Country diary: The slow magic of growing a cricket bat from scratch | Michael White

Cranbrook, Kent: We are felling a crop of willow trees that have managed to survive their nemesis – the grey squirrel – and are destined for the batter’s gripAs the thwack of leather on willow fades from village greens with the waning of the cricket season, a new sound, perhaps less evocative of the country idyll, fills our little valley. Toppled willow trees rip through the canopies of their doomed neighbours, and drop with dull thuds to the angry screams of chainsaws.To