If you can believe it, five-time World Cup winner Alyssa Healy has never worn a specifically fitted cricket shoe in her entire career.
This is a reality that women cricketers face every time they run onto the field or train, because there’s never been a cricket shoe specifically designed for the female foot.
Women cricketers have always adapted to wearing cricket shoes made for men’s feet or created their own, more inventive, solutions. Healy, who has a particularly small shoe size, has always had spikes put in her regular joggers.
That’s all about to change, as a new female-specific cricket shoe, designed by ASICS Australia and Cricket Australia’s physiotherapists and female players, has just hit the market.
On top of the immediate physical benefits like reducing slippage and improving stability for women players, the new shoe has the potential to encourage young girls to take up cricket and remain in the sport for longer.
Healy says she is really excited to be able to wear a women’s cricket shoe this season, “knowing it’s going to fit nicely and be designed especially for feet like mine”.
“I think it’s really important that brands like ASICS invest in the development of female friendly equipment to entice more girls to play,” she said.
“Growing up I could only dream of a shoe designed just for women and it certainly would have made me feel more at home playing alongside the boys, so to know this is now a reality is terrific.”
The first ever cricket shoe designed for women by @ASICSaustralia is an absolute game-changer! @ahealy77 wanted to share the exciting news (in a COVID-19 safe way 😉) with a bunch of people who make our game great 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vFahZQ1Xzu
— Australian Women’s Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) August 5, 2020
The shoe, 350 NOT OUT FF, comes on the market as the demand for a female specific shoe has grown as more women and girls enter into the sport. It’s also an exciting sign that cricket is slowly becoming a more inclusive space for female players at any level.
The shoe is a testament to the strides women have made in Australian cricket over a number of years, including recent achievements like winning the T20 Women’s World Cup in front of a home crowd of more than 86,000.
“It’s exciting for us to have been a part of it and I’m excited for all the young girls out there who can walk into a store and order a female cricket shoe,” Healy said.