Your Buying Guide to the Gunn & Moore 2026/27 Cricket Range

The 2026/27 Gunn & Moore range has landed at Highmark Cricket, and it comes with a heritage very few brands can match. GM has been crafting bats in Nottingham, England since 1885, every English willow bat in this drop is handmade there, and the man leading the range is the England Test captain himself: Ben Stokes carries the GM Diamond, reshaped for 2026. This guide walks through all five new bat ranges, GM's grading and blade-length systems, and how to land on the right setup for your game.

Three decisions matter with a GM bat. The range sets the character: where the swell sits and how the bat moves through the ball. The number sets the willow quality, from Original at the top to 606 and the value Radon. The size is set by the player's height. Get those right and everything else follows.

Key takeaways

• Choose the range first (shape and swell position), then the number (willow grade), then the size.
• The 2026/27 bat ranges at Highmark are Diamond, Noir, Rival, Galaxy and Maxi, with the Radon Select as the value entry point.
• GM Diamond is Ben Stokes' bat, with a new shape for 2026 and a livery that nods to his tattoos.
• Within each range the model number is the willow tier: Original and 909 are Grade 1, 808 is Grade 2, 606 is Grade 3.
• Adult bats come in two blade lengths: traditional L555 or the shorter L540 for faster hands and a more dynamic sweet spot.
• Every GM bat arrives match-prepared: knocked in, oiled and fitted with an anti-scuff cover (GM NOW!) plus ToeTek toe protection.

The ranges at a glance

Reading the table is simple: the higher the swell, the more the bat favours back-foot play and bounce; the lower the swell, the more it rewards front-foot striking. Galaxy sits highest, Diamond in the middle, Noir and Rival mid-to-low, and Maxi lowest of all.

Range by range

Diamond

The captain's bat

• Blade L555, traditional full profile
• Swell Mid, flowing contoured spine
• Face F4.5, Halo grip
• At Highmark Original, 808, 606, 606 Junior

The Diamond is the flagship: Ben Stokes' own range, carrying a new shape for 2026 and a livery that pays homage to his tattoos. The traditional L555 blade and mid swell position make it the classical allrounder of the line-up, at home driving on the up or working the ball off the hip. At Highmark it runs from the Grade 1 Diamond Original through the 808 and 606, plus a junior 606 scaled exactly from the adult shape.

Shop the GM Diamond range

Noir

Stealth and balance

• Blade L555, partially concaved back
• Swell Mid to low
• Face F4.5, Fuze grip
• At Highmark Original, 808, 606, Delta 808, Delta 606

Murdered-out looks and outstanding balance. The Noir's mid-to-low swell suits the allround shot maker, and the partially concaved back profile keeps the pickup light without hollowing out the hitting zone. It is also the range Highmark stocks in Delta form: GM's DXM 2.0 machined SuperLight profiles with optimised edges, for players who want the same shape with an even easier pickup.

Shop the GM Noir range

Rival

Huge, powerful design

• Blade L555, PowerArc bow face profile
• Swell Mid to low, huge toe depth
• Face F2, Apex grip
• At Highmark Original, 808, 606

The Rival is built to intimidate from the moment it comes out of the bag. Sweeping contours, serious toe depth for attacking confidence and GM's PowerArc bow give it an imposing profile with real power low in the blade. The mid-to-low swell keeps it versatile enough for proper batting, but make no mistake: this is a bat for taking the attack to the bowler.

Shop the GM Rival range

Galaxy

Out of this world

• Blade L555, traditional full profile
• Swell Mid to high
• Face F2, metallic Galaxy grip
• At Highmark 909, Signature, 404 Junior

The Galaxy pairs a cosmic purple sticker set with the highest swell position in the Highmark line-up. That mid-to-high swell delivers exceptional balance and pickup, and it is exactly what you want on hard, bouncy Australian decks where the ball climbs onto the bat: more wood where the ball actually hits. The Grade 1 909 leads the range, with the Signature below it and a junior 404 so the young back-foot players are not left out.

Shop the GM Galaxy range

Maxi

Dominant low swell

• Blade L540, shortened for a dynamic sweet spot
• Swell Low, for front-foot striking
• Handle 310mm, F2 face, Fuze grip
• At Highmark 909, Signature

The Maxi is the one bat in the drop built on GM's shorter L540 blade, and it changes how the bat behaves: the shorter blade and longer 310mm handle mean faster hands through the ball, a more dynamic sweet spot and larger swells. Combined with the dominant low swell position, it is purpose-built for powerful front-foot striking. If your best cricket is played driving and launching anything full, this is your bat.

Shop the GM Maxi range

Radon Select

The value collection

• Willow Seasoned Grade 4 English willow
• Face Performance face profile
• Protection Grained DuraCover, ToeTek toe guard
• At Highmark Adult and Junior

The Radon Select is the smartest way into a genuine made-in-England GM English willow bat. Grade 4 willow keeps the price honest, the performance face profile keeps the hitting real, and the grained polycarbonate DuraCover plus ToeTek toe guard mean it shrugs off the hard yards of club training. A first English willow bat that will not need replacing next season.

Shop the GM Radon Select

Decoding GM: grades, numbers and blade lengths

GM's naming system looks cryptic until you see the pattern, and then it becomes the most honest labelling in cricket. Every bat name has three parts: the range (the shape), the number (the willow tier) and the blade length.

The number is the willow

Within any range the shape is identical from top to bottom; what changes is the piece of English willow it is carved from. GM grades industry-leading tiers:

One tip from GM's own batmakers worth repeating: heavier willow is less prone to damage, lighter willow is more manoeuvrable with faster bat speed, and no two clefts are the same even from the same tree. Always select a bat on its pickup, how it feels in your hands, not on its scale weight.

L555 vs L540: the blade length choice

GM 2026 adult bats come in two blade lengths, and this is the piece of the puzzle most buyers have never been told about. The overall bat length is the same in both; what moves is the join between blade and handle.

The shorter L540 blade concentrates the same volume of willow into less length, which is how the Maxi gets its supreme balance and explosive power. If you have always found full-size bats a touch unwieldy, or you generate your power with bat speed rather than bat weight, try an L540 before you decide.

Delta: the SuperLight option

Delta models take an existing range shape and run it through GM's DXM 2.0 CAD and CAM machining to produce SuperLight optimised profiles with optimised edge sizes. Same character, noticeably easier pickup. They are a smart choice for leaner builds, for players in the 168 to 175cm transition zone between junior and adult sizes, and for anyone who values bat speed above all. Highmark stocks the Noir Delta 808 and 606 in the 26/27 drop.

Made by England's best, ready out of the box

Every GM English willow bat is handmade in Nottingham, where Gunn & Moore has been crafting bats since 1885, and the range is carried at the top of the world game by England captain Ben Stokes, South Africa's Aiden Markram and England keeper Amy Jones. Two things set a GM apart when it arrives at your door:

• GM NOW! Each bat is knocked in by the batmaker in-house, treated with raw linseed oil to maintain the blade's moisture level, and fitted with a clear anti-scuff cover on the face and edges. You get a short net session to find the middle, then it is match ready.
• ToeTek™ DriGuard treatment resists damp, and a specially shaped resilient shield fits the toe of the bat, reducing the toe damage and feathering that comes from tapping at the crease.

Behind the finish sits GM's DXM manufacturing process, a research programme covering wood conditioning, computer-aided design and precision pressing, plus F-TECH face dynamics that optimise the face profile for each blade design. It is the reason a GM bought online arrives consistent with the one you would hand-pick in the shop.

Juniors: the same bat, perfectly scaled

GM does something genuinely useful for young cricketers: the shape of every junior GM English willow bat directly replicates the adult version. A junior Galaxy 404 is the same bat Ben Stokes' teammates would recognise, scaled correctly rather than just cut down, so the pickup and balance teach the right habits from the first net.

In the 26/27 drop at Highmark that means the Galaxy 404 Junior, the Diamond 606 Junior and the Radon Select Junior, alongside complete GM junior cricket sets (Diamond, Rival, AION, Striker and Opener) that bundle bat, pads and gloves for the season's first campaign. Shop GM junior sets and accessories.

Match your kit to your bat

GM carries the same design language through the rest of the kit bag, so the gear can match the bat from the sticker down.

Pads, gloves and protection

The GM protective ladder uses the same numbering logic as the bats: the 808 batting leg guards at the performance end, the 505 leg guards and gloves covering club players from small adult up, and the 909 ambidextrous thigh guard for juniors and youth. Shop GM protective gear and GM batting gloves.

Footwear

GM's cricket shoes cover both ends of the season: the Maxi Spike and Aion+ Spike for grass, and the Maxi All Rounder and Aion All Rounder for hard wickets and training, with replacement metal spikes and soft Durastuds available. Shop GM footwear.

Bags, grips and bat care

The GM Original Easi-Load Wheelie swallows a full season's kit, and GM's grip wall (Hypa, Terrain, Control, Prolite) plus full-length bat covers keep the new bat protected between matches. Shop GM kit bags.

From range to size to ordered: three steps

Buying the right bat online comes down to a simple sequence. Get the range right, get the size right, then order with confidence.

GM bat sizing by height

Still torn between two bats? That is what we are here for. The Highmark team handles this exact conversation every day of the season, and we would rather you ask twice than buy the wrong bat once.