Bat-making pair bowled over by award

The cricket season is starting on a high note for Hamilton Hill couple Paul and Sally Bradbury.

The couple, who design and manufacture bats for top-class cricketers around the world, have taken out the award for best bat in a British competition run by the Professional Cricketers Association magazine All Out Cricket.

Big-name England players including Graeme Hick and Mark Butcher tested the bats.

The couple started their company, Bradbury Cricket, in 1993.

Mr Bradbury played district cricket for local club Fremantle for many years.

While playing, he was looking for a local bat maker who could turn his heavy bat into a lightweight version.

Friend and Perth cricket identity Kevin Gartrell referred Mr Bradbury to a local bat maker.

Two weeks later the company hired Mr Bradbury as an apprentice bat maker.

His wife, a former State player, is the only woman in Australia who makes bats for a living. "There is one other woman (in England) who does," she said.