HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR CRICKET BAT
Choosing a cricket bat can, at times, prove to be a bit of a minefield. The different grades and sizes can take you into a maze of conflicting information depending on who you listen to.
Arguably the most important thing to remember when selecting a cricket bat, is that it is a very personal decision. There are no right or wrong bats, the bat to choose is the one that feels most comfortable for you. We recommend that you always feel the bat before you buy it and that you pick up several bats before making your final choice. Every bat will be slightly different as no two clefts of willow are the same, even from the same tree. What’s right for someone else may well not be right for you!
Bat Sizing
First of all you need to decide which size of bat is most applicable to yourself or to the person you are buying for:
GM has every basis covered with each bat offering something different, thanks to varying ‘sweet’ spot positions, balance and blade lengths. Every bat has differing characteristics which is why at GM we highly recommend having an open mind when looking at cricket bats.
Each piece of willow is different and you should always feel a bat before you buy it, ideally picking up several bats before making your final choice. After all, what’s right for the GM professional players may not be right for you!
Selected lines of the GM range also offer a ‘Small’ and ‘Academy’ size bat meaning that somewhere in our range, there is the perfect bat for you!
GM GRADING - INDUSTRY LEADING
Next, you’ll need to choose a grade of Willow. This, unfortunately, is not a perfect science. No two clefts of willow are the same, even from the same tree. However, to our advantage is over 130 years of bat-making experience, combined with the most technologically advanced cricket factory in the world, which gives us the confidence to display each grade of willow and the subtle but important differences between them all:
Bat Shape Characteristics
Gunn & Moore offer a wide variety of bats, ensuring that somewhere in the range there will be the perfect bat for you.
The Bat Spectrum chart offers an insight into the small, but crucial, differences between each blade. Each bat has differing combinations of swell depth, edges size and volume which allows GM to produce bats for each player.
It is always worth remembering, however, that the conditions you play cricket in are a huge point of consideration. Often, adapting to your surroundings may not only mean the way you play, it can also demonstrate a need for a slight tweak in equipment.
Pitches that don’t offer much pace and bounce may mean that even a back-foot player, who would normally opt for a high sweet spot, may need to consider switching to a bat with a sweet spot closer to the middle of the blade due to the lack of bounce. Indeed the opposite may be true if you ply your trade on wickets which offer far more carry and pace. In this situation, a front-foot player may not be able to meet the ball on the half-volley as easily due to the extra bounce, therefore meaning that a lower sweet spot may not be as effective for you as a bat with a slightly higher sweet spot would be.
Cricket is a game of trial and error, which is often epitomised by the selection of a cricket bat. It’s a very personal decision and the bat your favourite player uses may be perfect for them, but it’s not always going to be perfect for you. The best way to know for sure is to pick the bat up, give it a knock and if possible try it out.
Bat Weight Comparison
Our weight comparison chart offers an indicative guide to the weight range of full size short handle bats, including GM NOW! ToeTek and a single grip. Each bat has a slightly different range of weights which allows GM to offer a full spectrum of bats for each individual player.
This chart, however, is just a guide. The scale weight can only give you so much information, a heavier bat can feel much lighter thanks to the weight distribution and vice versa. It is important to always select a bat based on its pick up and how it feels to you.
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Bat Care
The quality of willow is of the upmost importance in batmaking, but of equal importance to us at GM is the care we put into each English Willow bat that leaves our factory. All of our English Willow bats provide factory fitted protection thanks to GM Bat Care. The GM Now! Service encompasses all of our bats being “knocked-in” by the batmaker in-house, before raw linseed oil is applied to reduce cracking and splitting by maintaining the moisture level of the blade, whilst an clear anti-scuff cover is applied to the face and edges to increase blade durability. ToeTek DriGuard is applied to resist damp and minimise toe swelling, which in turn also reduces toe damage and feathering that that is often caused by tapping at the crease.
Selecting a cricket bat is a very personal decision. There are no right or wrong bats, the bat to choose is the one that feels most comfortable for you. We recommend that you always feel the bat before you buy it and that you pick up several bats before making your final choice.