Hawke's Bay in North Island, a region famous for its wines, James Laver has been carving",
    "seo_keywords": "Tendulkar, Dravid",
    "tag": "",
    "tagging": "",
    "status": "1",
    "img_rpt": "0",
    "google": "0",
    "standout": "0",
    "edapps": "0",
    "pulse": "0",
    "no_index": "0",
    "feed": "0",
    "fixture": "0",
    "slug": "new-zealand-bat-maker-s-india-connect-tendulkar-dravid-and-more",
    "user_id": "0",
    "read_count": "0",
    "ians_date": "0000-00-00",
    "ians_time": "00:00:00",
    "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
    "trash": "0",
    "view_count": "60954",
    "page_break": "0",
    "instant_articles": "0",
    "auto_link": "0",
    "created": "2015-02-11 00:24:00",
    "updated": "2015-02-11 00:24:00",
    "img_from": "",
    "img_source": "",
    "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
    "news_keywords": null,
    "livescore_text": null,
    "livescore_link": null,
    "btn_text": null,
    "resend_feed": "0",
    "google_feed": "0",
    "read_more": "0",
    "posted_by": "1",
    "jio_date": "2015-02-11 00:24:00",
    "scheduled": "0",
    "news_now": "1",
    "breaking_news": "0",
    "google_date": "2015-02-11 00:24:00",
    "featured": "0",
    "pred_match_id": null,
    "article_content_type": null,
    "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-special\/new-zealand-bat-maker-s-india-connect-tendulkar-dravid-and-more-4552"
}