Demand surged. The Scoop sold out worldwide, with many of the world’s leading players, including the former West Indies Captain Sir Clive Lloyd and Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar, soon adopting it. The design transformed bat-making and established Gray- Nicolls as the world leader, ushering in a sustained period of innovation.
As the sport entered the 21st century, the rise of global superstars expanded the sport’s reach. Players such as Sir Alastair Cook, Matthew Hayden and Kane Williamson carried the brand forward, while a new generation including Harry Brook, Travis Head and Tammy Beaumont has elevated it further.
Former England Captain Heather Knight OBE
Gray-Nicolls is proud to grow its own trees and for 100 years has established an extensive planting programme across the UK. A recent announcement by the MCC to approve laminated bats for recreational cricket from October 2026 will enable the firm to ensure that significantly more of the tree can be used for making bats. Driven by the increasing demand for cricket around the world, these new designs will allow the use of up to three pieces of willow – one for the face, one or two for the back – maximising material use and further cutting waste at a time of rapidly rising willow costs. Through constant reinvention, Gray-Nicolls has remained at the forefront of cricket for over 150 years. From W.G. Grace to the modern game’s biggest names, its equipment has shaped how cricket is played. Still in Robertsbridge, with the sixth generation now starting to become involved, this family business shows no signs of slowing down.
England batter Harry Brook
Big hitting, and big scores, eventually led Gray-Nicolls to produce a bat design known as the Kaboom – a huge but relatively light bat designed for explosive hitting. Partnering with Australia’s David Warner, whose aggressive style made the bat iconic, the Kaboom ultimately led to the MCC to regulate the size of bats. Sustainability More recently, innovation has extended beyond performance to sustainability. In 2024, Gray-Nicolls launched NEOCORE, featuring an internal scoop and a patented pinned handle. This design not only improved performance but it made previously unusable wood viable, thus reducing waste.
Former West Indies Captain Sir Clive Lloyd
Megapower and Kaboom The late 1970s and 1980s saw rapid evolution in bat construction with a twin scoop design – later dubbed the “Hookes Hurricane” after David Hookes’ explosive 1982 century – further pushing performance boundaries. Subsequent models, with names including the Dynadrive, Megapower and Scoop 2000, built on these with a young Brian Lara using the Scoop 2000 to score his maiden Test century before rewriting the record books, scoring 375 in a Test match and 501 not out in first-class cricket.
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