Batting for Change: Repair and Reuse Take Root in Local Cricket

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In a small workshop in Haywards Heath, cricket bats are being restored to life. Barney Morris,
better known as Barney Bats, repairs around 50 damaged bats each week. After a busy
weekend of matches, his workbench can resemble a triage unit as bats arrive in need of care
and attention.

Morris, who runs the cricket department at Wisdom Sports in town, is on a mission to prove
that a cracked bat need not be discarded. His passion began when he started fixing senior bats
for junior players, driven by the high cost of new kit. “The price of cricket bat willow means
getting a good bat is really expensive,” he explained. “Now I get donated adult bats which I can
repair and resize for children and I can sell them at a fraction of the cost of a new bat.”

This local reuse initiative reflects a growing shift towards circularity in sport. The
Farnham-based Centre for Sustainable Design (CfSD) recently coordinated Cricket Gear Reuse
(CGR) pilot schemes in the Farnham area of Surrey and in Wandsworth, South London. In
summer 2024, clubs collected and redistributed over 500 items including bats, pads, gloves
and shirts that might otherwise have ended up unused or in landfill. These schemes saved
approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and diverted over 100 kilograms of gear from the
waste stream. The items of kit were collected, checked and sorted through drop-off points at
local cricket clubs and at a convenience store and then redistributed to state schools, young
players and an Afghan refugee.

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Socks displayed on pebblesBrighton Socks

The Trouble With Sustainability

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Socks displayed on pebblesby Amanda Law, the Brighton Socks Company

 Having coffee with an old friend in Brighton’s North Laine recently, the conversation quickly, and inevitably, turned to the climate crisis. Many of my conversations do these days, especially when discussing my small business, the Brighton Socks Company. My friend and I agreed, without question, on the need for sustainability across the business. But what happened next took me by surprise.

“What do you actually mean by sustainability?” my friend asked, with genuine curiosity and a hint of devil’s advocacy. The question, loaded with trepidation and intrigue, sat silently in the otherwise bustling café for just a little longer than I would have liked. Here I was, running a “sustainable” business, yet struggling to articulate a suitable response. So I did what I normally do when faced with a conundrum and reached for my phone – before nose diving down an internet rabbit hole.

The dictionary defines sustainability as “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level” or “the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.” Simple enough, yet when applied to the messy realities of running a business, I had a sense that these rather basic definitions may quickly reveal their limitations. My search continued.

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