Great Britain Tennis racquets by Grays
An exciting new collaboration between Grays and the T&RA resulted in the production of “GB Tennis†racquets for the upcoming World Masters and team events.
Cockram team captain, Peter Holmes, and the originator of the idea, Peter Jarvis, visited the Grays factory near Cambridge on April 5th to pick up the racquets and were treated to a fascinating tour of the manufacturing process.
They were shown how the craftsmen take a block of ash through 68 separate operations to create a modern racket, followed by screen printing to produce the unique colour schemes of which club players are so fond.
Grays was established as a racquet maker in Cambridge in 1855 by H.J. “Harry†Gray - the Great, Great Grandfather of the current Directors of the Company - and remains a family business. He was a talented Rackets professional, based at the St Johns College Courts and went on to become World Champion. His five younger brothers all became Rackets professionals boasting another two world champions; William and Joseph. Grays have hand-crafted racquets in Cambridge ever since, most recently at their Coton factory. The firm has expanded over the years to become market leaders in a number of different sports; notably hockey. It also merged with Nicolls in cricket to form the Gray-Nicolls brand and in 2002 acquired the famous Gilbert rugby and netball brand.
Unique to the industry; Grays fell and process all their own timber at Robertsbridge, including the English Ash used for Rackets and Real Tennis frames. The team at Coton take enormous pride in their programme of continuous innovation to ensuring Grays products remain at the top of their game.
