I started playing cricket around age 12 or 13 in a very small, traditional village. There wasn’t much to do -just a few churches, a post office, and a cricket club! Luckily, several of my friends, including a few girls, were involved in the sport, so I joined a team that was about two or three girls strong. I played in my village until I was about 16, then took a break to focus on exams. After enrolling at the University of York, I joined the women’s cricket section there, and I’ve been back to playing regularly for the past five years.
I’d been doing some junior coaching for a while, and I noticed that even I didn’t feel very comfortable joining the senior sections. They’re called “mixed-gender,” but in reality, it’s mostly men with, perhaps, one woman. It turned out that establishing a women’s section was already in the club’s five-year plan, but no one had yet taken the lead – so I decided to start it myself.
Our section at Heslington is unique because it’s designed for anyone who doesn’t identify as male. We welcome women, girls, and gender-diverse people, making us stand out from most clubs in the area. We held a competition to come up with a gender-neutral team name that everyone felt included in, and we became the Heslington Hurricanes. We initially called it the ‘Women and Girls’ section, but since it’s open to more than just women and girls, we wanted to make that inclusivity clear in the name. We’re also working with county-level organisations to make sure that people who don’t identify strictly as male or female still have the opportunity to play cricket.
It was fantastic. I work closely with Simon Desborough, who, like me, comes from an environmental background, so finding a kit provider that not only designed for non-male bodies but also operated with genuine environmental ethics was important to us. Simon connected us with Leigh at Lacuna, and we started collaborating on the new kit.
One of my main goals was for our team wear to be coloured kits, which is why Lacuna was such a great fit. Leigh and I had extensive conversations over email and phone, as I was living in Loughborough while the club is in York. Even on a train strike day, Leigh drove all the way up from London to meet with me, bringing samples of different kit colours and styles. She was truly dedicated to ensuring we found the right fit, colour, and size options to represent everyone in our club.
Once the kits were ready, she brought them to one of our training sessions, and we had a full try-on event. It was such a great experience for everyone involved and really brought the team together.
Representation is one of the most important factors. I was lucky to have representation in my own club when I first started, and I want young girls now to experience that too. At Heslington, we’ve worked to create an inclusive, welcoming environment with qualified female coaches and a diverse range of players across genders, abilities, and ages.
As the Women and Girls Officer, I’ve focused on increasing diversity not just among players, but also within our coaching team. This past year, we’ve tripled our number of level two qualified female coaches. We want everyone to feel comfortable playing in a way that suits them, whether that means wearing coloured kits, shorts, trousers, or traditional whites.
We’re also using grants to make cricket more affordable and accessible, reducing financial barriers to membership so that everyone has the chance to participate.
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