Best Junior Cricket Bats 2026: Picks by Size and Budget

Buying a bat for a child is the one cricket purchase most parents get wrong, and it is almost never because they spent too little. It is because they bought a size too big. A bat whose handle reaches past the hip forces a child to grip harder, shorten the backlift and steer with the bottom hand, and those habits outlast the bat by several seasons. Coaches spend years unpicking them.

Everything below is stock we hold right now, with the price at that size and how many bats are actually available in it. Sizes run from 1 through to Harrow and Small Adult, and the right one is decided by your child's height rather than their age. Two ten-year-olds can differ by five inches, which is why age-based charts send so many parents home with the wrong bat.

Junior Cricket Bat Sizes in Stock

Size	Rough height	Bats in stock	Price from
1	Under 4ft 3in	5	£7.99
2	4ft 3in to 4ft 6in	8	£36.99
3	4ft 6in to 4ft 9in	26	£32.99
4	4ft 9in to 4ft 11in	46	£42.99
5	4ft 11in to 5ft 2in	72	£79.99
6	5ft 2in to 5ft 5in	112	£74.99
Harrow	5ft 5in to 5ft 8in	77	£32.99
Small Adult	5ft 6in and above	16	£129.99

Stock and prices checked 31 July 2026. Heights are a starting point only, and the upright bat and pick-up tests are more reliable than any chart.

Sizes 1 and 2 for Soft-Ball Cricket

At this stage the bat is a tool for learning where the ball is, not for scoring runs against pace. Weight matters far more than willow grade, and almost every child in this bracket is playing with a soft ball or an incrediball rather than a hard season ball.

The cheapest thing we hold is a Gunn & Moore Opener Moulded at £7.99, which is a moulded practice bat rather than willow at all. For a four- or five-year-old hitting a soft ball in the garden that is genuinely the right answer, and there is no case for spending more until they are turning up to club training. Size 1 has only five options in stock because the demand for them is small and short lived.

Once training is weekly, a New Balance TC 300 at £44.99 is the first bat that behaves like a real one, with a proper handle and a shaped blade. Move up to size 2 and the range opens slightly: a Gunn & Moore Rival in Kashmir willow sits at £36.99, and a Kookaburra Kahuna 7.1 at £79.99 is as much bat as this age group can use. Anything more expensive is being bought for the parent, not the child.

Sizes 3 and 4 for the Hard-Ball Transition

This is where the purchase starts to matter. Most children meet a hard ball somewhere in size 3 or 4, and a bat that coped happily with an incrediball will mark, then crack, against a season ball. It is also the point at which a bat stops being a toy and starts being equipment that needs looking after.

Size 3 has 26 bats available from £32.99, eight of them Kashmir willow. A DSC Spliit 440 at £32.99 sits at the bottom of that and makes sense as a last season before English willow, particularly if your child is still growing quickly. A Gray Nicolls Havoc 1.0 Power at £84.99 spans sizes 1 to 3 and is the one that moves fastest across that range.

Size 4 opens up considerably with 46 bats from £42.99, and only two of those are Kashmir. A Chase F-16 Select at £109.99 or a Kookaburra Prism 6.5 Force at £114.99 are both 2026 English willow, and either will survive a full season of hard-ball nets provided a face sheet goes on before the first session rather than after the first crack.

Sizes 5 and 6 for Club Junior Cricket

Sizes 5 and 6 carry the deepest stock we hold, 72 and 112 bats, because this is where most club juniors sit for two or three seasons rather than one. That length of use changes the maths. A bat at size 4 is outgrown before it is worn out, whereas a size 6 will often be retired because it is finished rather than because it is short.

Every bat we stock in size 5 and size 6 is English willow, so the Kashmir question resolves itself here. Size 5 runs from a Kookaburra Kahuna 7.1 at £79.99, through an Adidas Incurza Control 4.0 at £139.99, up to a Gunn & Moore Diamond Original at £229.99.

Size 6 spans a Gunn & Moore Radon at £74.99, a Gray Nicolls Havoc 1.0 350 at £144.99 and a DSC Spliit 2000 at £189.99. Spending above roughly £150 at size 6 buys more consistent pressing and a lighter pick-up at a given weight. That is worth paying for if the child bats in the top order and plays hard-ball cricket every week, and it is largely wasted if they do not.

Harrow and Small Adult Bats

Harrow is the step between size 6 and a full short handle, and it matters more now than it used to. The England and Wales Cricket Board moved to a player's actual age on the day as the deciding factor for open age cricket, rather than their age group or school year, which is set out in its regulations for junior cricketers in open age cricket. The practical effect is that more twelve- and thirteen-year-olds are facing adult pace, and a size 6 is not the bat to do that with.

We hold 77 bats with a Harrow option, from £32.99 up to £279.99, which makes it a far deeper range than most parents expect. A Gray Nicolls Havoc 1.3 350 at £144.99 is the sensible middle of it, and a Gunn & Moore Rival Original at £279.99 is a genuine match bat for a strong under-fifteen who has stopped growing quickly.

Small Adult sits between Harrow and short handle, with 16 bats from £129.99 up to £244.99. It suits a tall thirteen- or fourteen-year-old who needs adult blade length but cannot yet carry adult weight comfortably. If a child is close to 5ft 8in and playing men's cricket, skip it and go to a short handle, where the adult sizing bands take over.

Kashmir Willow or English Willow for a Junior

Kashmir willow is heavier for its size, harder across the face and considerably cheaper. It holds up perfectly well against a soft ball, and for sizes 1 to 3 it is often the sensible choice while a child is still deciding whether they want to play seriously. Every Kashmir bat we hold sits under £50, so the downside of guessing wrong is small.

English willow is softer, lighter for its volume and rebounds better, which is why clubs push towards it once a hard ball is involved. It also has to be prepared, and knocking in a new bat properly is the difference between three seasons of use and one. From size 4 upwards our stock is almost entirely English willow, and by size 5 it is exclusively so.

Weight Matters More Than the Size Label

Two bats of the same size can differ by several ounces, and the lighter one is almost always the better buy for a child. A junior who can only just control the bat will drop the hands, play across the line and lose the top hand, all of which look like technique problems and are actually equipment problems.

The test takes five seconds. Have the child hold the bat out horizontally in front of them, using the top hand only, and count to five. If the blade dips or the wrist collapses, it is too heavy, whatever the label says. This matters as much at Harrow as it does at size 3, and it is the single check most likely to save you a season of frustration.

What to Spend at Each Stage

The honest answer is less than most parents expect until the child reaches size 5. Below that the bat is outgrown within twelve to eighteen months whatever it cost, so the money is better spent on a helmet that fits properly, which every player under eighteen must wear with a grill when batting against a hard ball. Check the label as well as the fit, because helmets are tested separately against junior and senior sized balls under BS 7928, and one approved for a men's ball is not automatically approved for a junior one.

• Sizes 1 and 2: £8 to £85. Soft ball only, so weight beats grade every time.
• Sizes 3 and 4: £33 to £115. The hard-ball transition, and worth moving to English willow by size 4.
• Sizes 5 and 6: £75 to £230. Two or three seasons of use, so this is where spending actually pays back.
• Harrow and Small Adult: £130 to £280. Adult pace needs an adult bat, and this is the last one before full size.

One rule holds at every stage. Never size up to buy another year. A bat that is slightly small costs nothing in technique, and a bat that is too big costs seasons of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size cricket bat does a ten-year-old need? Usually a size 5 or 6, but measure rather than assume. Stand the bat upright beside them and the top of the handle should reach the hip bone. If it reaches the waist, it is too big.

Is Kashmir willow good enough for a junior? For soft-ball cricket at sizes 1 to 3, yes. Against a hard season ball it marks and cracks faster than English willow, which makes it a false economy from size 4 onwards.

When should a child move to a Harrow? Around 5ft 5in, or earlier if they have moved into open age cricket. Height decides it, not their birthday.

Do junior bats need knocking in? English willow ones do, including at junior sizes. Kashmir willow needs far less, though a face sheet is still worth fitting on either.

How heavy should a junior bat be? Light enough to hold out horizontally with the top hand alone for a count of five. The Laws of Cricket set maximum bat dimensions but specify no minimum weight, so the only test that matters is whether the child can control it.