Gray-Nicolls

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Gray-Nicolls is a cricketing company, formed in the 1940s in England.

[edit] History

World Racquets champion H.J. Gray founded the racket-making company H.J. Gray and Sons in 1855. The company later began manufacturing cricket bats. L.J. Nicolls started making bats in 1876 in his workshop in Robertsbridge, East Sussex; where the company is still based today. These two well-regarded bat manufacturers merged in the 1940s to form Gray-Nicolls.

The brand continued to be well regarded worldwide in the 1950s and 60s. At one stage, Ted Dexter, Richie Benaud, Frank Worrell, John Reid and Trevor Goddard, who were the captains of all five Test playing countries, all used Gray-Nicolls bats. During this time, Gray-Nicolls pioneered certain bat technology, with major innovations including the revolutionary Steel Spring and the first shoulderless Superlite bat.

The 1970s saw Gray-Nicolls become the first cricket company to use coloured bat labels, soon to become a trend on cricket bats. The company introduced the revolutionary scoop bat in 1974, which was a radically different bat with a weight reducing scoop. A new Gray-Nicolls factory was opened in Melbourne to supply the growing demand from the Australian and New Zealand markets. The company's expansion during the 1980s and 1990s required the company to move to larger premises in Robertsbridge, and the company's current home.

Gray-Nicolls is an extremely popular brand of cricket bats, especially in England.^{[citation needed]} Here are some of the professional cricketers who use Gray-Nicolls bats:

Andrew Strauss-Predator

Jacob Oram-Fusion

Alistair Cook-Powerbow

Nick Knight (Retired)-GN Monster

Andrew Symonds-Predator

Ramnaresh Sarwan-Powerbow

Matthew Hayden-Fusion

Shivnarine Chanderpaul-Powerbow

Darren Lehmann (Retired)-Millennium

Nasser Hussain (Retired)-Sabre, Longbow

Mike Atherton (Retired)-Powerspot, Excalibur

Sir Donald Bradman (Deceased)- Phoenix 500

Gray Nicolls currently run a new line of model bats. Each one is different to suit a different type of player:

Powerbow: A bat with thick edges, and a large, extremely powerful sweetspot. It has a low sweetspot for more driving power. Heavily bowed to keep hands in front of ball. It has yellow striped stickers running up the back of the bat.

Predator: A bat that is slightly curved, with a large sweetspot and is extremely powerful. It has black and grey horizontal striped stickers of the back on the bat.

Lazer: A lightweight bat with balanced power for all round shot-play. It has grey fin-like stickers on the back of the bat.

Pheonix: Thick edges and a slightly higher sweetspot than other bats. Fairly straight but with a slight bow. It has purple stickers on the back of the bat.

Longbow-Bowed and with a low middle for good driving power. It has green stickers like the Powerbow on the back of the bat.

Gladius-has thick edges for a wider sweetspot. Slightly bowed and has a low middle.

GN Monster-Powerful bat with a large middle

Gray Nicolls also makes a variety of other cricketing equipment, from pads to kitbags to helmets.