WORKING LUNCH WITH ROS
RAJ GURUNG - MBR Bats
Geelong artisan, Raj Gurung of MBR Bats is a cricketing legend as the world’s first Nepalese cricket bat maker in Australia.
This mountain man never dreamed that when he upped stumps to move to Australia on a student visa in 2008, that he would become a heroic figure in the sport he loves.
In Sydney, Gurung played both community and grade cricket, making many good friends along the way.
He moved to Victoria in 2016 and continued to play for various grassroots clubs, while also teaching himself how to repair bats by following YouTube videos. He took over the dining room table for the first bat he repaired for a friend.
“I went a little bit crazy in lockdown,” he explains. “I invested in a sander, then a bat-cutting machine, and my own bat press machine.”
Word spread and soon many cricketers started bringing their bats to him. Gurung formed Mustang Bat Repairs which eventually became MBR Bats – custom made bats that sell between $500 and $1,000. So far, he has made 190 bats.
It’s peak summer season for cricket now and the father of two, is working flat out in the garage of his Geelong family home. He won’t stop for lunch until 3pm. This is when his wife, Malti, prepares a traditional Nepalese meal for him of daal (lentils), bhaat (rice) and tarkaari. (vegetable curry). Some days he might vary it with lamb or chicken curry.
This fortifies him as he fashions the sacred willow into bats worthy of an Ashes tour.
Gurung has looked after several famous names including Ellyse Perry and Pakistani Test cricketer, all-rounder Salman Ali Agha.
Despite his entrepreneurship, the father of two still supports his young family by working for three days each week at Geelong hospital.
“It’s to pay for the mortgage,” he explains, “and it gets us through the winter when the orders slow down.”
His next move will be to lease a proper workshop after his kids start school. But of course, there’s no rush – just like a Test cricket series, Raj Gurung is in it for the long run.
