GEELONG’S BAT MAN MASTERS OLD ART
IN Geelong’s newest suburb, Brent Smith makes cricket bats the old-fashioned way.
With an antique draw knife and a sturdy vice, he shaves away at rough blocks of English willow in the garage of his Armstrong Creek home.
This is the 30-year-old new dad’s happy place. The sanctuary where he turned an interest into an obsession, then a collection and hobby into a part-time business.
Ever since he got interested in cricket as a primary schooler in Waurn Ponds, Brent has been captivated by bats.
He spent hours in De Grandi sports store tapping them against his toe and swinging shadow drives and pull shots, and even more time with his head buried in catalogues from the warehouse stores.
This fascination is familiar to most cricketers and those who love them.
It’s been drummed into their brains by the echoing beat of a new bat being knocked in.
But not many take their fixation as far as Brent.
Father Christmas delivered his first proper bat when he was 11. It was the exact brand and model he wanted.
But when he picked it up it didn’t feel quite right. The ‘balance’ was wrong. In his own words he was “devastated”.
Like a surfer searching for a bitchin’ board or an epic wave, he spent the following 15 years trying to find a bat with a perfect pick-up.
The quest led to the creation of Hummingbird Cricket.
“I’d never had a custommade bat. But I was getting very picky, and I wanted my bat to be just the way I wanted it,” Brent explained.
A disability worker, Brent never studied woodwork at Grovedale College. But his worship for willow led him to some of Victoria’s master batmakers.
He asked lots of questions, found ageing tools online and in dusty second-hand stores, and taught himself the art of pod shaving (traditional cricket bat-making).
He started out repairing bats for his teammates at Anglesea Cricket Club, but was soon scouring the internet for English willow.
“I didn’t even know I was starting it. One day I was sitting in the lounge looking up where to get wood from,” he recalls.
“Next thing I know the delivery guy is on the doorstep asking me to sign for my order.”
‘Clefts’ — the large, rough chunks of wood that later become bats — come to Hummingbird HQ in suburban Armstrong Creek from Kent, where the first known game of cricket was played more than 350 years ago.
The wood is ‘spliced’ by a friend in Melbourne and the handle inserted before Brent gets to work whittling the willow with his old tools.
“It’s nice to get in the shed, put some music on, and just zone out,” he says
“I reckon I wrecked about six bats before I made one I was happy with, but I’ve got the hang of it now.”
Showing a keen eye for graphic design and encouraged by a mate, he came up with the Hummingbird brand and logo after a few beers, and now makes about 10 bats a year.
Teammates at Anglesea are his most loyal customers but there are a few other devotees around the Geelong comps and throughout regional Victoria.
A few have even been shipped to discerning batsmen in Queensland.
His premade bats sell for $450 or $550, depending on the willow, while it costs a little more to have a bat made to order.
Each purchase comes with a full-length cover and tin of Hummingbird’s own bat wax.
“Too many people buy their bats off the cosmetics, but the best advice is to go for feel. If you find the right bat you’ll know when you pick it up,” he says.
“There’s nothing better than looking down when you’re taking guard and having the confidence that you’ve got a good bat.”
That said, he admits freely a bat can only do so much.
“I’m just an average local cricketer,” he says with a smile.
“You could give me Steve Smith’s bat, but I’d still be no good with it. It’s just that I love cricket bats.
“I’m not trying to make a proper business out of this. I don’t ever want to feel it’s a job. It’s just something that is fun and that I’m passionate about.”