Charlie French Bats cricket sale evening
by Alan Rowley, 2nd April 2004

Charlie French, proprietor of CF Sports, is exhibiting his products at cricket sales prior to the start of the season. If you are looking for a new bat, drop in at one of these sales and pick up a bargain. Charlie is giving purchasers a chance to get a feel of the bat before buying and bagging savings of up to £25

'the follow on' caught up with Charlie at Willows on Thursday evening. The former Welbeck Colliery skipper is the second of five cricketing brothers the most famous being Notts and former England keeper Bruce. A former miner, Charlie took redundancy back in 1991 and set up his bat making business. He soon discovered a demand for competitively priced quality custom built cricket bats, especially amongst the new breed of young players.

Charlie was selling all four bats in his range.

Recurve

The Recurve is made from the finest air dried English willow and because of the generous hitting area is usually only available in weights above 2lb 10oz. More ...

Odyssey

Made from the very finest air dried English willow, the Odyssey is a completely unique profiled blade designed to give the largest hitting area of any bat. The apex of the bat stretches for an amazing 11.5 inches, with the balance being maintained by a series of grooves cut into the back. More ...

Tourist

Exclusive top of the range bat made from the finest air dried willow clefts individually selected. Entirely hand made from start to finish and is available off the shelf or made to your requirements. More ...

Custom 2000

A five star bat completely hand made from start to finish of the finest kiln dried English willow handmade to the same specification as the Tourist. Either off the shelf or made to measure. Excellent value for money. More ...

As well as bats, French also sells gloves, clothing and other cricket accessories. You can find more details on Charlie's website at www.cfbats.co.uk. Details of how to order can be found on the site, and if you need to contact Charlie, you can telephone him on 01623 846184 or email him at charlie@cfbats.co.uk. You are also welcome to visit his Nottinghamshire workshop. To arrange a visit, give Charlie a ring.

If you want to catch Charlie at one of his sales, you can find him at Welbeck Cricket Club on Sunday 4th April between 10:00am and 3:00pm. He will also be at the England v Sri Lanka Indoor Cricket international at Willows Sports Centre, Willow Row, Derby on Saturday 17th April, starting at 7:30pm. Admission to this game is free.