To ready the natural soft willow cleft for use in the game of cricket it has to be pressed during manufacture. Huge downward pressure is applied mechanically to the face and edges of the cricket bat by running it beneath a roller that compresses the fibres together, strengthening the cricket bat.

The pressing element is regarded as the most important process in the production of a cricket bat. The skill, experience and knowledge of the bat maker determines the amount of pressing" that is needed to be applied to the cricket bat.

Cricket bats with the best performance generally come from a lightly pressed bat. However, a softer pressed bat will be much more likely to sustain damage and cracks than a harder one. A hard pressed cricket bat  has greater durability but is weakened in performance. The expertise of the cricket bat maker is used to try and strike a fine balance between durability of the bat versus performance against a cricket ball. In general it is the more expensive bats which perform better but of course they do not always last as long as cheaper cricket bats.

It is always important to remember that all cricket bats can damage and break whether they are hard or soft pressed., This is due to the aggressive nature of the game of cricket and this can happen with most cricket equipment. When a cricket ball is bowled at speeds of 70mph and upwards against the force of a swinging cricket bat, bats are always susceptible to some form of damage.

Most damage to bats occurs on the toe, edges or splice and can be repaired. Damage to a cricket bat does not mean the bat is faulty and is often just a case of the nature of cricket bats and the game of cricket.