Big edges, Bazball & the carbon question
Twenty-five years that took the cricket bat from the 2lb-10oz Kookaburra Kahuna of Ricky Ponting to the cleaver-edged 2lb-13oz Newbery Mjolnir that Jos Buttler carries today — by way of MRF, Woodworm, Spartan and a brief, controversial flirtation with carbon-reinforced handles.
Powerbow and the big-edge era
Gray-Nicolls released the Powerbow in 2003 — a bat with edges so thick they made every previous profile look anaemic. Lara's late career, Kevin Pietersen's early Test years and Matthew Hayden's hammer-blow opening style all lived inside the new big-edge envelope. Pressing techniques changed to match: lighter pressing left the willow softer and more responsive, allowing makers to leave more wood on the bat without making it unliftably heavy.
In 2006 the MCC formally outlawed graphite- and carbon-reinforced handles after Australia's Ricky Ponting was spotted with a Kookaburra prototype using a carbon strip. Cricket had its first equipment scandal of the modern era — and the bat was, again, the most important piece of equipment on the field.
MRF, Woodworm and the 2005 Ashes
MRF — the Madras tyre company that does not actually make bats but pays factories to brand under its name — sponsored Sachin Tendulkar from 1999 to his 2013 retirement, then handed the sticker to Virat Kohli. Together the two men have hit more than 180 international hundreds with the MRF Genius on their shoulder.
Woodworm existed for barely six years but defined a series: Pietersen's lime-green-stickered Torch and Andrew Flintoff's Wand carried England to the 2005 Ashes win. The brand collapsed in 2009 — vintage Woodworm bats are now collector's pieces.
Bazball, Root's switch, and the 2025/26 lineup
The current era is defined by the cleaver-edge profile and the Bazball intent behind it. Ben Stokes's Gunn & Moore Icon at Headingley 2019 and the 2019 World Cup final; Jos Buttler's hand-made Newbery Mjolnir at the 2022 T20 World Cup; Harry Brook's 317 against Pakistan with the Gray-Nicolls Shockwave.
In 2024 Joe Root ended a long relationship with Gunn & Moore and signed for New Balance, whose TC 1260 profile he carries today as England's all-time leading Test run-scorer. The athletic-brand crossover — New Balance, previously a running and basketball name — is one of the more interesting commercial stories of the modern bat.
In Australia, Steve Smith's stealth-black Kookaburra Ghost and Pat Cummins's Beast carry the national brand into the 2025/26 Ashes; in India, Hardik Pandya's SG HP 33 and Rishabh Pant's SS Player Edition continue the Meerut tradition. Cricket's bat has never been more powerful, more varied, or more marketed.