The St Ives Cricket Bat Company was formed in the summer of 2021 by Andi Thwaites.  A cricket fanatic Andi has been playing cricket since the age of 10 and has been working on cricket bats since not long after that.

The fascination with refurbishing and repairing cricket bats started when he borrowed his Mum’s electric sander to strip back his first ever ‘proper’ cricket bat, an Open Championship ‘Club’ (pictured below).  It was an obsession that stuck, he was soon driving his Mum mad by constantly using up all of her sandpaper on various bats.

The interest in cricket bats was supplemented by a chance temporary job secured in his first summer holiday from University, at bat making giant Gray Nicolls.  Although only employed as a general assistant in the warehouse when he was not stacking shelves or sweeping the floor Andi could be found boring the bat makers with his constant questions.

Emboldened with his new found knowledge Thwaites returned to University and set about repairing and refurbishing a number of his friend’s bats, often taking payment in pints rather than pounds.

After finishing University in 2004 Andi became ‘that guy’ in the cricket changing room, whether it was fitting a new grip, repairing face cracks or putting on a toe guard, his team mates knew who to go to when their bats needed some love and affection.

With nearly 30 years of experience Andi has decided that now is the time to try to make a living from his passion for cricket bats.  So if your bat is in need of a little bit of attention why not give the St Ives Cricket Bat Company a try?