Cricket lovers, this is for you. For everyone else interested in what the best cricket bat brands are in the world, then take a look at our carefully compiled top 15 list below.
We’ve researched the most interesting facts, company history, and some tips on the best-selling bats of these brands. Whether you’re an avid cricketer, or just want to learn more, you’ll find some valuable info as you read on.
Top 15 Best Cricket Bat Brands (For Cricket Lovers!)
1. SG
SG is India’s largest and most well-known cricket gear manufacturer. The favourite best selling cricket bats of this brand are the SG Cobra Select, the SG Player, and the SG Boundary Extreme.
SG stands for Sanspareils Greenlands, a brand established by brothers Dwarakanath and Kedarnath Anand from initial beginnings with two companies created in 1931 and 1940. The next generations of owners in the family merged the two into one brand in 1979, and by 1982, the gear was marketed under the name SG.
Famous player Sunil Gavaskar, with the accolade of being the first cricketer in the world to score 10,000 runs in a test cricket season, became an ambassador for the SG cricket range in the late 1980s. By 2011, the brand launched an expanded product offering of shoes, clothing, eyewear, travel gear and more sporting accessories.
2. Gunn & Moore
With its roots in the English cricket tradition, Gunn & Moore is commonly referred to as the GM brand. The top cricket bats currently being sold are the GM Icon the GM Epic.
Founded in 1885, this brand has been long-standing as one of the best cricket bat brands globally. It was created by English Test batsman William Gunn, along with a local businessman Thomas James Moore. Sold internationally, followers of this brand’s products reside in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, and India.
Fans of cricket will recognise this brand from the endorsement of well-known players such as Shane Watson, Graeme Swann, Steve Waugh, Michael Vaughan, Anila Kumble, and Quinton de Kock, to name a few.
3. MRF
MRF is an interesting inclusion on our list of the best cricket bat brands, as it is one created from an Indian company known as MRF Tyers. Branching out to be known in the world of Cricket, MRF offers cricket bats that are recognised globally for their quality. Three stand-out cricket bat ranges that are currently best-sellers of MRF is the Shikhar Dhawan range, the English Willow Range, and the Viral Kohli cricket bat range.
Starting as a manufacturing company of toy balloons in 1946, the company shifted in 1952 to rubber manufacturing. By the early 60s, MRF Tyers had an international standing in branding out to 65 different countries around the world. The 1980s and 90s were when MRF entered cricket, first by sponsoring great players of the time. MRF Sports Goods – a subsidiary of the company was then created to produce these now well-known cricket bats.
MRF has connections to the world’ best fast bowlers through their ‘Pace Foundation’, which is an academy founded in 1987 to coach and train upcoming talents in the world of cricket.
4. Kingsport
Born from the love of sports, the founder of Kingsport, Harry, wished to share his passion in his new life in Australia after emigrating from Sri Lanka with his family in the early 1970s. Years later, his best-selling bats, like ‘The Epic’, can be purchased internationally.
Kingsgrove Sports Centre was founded by Harry Solomons in 1976. Beginning with stocking the bats of Symonds in the 1970s, his business grew and he stocked more big names like Kookaburra and Gunn & Moore. After years of stocking outside brands, this led to the creation of Kingsport, Harry’s original brand for cricket gear.
Supporting women’s cricket as well, Kingsport is proud to lay the claim of having the world records for the fastest venturing in men and women BBL cricket being scored with Kingsport bats.
5. SS
SS is another one of the best cricket bat brands found around the world. Short for Sareen Sports, the best-selling bats on the market right now are the SS Tone and the SS Super Power.
Sareen Sports Industries was founded in 1969 by a father-son Indian duo, M.L, and N.K Sareen. Starting out exporting cricket bats in 1979 to Australia and the U.K, this brand manufactures a range of cricket gear, as well as producing high-quality cricket balls and protective equipment.
SS is proud that international top cricket players such as Roger Binny, Akash Chopra, Saurav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Manoj Prabhakar, to name a few, all use SS cricket gear. The highest test run scores by player Virender Sehwag were made with the SS Ton bat.
6. Kookaburra
Often referred to as the No. 1 Australian sports brand worldwide, the sports equipment company originated with cricket back in the 1920s, producing hand-made cricket balls. Evolving to offer more equipment, it’s now one of the best cricket bat brands with best-sellers like the Kookaburra Viper, Blade and Kahuna sought after by hobbyist and professionals alike.
Named after founder AG Thompson’s pet bird, Kookaburra Sport was established in 1890 and has continued to be an Australian owned and operated business. The brand employees more than 150 employees worldwide.
Working in grass-roots initiatives with sporting foundations and groups, Kookaburra believes in helping the youth-sports lovers to grow in their game. Their gear has been used by well-known players like Ian Healy, Dean Joes, Ray Jennings, Ricky Ponting, and many more.
7. New Balance
This U.S brand is known predominantly for its sports shoes, though you may be surprised to know that New Balance creates some high-quality cricket bats as well. One of the latest and best-selling models is the New Balance DC 1080 English Willow bat, endorsed by Joe Root and designed for power.
Founded in 1906, New Balance Athletics, known often as NB, or simply New Balance, is based in Boston in the United States. The company has focused on sporting apparel and shoes since the beginning, though began to create equipment and clothing for all different sports. New Balance signed a deal with national South African teams after the 2015 Cricket World cup and signed a deal in 2017 to be the kit supplier for English teams.
Big-name cricketers have been sponsored by New Balance, including Grant Elliott, Aaron Finch, Mark Wood, Mitchell Santner, Wahab Riaz and Sean Williams, just to name a few.
8. Slazenger
As one of the longest-running sporting brands globally, Slazenger has been around for close to 150 years. Known for sports products for tennis, hockey, swimming, golf, and cricket, it’s best selling cricket bats currently are the V800 and V12 bats.
Founded in 1881, this brand made it big early, having the longest-running sponsorship in the history of sport with providing balls for the Wimbledon Tennis Championship since 1902. The company has continued to grow with the endorsement of many great sporting names throughout history.
Legendary batsman Denis Compton, Sir Donald Bradman, Len Hutton, and James Anderson have all used a Slazenger cricket bat during their careers.
9. Adidas
This German sportswear company is one of the most well-known brand names in sporting apparel, though you may not know that it’s also known for being one of the best cricket bat brands too. Some of the most popular bats include the Adidas Incurza and Pellara Pro.
Founded in 1924 initially with two brothers as a slightly different company, when the brother parted ways, Adolf Dassler created Adidas, and Rudolf Dassler went on to create the rival sports company Puma. Adidas first created cricket shoes in the 1970s, and eventually branched out to cricket bats in 2006.
The 1990s saw Adidas signing Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar to endorse the brand, making specialised shoes for him. In 2008, the English batter Kevin Pietersen was also sponsored by Adidas, as well as more players like Ian Bell and Pakastani batsman Salman Butt.
10. Puma
This German sportswear company is the company that Rudolf Dassler founded in 1948 when Adidas was created by his brother. Creating sports apparel and equipment, cricket bats are part of their product offerings with the Puma Ballistic, Pulse, and Calibre all top sellers.
The company has been public since 1986 and by 2017, Puma employed over 13,000 people worldwide and offered their products in 120 different countries.
Puma is known as the sponsor of famous Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Cricket team Virat Kohli and created a collaboration with him for a unique design of a cricket shoe.
11. Gray-Nicolls
As another one of our English best cricket bat brands on the list, Grey-Nicolls specialises in cricket, though does also creating other sporting gear. Some of the most loved bats in their range are the Kaboom and the Legend.
Founded in 1855, the company started off producing gear for hockey, tennis, and cricket. Around 1876, Gray-Nicolls began creating cricket bats for Cambridge University platers, as well as the Prince of Wales.
This company is also famous for creating the ‘scoop’ bat back in 1974, which is known as an iconic bat in the history of cricket.
12. Reebok
This English-originated sporting apparel and footwear company is a subsidiary of the famous Adidas brand, featured earlier on this list. Reebok produces cricket bats in their gallery of sporting gear, with the Blasst and the Dhoni D7 being popular choices for players.
Founded in 1958, it began as a simple sports apparel company, later branching out of equipment and footwear. The company has its global headquarters in Boston, in the United States, with regional offices in Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Mexico City.
The Indian cricket player M.S Dhoni is who the Dhoni D7 bat is named after, featuring high-quality English willow in its construction.
13. Millichamp & Hall
Founded in 1987, this sports brand is one that specialises exclusively in making cricket bats. The Heritage Elite MK2 is the most beloved cricket bats that this brand makes.
Millichamp & Hall, often referred to as M&H, was founded by Julian Millichamp and Johnathan Hall. For more than 30 years, they’ve focused on crafting high-quality bats for professionals and hobbyists, made from English willow.
The ethos that the founding men began has continued after their passing, with the company still producing some of the most sought after cricket bats today.
14. Spartan
The Spartan cricket bat brand is a creation of the Australian Sydney-based company Spartan Sports. The cricket bat brand ‘Spartan’ is headed by the famous cricketer Michael Clarke, The Spartan MC 329 bat is among the best sellers.
Joining as an ambassador for the Spartan Sports brand in 2012, just one year after he began to collaborate to offer expertise in selecting the highest quality cricket bat creations. Another Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson joined to endorse Spartan Sports, further allowing the brand to promote its products successfully.
Test players around the world also have a say in selecting the best Spartan bats and promoting them. It’s been said by many top players that Spartan bats are some of the most lightweight to play with.
15. Newbery
The Newberry is another one of our long-standing best cricket bat brands on our list, rounding this off to the top 15. This English brand has a rich history that it continues in the exclusive Heritage Range of cricket bats that are m are of English willow and includes the SPS, Pro, and Player.
Created in 1919 by craftsman Len Newbery, he passed down his creations to his son John Newbery, who founded his own company in 1981, creating high-quality cricket bats to share internationally. Though he passed in 1989, his tradition continues today.
As stated on their official webpage: ‘The Newbery heritage combines tradition, legends, innovation and master craftsmen.’ You can learn more here about other top brands.
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