WOOD shavings and sawdust aren’t the usual debris falling to an operating room floor, but Glenn Thompson isn’t your typical surgeon.
And sandpaper, hand tools and drill bits aren’t typical instruments in a doctor’s arsenal, perhaps outside of B-grade horror movies.
But they are part of the trade for the man known as ‘Sunraysia Bat Doctor’, the go-to guy for diagnosis and treatment of health issues in cricket bats.
The side project for the 47-year-old Coomealla Wentworth Cricket Club veteran has made his shed the number one surgical suite where batters’ best friends are nursed back to health.Thomson’s passion for this labour of love stems from a deep love of cricket and knowledge passed on to him as a youngster.There’s something magical about a cricket bat. It’s almost an extension of a batter and like those who wield it, each bat has its own style and persona.
Every cricket lover also fondly remembers their first bat. Yours truly at eight-years-old had a Gray-Nicolls Millennium double scoop (admittedly Kashmir willow) while Thompson’s was a Steve Waugh Simmons. He also proudly displays a Gunn & Moore bat from the 1980s he acquired that belonged to ‘Tugga’ himself.
Thompson and his childhood friend Matt McCleary were cricket-obsessed as youngsters and at every opportunity were doing something related to the game.
When McCleary began his own work as the Adelaide Bat Doctor about eight years ago, he encouraged his old mate to try it as well.
“We loved cricket to death and would practice every single chance we got,” Thompson said.
“We used to go and talk to an old man by the name of Bob Sampson who used to teach us bits and pieces of how to fix cricket bats as kids.
“Matt just said to me this is something he’s done and I would enjoy it as well. I started doing the same sort of thing he was doing in Adelaide.”
Fast forward to now and the cream of Sunraysia cricket trust him to fix their batting blades, plus numerous others from outside the region.
And while the majority of his wood work comes in the form of running repairs, he has also carved many an English willow bat from scratch.
Like all cricket fans, Thompson has his heroes from across the years, so much so he’s created almost identical replicas of sticks used by the likes of Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and David Boon among others.
And he prefers using old school hand tools to bring his creations to life.
“The way I make it is called pod shaving, it’s an art and just not really seen much around here,” he said.
“It is old school even though you do have new tools an machinery, generally the old pull knives and pull shaves are the ones you use. All the tools in my shed are all old.
“This time of year, I’m very busy. As soon as I knock off from work, I come home and I’ll be out in the shed and working away.”
Much like the engine locked into a race car or motorbike, or a pair of boots made for the sporting field, every cricket bat is different.
Profiles, sizes and weights are as individual as the players using them, and Thompson loves being hands on in the creation and repair.
“It’s just a passion,” he said.
“I know in India, cricket is like a religion and bats are almost the cornerstone of cricket. Each one of them signifies a batsman, whether you have a high profile or a low profile, do you want a thicker or thinner edge or spine. There’s so many different variants you can have and each person has their own unique style and flair.
“They’re all a source of pride and joy from the time you first get them when they are completely destroyed and cracked or broken, to giving them back when they look near brand new with new stickers and so forth.”
Thompson said generalised crack and broken handles are the most common issues he comes across.
“Especially now having had a slow start to the season with rain delays and so forth, I’m just starting to see cracks in the handles now and I’ve been busily repairing them all last week,” he said.
“As the season goes on there will be more and more handles replacements but generalised cracks and splits are the main issues.
“At the start of the season you go through your pads and helmet and other equipment, but your bat is usually the last thing you look at.
“I encourage people to make sure they oil their bat. That’s the fashion these days not to oil it.”
Knowing the influence Bob Sampson had on him as an impressionable youngster, Thompson said he is willing to show others the ropes of what he does.”I have had a lot of interest, especially a lot of school kids have asked if they can come and help,” he said.
“Anyone that does come in and we make a bat or fix one, they’re more than welcome to watch me do it and we can go through it all.
“Everywhere I go now, either with my current work or if I go to a cricket thing, people come to me and ask ‘are you the bat doctor?’ So it is known about it out there.
“It’s a great conversation tool as well, especially with young kids they gravitate towards it if they have an interest in cricket.”
While it’s most definitely a hobby, as the Sunraysia Bat Doctor, Thompson will be seeing patients for a long time yet.
