Ask ten cricketers what their bat weighs and nine of them will tell you a number they read off a sticker in a shop. Ask them why, and it gets quiet. Weight is the most talked about spec on a cricket bat and the least understood, so here is how we think about it after more than a decade of making bats.
The short answer
- Most fully grown men play between 2lb 7oz and 2lb 10oz.
- Most fully grown women play between 2lb 6oz and 2lb 8oz.
- Juniors on a Harrow are usually 2lb 2oz to 2lb 6oz, and smaller sizes scale down from there.
If you have no idea where to start, a 2lb 8oz Short Handle is the middle of the road for an adult male club cricketer and there is a reason it is the most ordered weight on our bench.
Dead weight is not pick-up weight
This is the part that matters. Dead weight is what the bat reads on the scales. Pick-up is what it feels like in your hands, and two bats that weigh exactly the same can feel a world apart.
Pick-up comes down to where the mass sits. A bat with a slim toe and the volume pushed up into the middle of the blade will feel light and whippy even at 2lb 10oz. Put the same wood low in the blade and it will feel like a sledgehammer at 2lb 8oz. Handle weight, the amount of cane and rubber in the splice, and even how much sanding has come off the back all shift the balance point.
This is why buying purely by the number on the sticker is a gamble. If you can, pick the bat up and take a few shadow drives. If you are buying online, talk to whoever made it.
Lighter is not automatically better
There has been a long drift toward lighter bats, and it has gone too far in places. A bat that is too light forces you to generate all the power yourself. Against a genuinely quick bowler, a slightly heavier bat that you can still swing on time will beat a feather that you have to hit at.
The test is honest and simple: can you play a full-blooded drive with that bat in the 40th over, when you are tired, cramping and the ball is soft? If the answer is no, go lighter. If you are muscling it around comfortably, you can probably carry more wood and get a bigger profile.
Where the willow comes in
Here is the trade-off nobody tells you about in a retail store. A cricket bat is shaped from a raw cleft of English willow, and the weight of that cleft is written on the face before a single cut is made. To get a light finished bat out of a dense cleft, you have to take wood off, which means thinner edges, a smaller spine and less profile. You end up with a light bat that looks and plays small.
The only way to get a big bat at a light weight is to start with a naturally low-density cleft. Those clefts are rare, and they are the reason our Featherblade grade exists: it is the only grade we select on density rather than looks. Every other bat we make is graded on the face; Featherblade is graded on the scales. That is why you see 2lb 8oz Featherblades with edges that look like they should weigh 2lb 12oz.
Weight vs profile: choose one to prioritise
When you are ordering a custom bat, you can ask for a target weight or a target profile, but you cannot dictate both from an ordinary cleft. We will always tell you which one we can hit. If big edges matter most to you, allow a few extra ounces. If a specific weight is non-negotiable because of an injury or your style, we will shape to the weight and be straight with you about the profile you will end up with.
Things that quietly add weight
The number on the bat is the bare bat. Once it is match ready it will be heavier:
- A grip adds roughly 1 to 1.5oz. Two grips, double that.
- An anti-scuff face sheet adds around 0.5 to 1oz.
- A toe guard adds a small amount right where it hurts pick-up most, at the bottom of the blade.
- Oil and knocking in add a touch of moisture weight.
If you are borderline between two weights, buy the lighter one and let the fit-out bring it up.
How to work out your weight
Weigh the bat you play with now, including grip, then be honest about whether you want it heavier, lighter or the same. That single data point tells us more than any chart. If you have never owned a bat, start in the middle of the ranges above.
You can pick an exact weight from our pre-made cricket bats, or specify a target weight when you build a custom cricket bat and we will select a cleft to suit.
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