At the same time as launching our women and girls’ team with their kit specifically tailored to a woman’s body, their equipment designed exclusively for women and girls, and the kit bag including Period Pants and sustainably sourced sanitary products, we also wanted to support and use the hashtag (#periodpositive) to encourage debate and discussion on the subject, to help all players understand the issues better, and to work with clubs in making their cricket and facilities fully diverse and inclusive.
Background
Last season alone I shared dressing rooms with cricketers who were: recovering alcoholics, victims of racism, cancer survivors (and losers), from the LGBTQ+ community, amputees, autistic, refugees, stoma wearers, and girls and woman with period anxiety.
They all had one thing in common: they helped me understand their stories better. They spoke to me. I listened. I understood more. I don’t understand enough! Another thing they all had in common was a willingness to answer questions and not make me feel stupid for asking.
I came away from the season better informed, humbled and determined to work even harder on enabling diversity and inclusivity in cricket.
Period Anxiety
Period Anxiety is a real concern for girls and woman in cricket, and increasingly for men as well.
By that I mean a subject that was always “off limits” for us men is now increasingly a subject discussed around many a club committee when debating decisions regarding such things as clothing.
This is a good thing!
It is also not an issue with a simple solution, because as my many conversations have confirmed, there is no “obvious answer”.
Many say the answer is coloured clothing, but is it?
Black trousers, and to a lesser degree dark blue trousers will do most to mask an “incident”, but not since Henry Ford produced cars “in any colour so long as it is black” has society accepted just one colour.
Look at the colours worn currently by Woman’s International Teams:
- England: Dark Blue
- Australia: Gold
- India: Light Blue
- Pakistan: Green
- WIndies: Maroon
- Sri Lanka: Blue
Closer to home, in The Hundred:
- Birmingham Phoenix: Red
- London Spirit: Blue
- Manchester Originals: Black
- Northern Superchargers: Purple
- Oval Invincibles: Green
- Southern Brave: Green
- Trent Rockets: Yellow
- Welsh Fire: Red
Not too many could honestly be said to be the “best” at masking an incident and proof that ‘black isn’t the answer’ because there is no one answer! The answer lies in a mix of: specifically designed clothing, period pants, suitable facilities and provision of sanitary products and discussion, education and understanding
The Reality
At club level many a committee struggle with the extra cost and move away from traditional whites that more and more leagues require. There is a real issue persuading traditionalists to move away from Whites, indeed England’s Women’s team last summer confirmed both their desire to play in Whites and their discussions regards period anxiety.
Whilst more and more women and girls’ leagues are adopting coloured clothing, they are primarily playing white/pink ball cricket and many see this as the reason for the coloured clothing, because the ‘men wear coloured clothing for white/pink ball cricket’.
Red Ball cricket, played over 40+ overs on a Saturday and a Sunday remains predominantly ‘traditional whites’, and is is hard to see this changing any time soon:
- long format can only be played on a Saturday and a Sunday so a restriction on available grounds,
- are clubs going to give up the tradition and income of weekend cricket and ‘risk’ losing members and revenue?,
It is hard to see anything other than for the foreseeable future the majority of girls and woman will play their club cricket in Whites, if they want to, and as one of the main reasons girls give for not engaging in sport is the lack of suitable designed clothing and equipment we wanted to address that issue and provide a kit back as inclusive as the mens and boys’: whites and coloured so the power to decide is in the hands of the players.
What Next
Personally I love the novelty and change coloured clothing gives to the season, as for me it distinguishes between the more formal red ball (Whites) and the white ball (coloured) formats. I enjoy both, and would be loath to see either disappear.
I think, and hope, that with sensible discussions, pragmatic solutions and a desire to listen to all sides of the debate we can collectively come up with a range of options. People rarely respond well to a ‘take it or leave it’ stance, so what we want to do in supporting the hashtag #periodpositive is further the debate and help educate players, clubs and potential players so that we can grow the game in a truly inclusive and diverse way.
We will happily engage with, and work alongside, anyone interested in helping spread this message. We are clearly not experts, but we will do all we can to provide a conduit: clubs, players, coaches, umpires all need to be listened to and educate, facilities and products need to be appropriate and available.
#periodpositive®
Who knew you could trademark a #?
Chella Quint did, and she founded the Period Positive movement as far back as 2006 which researches shame and taboo in menstruation education with and for young people, and passes on her knowledge as one if the UK’s leading experts in menstruation literacy through her role(s) as teacher, performer and activist.
The author or two books: Own Your Period and Be Period Positive she also runs The Period Positive Places Award and Period Positive Pledge.
