Top 3 Iconic Bats?

So over to 606v2 members for this post. We want to know what you think represents the top 3 iconic bats of all time. We will start off the debate with some suggestions:

1) One from the old: Botham’s Duncan Fearnley from the 1981 Ashes Series. Headingley and all that;

2) One from the old and the new: The Gray-Nicolls Scoop was ever present from the 1970’s, then used by Lara in the 1990’s to amass world records, and now reborn this season as the GN 100;

http://www.barringtonsports.com/products/11/style/gray_nicolls_2012_gn100_cricket_bat_2011/14276/view

3) One from the new: Kookaburra Kahuna – he may not be at the peak of his game currently, but as the 4th highest Test tonne maker of all time, many an international bowler will be glad to see the back of Ricky Ponting’s bat when he finally retires from a glittering career.

http://www.barringtonsports.com/products/11/style/kookaburra_2011_kahuna_600_cricket_bat_2010/12769/view

Other suggestions?

We certainly saw the makers name on that Grays bat a few times when BC Lara was wielding it!

I've always very much like the design on the blade of the Kahuna, very flashy and stands out, particularly after Ricky has just laced a straight drive back past the bowler!

Duncan Fearnley bats I haven't ever played with, but my grandad still has his old Fearnley stored away to this day, and it is a beautiful bat.

I guess Sachin's old MRF bat is pretty iconic in its own right.

In NZ in the 80s the 2 bats all kids wanted were the DF Magnum (as used by Martin Crowe) and the shoulderless Newbury Excalibur (as used by Lance Cairns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q81oE7BXMMg - there aren't many one-handed 6s hit at the MCG)

That must have been a decent bat - sending them miles in to the stands!

Like fists I love Ricky's bat.

KP's woodworm?

When I was a kid I bought a Slazenger V800 cos that's what M. Waugh had.

Good shout on KP's woodworm, I think after the '05 Ashes that one became very popular across the country, particularly with youngsters, after seeing it unleash fury on Warne and McGrath on several occasions throughout that summer!

i have a Gray nicholls powerbow.

The Duncan Fearnley is the ultimate iconic bat! It immediately sprang to mind when I just saw the title of the article and everytime I see someone wield it it is a great sight!

The Slazengers in the 1990's were the bat of that era for me!

They're a lovely bat aren't they, JD.

I do like the look of that Kookaburra Kahuna though, I can just imagine myself slogging with abandon with one of those!!

Barrington - I always favoured Gray-Nicolls when playing regularly in the '80s and '90s. Like an old friend.

It would be interesting - and might be useful for your marketing! - to see a list of leading current Test cricketers and the bats they use.

I used a Grey Nicholls Twin-Scoop for years. A lot lighter that your modern bat, but a lovely sweet spot, and the light weight made placing shots a joy.

I wonder what bat Chris Martin of New Zealand uses, that has to be iconic in its own right. The most pointless bat in the history of Test cricket...

Thanks for the responses so far – lots of good ones in there. We loved the youtube clip as well. The saturation effect of modern day IPL and 20/20 certainly doesn’t diminish the impact of a quality knock from yesteryear.

Good suggestion on collating information on all bats used by current Test cricketers globally. We will certainly look into that. Regarding some of the England Test and ODI names that come off the top of our heads, there looks to be a reasonable mix of brands. The rumour mill suggests there will be the odd big name switch in January; but if we take last season as an example, there appears to be a reasonable mix of brands in the England side:

Strauss – Gray-Nicolls PowerBow
Cook – Gray-Nicolls Oblivion
Woakes – Gray-Nicolls Oblivion

Trott – Gunn & Moore Icon
Swann – Gunn & Moore Epic
Bopara – Gunn 7 Moore Halo

Pieterson – Adidas Pellara
Bell – Adidas Incurza
Broad – Adidas Libro

Kieswetter – Puma
Butler - Kookaburra

Morgan – Slazenger
Prior – Slazenger

Barrington Sports wrote:

Good suggestion on collating information on all bats used by current Test cricketers globally. We will certainly look into that.

Pleased to help. Do I collect my new bat from reception?

I wonder what bat 'The Don' used? Bet they don't make them like that anymore!

Fists of Fury wrote:I wonder what bat 'The Don' used? Bet they don't make them like that anymore!

Courtesy of Google and http://www.bradmantrail.com.au/funfact_20.php

Don Bradman used bats produced by Yorkshire firm William Sykes & Sons throughout his career (from 1929) until the Second World War when the company was taken over by Slazengers.

In 1929 shortly after Bradman scored the then highest First-Class innings at the SCG (340* for NSW v Victoria) using a Sykes bat, Sykes signed him up for the production of the 'Don Bradman' bat, produced initially under the heading ‘NSW & Australian XI’. Later separate headings like 'Test', 'World Record', 'Club', 'Junior' or just plain 'Autograph' appeared.

Most of these bats also sported four crowns but some of the lesser quality or earlier versions had three or only two crowns.

After the Second World War Slazengers continued to produce the ‘Don Bradman Autograph’ bat until the early 1950s. Slazengers re-released the Don Bradman autograph bat in association with the Bradman Museum in 1992. It continues to be sold through sports stores today.

Nice one, Kiwi, though the link doesn't work.

Fists of Fury wrote:Nice one, Kiwi, though the link doesn't work.

I've removed the "," from the end of the link, should work now.

Silly me for trying to use punctuation