Clarke’s company, which is simply called English Willow, plants trees on under-used farmland across the country – which they then purchase back from landowners when the wood is ready to harvest.
“We’re the only country in the world that grows it to the standard it is because we’ve got the climate and the soils,” he explained.
“But [the sport] is exploding – there’s more and more people in the world and there’s millions of people every year wanting to play more and more cricket.”
Announcing the law change last week, MCC laws manager Fraser Stewart said it had been introduced to combat the rising price of bats, and would not be implemented for the top level of the game.
“We felt if anything can be done for the lower levels of the sport that will help make it more affordable without changing the dynamics of the game then it’s a sensible move to make,” Stewart told BBC Sport.
“There’s not really enough willow to go round,” he added.
