Jeremy Clarkson will ‘get his own back’ on cricket with new business venture
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed the latest business venture on his farm – selling wood to make cricket bats.
The 63-year-old television presenter has discovered that Diddly Squat Farm, his 1,000-acre Cotswold property, is ideal for growing a type of willow used to make the bats and each one could fetch up to £900.
Despite his plans to start selling wood used to make the sports equipment, Clarkson wrote in The Sunday Times that he “actively hates” cricket.
He said that his plan provided him with an opportunity to “get my own back” on cricketers, adding: “I’m going to take all their money.”
Clarkson said he had been trialling several projects on his farm as part of an effort to monetise unused land.
“I’ve harvested blackberries and nettles and sent trees off to the local power station and, for the most part, it has all been a complete disaster,” he wrote.
“But I’ve remained hopeful that if I continue to experiment I will end up with a diamond mine. And so it turned out to be.”
After receiving a notice from the local authority to chop down two trees in danger of falling over, Clarkson was informed the trees he had felled were willows, ideal for making cricket bats.
He claims to have created a business plan with the intention of targeting markets in India and Pakistan.
Clarkson added: “So stand by, cricketists. I’m going to hurt you, but not like you hurt me. I’m going to hurt you in your wallets. I’m going to become the cricket bat king of Chipping Norton and I’m going to bash your credit cards.
“I’ve even done a business plan. Demand is huge in India and Pakistan, where cricket has always been popular.”
He said he has now planted 20 trees which will be ready to fell in 20 years, which he claims will earn him £15,000.
Clarkson has chronicled his attempt at running his 1,000-acre farm in the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm.
He has won widespread support from the farming community with his campaign to remove red tape stifling agriculture.
