Bat review: Gray Nicolls Maax

Gray-Nicolls have long been at the very top of the bat manufacturing game and you can see why. The bat itself is smartly put together with not a grain out of place

RRP: £125, Weight: 2lb 12oz, Edges: 40mm

The Maax gave off a superb initial impression to our testers, averaging 9.0 in this category, and Advaith even gave it 10s across the board.

The consistent weight throughout the blade was noted though it was slightly heavy for some.

The higher middle and wider edges does result in a heavier bat but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Both Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis have wielded the Maax and both have used this tool very successfully.

At the start of 2020, Stoinis was in the form of his life, smashing the most runs ever by a batsman in a Big Bash campaign.

His 705 runs included an innings of 147 not out, the highest ever individual score in Big Bash history. He achieved both these feats with a Maax in hand.

Finch’s power-hitting abilities need no justification either.

This is not a bat for the nudgers and nurdlers, it does its job quickly and well.

Gray-Nicolls have long been at the very top of the bat manufacturing game and you can see why. The bat itself is smartly put together with not a grain out of place.

The stickers veer away from the classic bat aesthetic but in reality Gray-Nicolls have been doing that for a while. Mark Ramprakash’s Predator in the mid-2000s was hardly a traditional-looking piece of willow.

It’s 8.3 rating puts it at the higher end of bats tested without being outstanding.

But with a brand like Gray-Nicolls there is rarely any risk involved. When you buy one you know you’re getting a bat that will last several seasons – the build quality score tells you that, and also that you’re buying into a brand that has served some of the greatest batsmen, both historical and current, very well indeed.

Initial impression: 9

Build quality: 8.6

Pick-up/feel: 7.6

Performance: 7.8

Overall score: 8.3

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