If you think about it, Viking Cricket is about as Yorkshire as it gets. The award-winning English willow cricket bats sell around the world from their Silsden HQ but the DNA has both a Scandinavian and White Rose heritage.
That’s literally the case for Managing Director Jeff Wilson whose family roots can be traced back to the Vikings; a subtle nudge when it came to naming the brand in 2015.
It’s been a whirlwind since and the rise of Viking Cricket has seen club cricketers to county stars and internationals use their bats and equipment for years.
Valkyrie Range
England’s Jenny Gunn, Emma Lamb and Hollie Armitage have used the purple Valkyrie cricket range to punishing effect for club and country.
Meanwhile, Northern Diamonds & Northern Superchargers wicketkeeper-batter Bess Heath, a Viking Cricket ambassador for four years, is currently on tour with England Women in New Zealand (March & April). It follows an eventful winter with Heath helping Brisbane Heat reach the final of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
The Valkyrie range was a trailblazer really; developed by Viking Cricket to address the lack of bats and equipment for women and girls in the game. It was designed in collaboration with Jenny Gunn with considerate and long overdue changes (such as labels now saying adult, girls or youth).
Instead of female cricketers having to wear ill-fitting gloves or leg pads, Valkyrie products are sized correctly, based on measurements from England players as well as club cricketers.
Team Viking
For a small company, Viking Cricket has seemingly punched above its weight when it has come to ambassadors from professional cricket.
Matt Lamb and Liam Trevaskis are two past examples (Warwickshire & Durham at the time), along with players now at Sussex, Derbyshire & Leicestershire.
In the past, the likes of Karl Carver, Mat Pillans and Jack Shutt have all represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club and used Viking bats.
As Jeff puts it: “I always think if a professional is putting their trust in you with the tools they use for a career then you’re doing something right!”
I like the simplicity of Viking cricket bats; it doesn’t change annually with some bats out there confusingly similar which makes buying more difficult.
Quality remains key and has seen them come second overall in the Good Gear Guide, run by The Cricketer Magazine, for their Viking Valhalla bat.
Carver has used Viking for six years from the Valhalla to the DG Edition but the mainstay of his run-scoring has been the Viking Odin cricket bat.
While an accomplished left-arm spinner, Karl hit 1,100+ runs at an average of 52 last season for Barnard Castle in the Premier Division of the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League.
“I was excited to use Jeff’s gear and haven’t looked back since. He’s never let me down; providing me with some of the best bats and equipment around and also become a great friend to me, my partner and the family.”
What you can get with a boutique cricket brand like Viking Cricket is personal service and building relationships that can last for years.
Karl reckoned he is always “like a kid at Christmas” when he goes to buy new kit for the season and said: “Jeff has always spoken of quality at Viking and each year, they seem to get better and better.”
Supporting club cricketers
From a club cricket perspective, I talked to John Akrigg who has been a stalwart at Steeton Cricket Club for many years.
The club’s record run-scorer has racked up over 13,000 runs so he knows a thing or two about cricket bats.
Akrigg posed Jeff a challenge: “I gave him my old bat and said make me one of them, the size, weight, balance, everything – and he did. I think I was the first person to get a Viking bespoke bat.”
He remembers getting the Viking Odin cricket bat: “It was brilliant. A lovely bat and I’ve still got it. It’s near as good as it was seven years ago, which is unusual for cricket bats.”
We get chatting about John’s desire to buy from a Yorkshire brand.
“To go to a cricket shop, get a bit of advice and be looked after, you’ve got to support local really. You get the whole shooting match; a personal service rather than a number online.”
Richard Falkingham, a coach at Harden Cricket Club, also shared his thoughts. He took his son to the Viking Cricket shop where the young cricketer was shown how to pick up a bat, test the weight and get the right equipment for his age.
Richard, it has to be said with no prompting from me, sounded like a complete convert: “I’ve got a Thor bat, bag, pads… it’s so well made… you pay a little bit more but you can tell the quality.”
Giving back is important too, so Viking Cricket sponsors several county-age group players in Yorkshire and elsewhere, as well as donating prizes to clubs and supporting charities.
Viking Cricket Shop
On a sunny March morning, I visited Silsden to meet Jeff and check out the Viking Cricket shop. While we’re all programmed to buy online, there’s no substitute for physically picking up products for yourself.
Jeff runs the shop (with his son Elliott helping out) so there’s that peace of mind that you’ll be getting the perspective of a player, parent and qualified coach.
Quite a few things stood out for me.
First up, it’s just a pleasure to actually go to a cricket shop. They’re pretty rare but to be surrounded by cricket equipment, examine bats and have a proper look around was the perfect way to spend an hour.
I’ve mentioned quality in this article and for me, it was the little details that caught my eye. Viking Cricket bat stickers are spot on. Embossed, glossy with background detail for each model of bat.
I’ve picked up enough English willow and written about cricket kit often enough to know impressive bats when I see them.
(I was a hopeless number eleven so I generally needed just the edges to be well-oiled and knocked in.)
They also do cricket bat refurbishments if you can’t stretch to a new one; I was shown Dave Snowden’s bat, (captain of Sutton-in-Craven CC), whose 3-year-old Viking Mjolnir Limited Edition had been brought back to life and looked as good as new.
Want to walk out to the middle with a Viking this season?
🏏 Shop Valkyrie
🏏 Shop Odin
🏏 Shop Thor
🏏 Shop Jorvik
🏏 Shop Fenrir
Contact Jeff & Viking Cricket
Visit vikingcricket.co.uk to learn more about Viking Cricket online or I recommend a visit to their cricket shop in Silsden (BD20 0AL, near Keighley).
You can follow Viking Cricket on Instagram as @vikingcricketuk while they’re also @vikingcricketuk on Twitter/X too.
This is a sponsored article on behalf of Viking Cricket – if the mood takes you, click to read Cricket Yorkshire’s policy on sponsored content.
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