Best Cricket Bats for Beginners

The best cricket bat for a beginner depends on one question before any other: are you facing a soft ball or a leather one? A soft-ball or garden beginner wants a cheap, light Kashmir willow bat that can be outgrown without regret. A beginner who has joined a club and will face a hard ball within the season wants entry-grade English willow at the right size and the lightest weight they can control. This guide splits the decision for adults and juniors, names the bats in our stock at each point, and keeps to what the makers themselves say about starting out.

Soft Ball or Leather Ball

Gray-Nicolls' own junior buying guide draws the line in one sentence: a junior starting in soft-ball cricket should have a Kashmir willow bat, and an older junior who wants more of a punch should move to a lower-grade English willow bat such as their 100 grade, which can be used against a hard cricket ball but is priced for beginners. Kookaburra position their Kashmir range the same way, as bats designed for entry level and players just starting out. The Australian consumer body CHOICE puts it from the other side: there is no point buying a top-grade English willow bat for whacking a tennis ball in the back garden, and a bat intended for backyard use might not survive a hard competition ball.

So the rule is simple. Soft ball, incrediball, tape ball or garden cricket: Kashmir willow, and spend as little as the size allows. Hard ball at a club, even once a week: English willow, at the entry grade.

Adult Beginners

An adult starting club cricket skips the Kashmir stage. There is no senior Kashmir willow bat in our range and almost none anywhere, so the question is which entry-grade English willow bat to buy. In our stock the floor is a CA Plus 5000 at £104.99, then a group of Gunn and Moore 404-grade bats, the Brava, Mana, Psyche and Verva 404, at £119.99 to £124.99, a Gray-Nicolls Shockwave 2.0 200 at £139.99 and a DSC Cynos 11 at £159.99. These are the bats Gray-Nicolls describe for their own entry grades: more cosmetic blemishes and wider-spaced grains than the dearer tiers, pressed the same way, perfectly capable against a hard ball.

What an adult beginner should look for in that band:

• Lighter than instinct says. 2lb 8oz or 2lb 9oz in short handle for most adults. A beginner's problems are timing problems, and a heavy bat makes every one of them worse.
• A mid-blade sweet spot. Gray-Nicolls recommend a mid middle for players who are not sure where they hit the ball, which is every beginner.
• A factory face or a ready-to-play sticker. It saves most of the six hours of knocking in and makes the first crack less likely. Details below.
• Short handle unless you are over 6ft 2in. The adult cricket bat size guide covers the exceptions.

Spending more than about £200 as a first bat buys cleaner willow, not a better first season. If the game sticks, the second bat is where the budget goes. Our cricket bat price guide shows what each band above that buys.

Junior Beginners by Size

Juniors are sized by height, not age; Gray-Nicolls' chart runs from size 0 under 4ft to size 6 at 5ft 3in to 5ft 5in, with Harrow and Small Adult above. Within each size the beginner choice follows the ball:

• Sizes 1 and 2, soft ball. Kashmir willow. A Gunn and Moore Rival Kashmir at £36.99 or a DSC Spliit 110 at £42.99 is the whole purchase. For a five-year-old in the garden, a moulded practice bat at £7.99 is the honest answer.
• Sizes 3 and 4, where the hard ball usually arrives. Kashmir for one more season if the child is still on a soft ball, from £32.99; otherwise entry English willow, which starts at £69.99 at sizes 3 and 4 in our range.
• Sizes 5 and 6, club junior cricket. English willow, from £79.99 at size 5 and £74.99 at size 6. Every bat we stock at these sizes is English willow, because the Kashmir ranges stop below them.
• Harrow and Small Adult. English willow only, from £99.99. A tall thirteen-year-old facing adult pace belongs here rather than in a size 6.

The full stock list by size and price is in our guide to the best junior cricket bats, and the measuring method is in the cricket bat size guide. When in doubt, size down. A bat a child can swing is worth more than a bat they will grow into.

Kashmir or English Willow

Kashmir willow is the same species grown in northern India. It is harder and denser than English willow, which makes it cheaper and makes it mark less in its first weeks, and it does not rebound the way English willow does. That is why the makers put it at entry level and nowhere else. It is not more durable in any sense a maker will state, it is not better against a hard ball, and it is not automatically ready to play; some Kashmir bats arrive pre-prepared and some do not, so read the listing. Our Kashmir willow guide covers what it is for, and the English willow vs Kashmir willow comparison goes through the two side by side.

Weight and Pick-Up

CHOICE's advice for junior bats applies to every beginner: balance, pick-up and overall feel matter more than the number on the scales. The test is to hold the bat in the top hand only, out in front, for ten seconds. If it sags, it is too heavy. Then shadow a few of the shots the beginner will actually play. A bat that still feels controllable at the end of that is the right weight; a bat that feels impressive and then drags is the wrong one. Our guide to cricket bat weight and pick-up explains why the makers all say the same thing.

Ready-to-Play and Knocking In

A new English willow bat needs knocking in before it meets a hard ball, around six hours with a mallet in Kookaburra's instructions. Two things cut that down. Gray-Nicolls mark pre-prepared bats with a small silver PP or RP sticker on the back shoulder, meaning the bat has been knocked in and lightly oiled at the factory and needs only another ninety minutes to two hours of work; without the sticker they ask for six to seven hours. Kookaburra pre-prepare most of their bats and are explicit that it is not a full knocking in and that a further six hours is still required. For a beginner the practical advice is to buy a pre-prepared bat with a factory face, do the top-up hours, and start with old balls. Our knocking-in guide has the method, and the cricket bat care guide has everything after it.

First-Season Care

Four things keep a first bat alive: a face sheet fitted before the first net, a toe guard if the squares are damp, no bowling machines, and storage in the house rather than the shed or the car. Most beginner bats that fail in year one fail for one of those four reasons, not because of the willow.

What to Buy

• Adult, joining a club, hard ball: entry-grade English willow at £105 to £160, short handle, 2lb 8oz to 2lb 9oz, mid middle, pre-prepared.
• Adult, social or soft-ball only: a junior Harrow or Small Adult English willow bat if your height allows, otherwise the cheapest short handle above. There is no senior Kashmir bat to buy.
• Junior under size 3, soft ball: Kashmir willow, under £50.
• Junior at size 3 or 4, first hard ball: entry English willow at £70 to £110, sized by height today.
• Junior at size 5 or above: entry or mid-grade English willow, £75 to £150, with the face sheet on from day one.

The right bat is in our cricket bats collection, filtered by size, and the cricket bat buying guide takes the full set of decisions in order if you want the long version.

FAQs: Beginner Cricket Bats

Which cricket bat is good for beginners? For a soft ball, a Kashmir willow bat under £50 at the right size. For a leather ball, an entry-grade English willow bat: from about £105 for an adult, from about £70 for a junior, at the lightest weight the player can control.

Is a Kashmir willow bat good for a leather ball? It will survive one, but the makers position Kashmir for soft-ball and entry-level cricket and it does not perform like English willow. Once hard-ball cricket is regular, move up.

What size bat should a beginner buy? By height, not age. Most adults from about 5ft 8in use a short handle; juniors follow the height chart in our size guide, and size down when between two.

How much should a beginner spend on a cricket bat? Under £50 for soft ball, £70 to £160 for a first hard-ball bat. Spending more buys cleaner willow, not a better first season.

Do beginners need to knock in a bat? Yes, for English willow. Buy a pre-prepared bat and it is two hours rather than six; either way, start with old balls and fit a face sheet first.

Sources

The soft-ball and hard-ball guidance is from Gray-Nicolls' junior bat buying guide. Kookaburra's positioning of Kashmir willow is from its Kashmir willow range page. The advice on pick-up over weight and on matching the bat to the ball is from CHOICE. Prices are our stock on 14 October 2026.