The story of Gray-Nicolls begins long before the red flash became one of cricket’s most recognisable symbols. It is a tale of two families, two workshops, and two visions for craftsmanship that would eventually unite to create a global cricketing powerhouse.
It all started in Cambridge in 1855, when HJ “Harry” Gray founded Grays. A renowned sportsman and future world rackets champion, Gray was also a capable cricketer, representing Cambridge against the All England XI. From those early days, his business was shaped by a passion for sport and a belief in quality.
At first, Grays produced rackets, supplying the university and beyond, but it wasn’t long before cricket bats joined the line. The reputation of Gray’s bats grew quickly, helped in no small part by one of the game’s most stylish pioneers. While at Cambridge, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji — later an England star and cricketing icon — wielded a Grays bat. So impressed was he that he featured a Grays Playfair Driver in his influential Jubilee Book of Cricket. For a young brand, it was an extraordinary endorsement.
Meanwhile, some 200 miles to the south in Robertsbridge, East Sussex in 1875, a carpenter named Levi J. Nicolls was making his own mark. In the workshop at his High Street home, Nicolls began crafting bats that would travel across the world. Agents in Bermuda, Cape Town, Bombay, and Adelaide stocked his creations, alongside sellers closer to home in London and the Home Counties. Some 150 years later, cricket bats are still made
By the 1880s, Nicolls’ reputation was firmly established. His bats were awarded a diploma at the Melbourne Grand Exhibition of 1880–81, with the logo appearing on bats until 1940. Four years later, at the Crystal Palace International Exhibition, Nicolls won a silver medal. His bats sold for just 14 shillings — but their quality was priceless.
W.G Grace used one of Nicolls' bat in a match at Hastings and said "Dear Sir, I used one of your bats at Hastings in 1894 and scored 131. I may mention that it was perfectly new. I kept it until this year and have scored 2,000 runs with it. I used it when I made my 100th century and scored 1,000 runs in May with it. So I think I may call it my record bat. This year at Hastings I scored 104 runs with another of your bats and hope it will turn out as well as the old one."
Two family businesses, one in Cambridge and one in Robertsbridge. Decades later, they would come together under one name: Gray-Nicolls.
