At Newbery we can trace our bat-making heritage back to the early 1900s when the Newbery family first made cricket bats in Robertsbridge, East Sussex. John Newbery’s father, Len, was a bat-maker and partner of Nicolls Bats (later to merge with Grays of Cambridge and become Gray-Nicolls) who had made bats since the time of W G Grace.
Len’s skills were handed down to his only son John, who founded John Newbery Ltd, in 1981. John’s legendary reputation as a master bat-maker quickly spread throughout the world, as did his innovative designs. This all took place against a background of failing health, which led to his early death in 1989.
His senior craftsman Tim Keeley is today the Master Bat-maker of Newbery, using the same skills to produce cricket bats that John passed on during their years together. The philosophy remains the same - that quality, performance and style comes first.