Women’s and girls’ cricket in Yorkshire is experiencing remarkable growth. Grassroots participation has surged in recent years, with a record number of clubs now offering dedicated female sections and more women and girls than ever are playing across the county. From junior programmes to competitive pathways, the women’s game is building powerful momentum at every level. With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup coming to England later this year, interest in the sport is only set to grow, and a new partnership between Lacuna Sports and the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) will help drive the next phase of that growth.
Lacuna Sports, the UK’s first and leading ICC- accredited supplier of female cricket wear, has today announced a dynamic new collaboration with the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF). Driven by a shared ambition to increase participation, strengthen visibility and create meaningful opportunities, the partnership is designed to accelerate progress and deliver lasting impact for women and girls in cricket communities across Yorkshire.
The partnership will support grassroots cricket clubs and cricket communities to ensure more girls have access to the equipment, opportunities, and experiences they need to play, develop, and thrive in cricket.
Lacuna Sports is the first brand solely focused on creating bespoke cricket wear for women and girls across a range of body types, personal preferences, and cultural needs. It will bring specialist expertise in female cricket clothing, deliver design and fitting sessions to women and girls’ teams across the county, supplying qualified staff and resources to do this, helping to improve inclusion standards across numerous clubs in the county.
Underpinning the partnership is the creation of the Lacuna Fund, a dedicated fund operated by Lacuna Sports in collaboration with the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation. A percentage of all Lacuna revenue generated through activities and sales within Yorkshire will be allocated to the fund. This will then be used to directly support women’s and girls’ cricket initiatives across the county.
Partnership Inspiration
The partnership was inspired by Lacuna’s involvement in the inaugural Roses Festival at Headingley back in June last year. Roses Cricket, powered by Dynamos, is Yorkshire’s new all-girls Under 11 cricket programme, supported by the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation. The festival in 2025 brought together cricket on the Headingley outfield, family-friendly activities, and a Vitality Blast fixture featuring Yorkshire Women. As part of the day, Lacuna ran a design workshop attended by over 100 girls, who created the Yorkshire Roses Cricket, powered by Dynamos, training t-shirt concepts. The final design – a combination of several ideas chosen by the YCF team – will represent the Roses programme and form the design of a limited-edition playing shirt produced by Lacuna as part of the partnership.
Speaking about the partnership, Leigh Burns, Founder of Lacuna Sports, says: ‘The Roses Festival captured everything we believe sport should be about – confidence, creativity, community, and fun. Seeing over 100 girls proudly designing their own tops at Headingley was incredibly powerful. Partnering with Yorkshire Cricket Foundation allows us to turn that energy into long-term impact. The Lacuna Fund is our commitment to backing grassroots cricket across Yorkshire and making sure girls have what they need to feel they belong in the game.’
Helping Women and Girls Thrive in Yorkshire In addition to the bespoke ‘Roses’ branded playing shirt the partnership will see Lacuna involved in a range of activity, including:
- Community engagement and outreach initiatives
- Events and workshops
- Engagement with Yorkshire clubs and women’s & girls’ teams including running focus groups across the county to identify and address clothing and equipment barriers affecting participation for women and girls
The Lacuna Fund will be used to support Yorkshire Cricket Foundation directed initiatives that:
- Reduce financial barriers to participation, such as access to kit
- Support grassroots programmes, clubs, and schools
- Deliver targeted inclusion and outreach projects across Yorkshire
Yorkshire Cricket Foundation will work closely with Lacuna Sports to facilitate access to clubs, schools, participants, and community networks, and ensure all initiatives focus on equality, and inclusion – values Lacuna prioritises in its own mission.
Grace Pearson Head of Women & Girls Yorkshire Cricket Foundation comments on the partnership, ‘We’re thrilled to be partnering with Lacuna Sports to break down barriers and create more opportunities for women and girls in cricket across Yorkshire. Lacuna was founded to support female cricketers who are serious about their game, removing barriers to movement and ambition so players can step onto the pitch feeling confident, comfortable and ready to perform. By combining Lacuna’s expertise in female-specific cricket wear with our deep community networks and insight, the Lacuna Fund will deliver meaningful support to clubs, schools and targeted community projects throughout the county.’
