What Overseas Buyers Should Consider When Ordering a Custom Bat from Laver & Wood

Laver & Wood is a New Zealand bat maker based in Napier, Hawkes Bay, that has been hand-crafting custom cricket bats since 1999 and ships internationally. If you are ordering from overseas, the main things to plan around are getting your sizing and specification right before the bat is made, understanding that custom bats are built to order, and factoring in communication and shipping time across time zones. The workshop's own guidance points buyers to its "Get Sized Up" form to work out what suits them, which is the sensible first step for a remote order.

Start with sizing, because you can't handle the bat first

The biggest difference between buying in a shop and ordering from Hawkes Bay is that you can't pick the bat up and swing it. Laver & Wood addresses this directly: the site provides a Get Sized Up form to help determine what is best for your game. Use it before you commit to a specification, and be honest about your height, stance and the level you play at.

The workshop describes its output as custom made, high performance, hand crafted, and says it builds bats "for the big hitter, the traditional batsman, the all-rounder, and anybody just wanting to move up the order." That range matters for overseas buyers: the more specific your brief, the more you depend on describing your game accurately in writing rather than showing someone your technique in person.

What to confirm in your specification

• Weight and pickup — one reviewer specifically ordered a lightweight configuration from overseas and described the result as light yet powerful with the right profile.
• Profile and handle — state your batting style plainly; the workshop positions customization around playing style.
• Grade of willow — reviews reference the range from Special Reserve through to Signature grading, so clarify which grade you are ordering.
• Bat category — the site lists Adult Bats, Youth Bats, the Bat Vault, the James Signature Bat Vault, and a Tennis Ball Cricket Bat. Make sure your order sits in the right category for how you play.

Understand that you are commissioning, not buying off a shelf

Custom bats are made to order in the New Zealand workshop. That has two practical consequences for an overseas buyer.

First, the specification conversation happens before the bat exists. Any change to weight, profile or grade after work begins is harder to accommodate at a distance than it would be locally. Settle the details up front.

Second, lead time is part of the purchase. One long-standing customer who has bought from Laver & Wood for about seven years described the communication as great while noting that "times have been frustrating" — and still rated the overall experience 10/10, saying the team tried to make every customer happy and went above and beyond on intricate requests. Read that as a realistic signal: expect a wait, and expect the team to engage with detailed requests rather than rush them.

Plan for the time-zone gap

The workshop is in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, and lists opening hours of Monday–Friday, 9:00–16:00, with bat sizings by appointment. If you are in Europe or North America, that window overlaps awkwardly with your own working day. Contact details published on the site are:

Email is usually the more practical channel for a detailed specification discussion across time zones, since you can lay out your requirements in full and let the workshop respond within its own hours.

Weigh the reviews for what they actually tell you

The testimonials on the site are verified Google reviews, and several speak directly to the overseas experience:

• Ganesh Kameswaran — a buyer who owns several big-brand bats, who highlights the choice of profiles, wood and level of customization, calls the pricing "very reasonable for the quality," and says shipping to the US was hassle-free.
• Ben — praises service, attention to detail and willow quality, and singles out the combination of light weight and power with no trade-off.
• Mark Tuchin — commends the time, effort and expertise put into the experience.
• Carter Kerr — seven years of buying, praise for willow and grading across the Special Reserve to Signature range, great communication, honest about timing, 10/10 overall.

These are positive, but note what they are: individual customer accounts, not independent testing. The recurring themes worth relying on are customization depth, willow quality and international shipping that has worked for other buyers. The recurring caveat is time.

A sensible order of operations

1. Decide your category — adult, youth, Bat Vault, James Signature Bat Vault, or tennis ball — based on how and where you play.
2. Complete the Get Sized Up form to establish a starting specification.
3. Write out your requirements — weight, profile, grade, handle preference, playing style — and email them to the workshop, asking for confirmation before the order is finalized.
4. Confirm lead time and shipping to your country in the same exchange, so expectations are set before payment.
5. Check the checkout process on the site for your destination; the site links to a checkout page, but confirm shipping arrangements with the workshop directly for a custom order.
6. Allow for the wait, and follow up by email rather than expecting a same-day reply across time zones.

Who this suits, and who it doesn't

Ordering from Laver & Wood makes sense if you want a bat built around a specific brief — a particular weight, profile or grade — and you are willing to describe your game precisely and wait for the workshop to build it. The reviews suggest overseas buyers have done exactly this successfully, including to the US.

It makes less sense if you need a bat quickly, or if you are not yet sure what specification you want and would benefit from handling options in person. In that case, the sizing form is still the right starting point, but expect to invest more effort in the specification conversation before ordering.