Girls hold up Half the Sky in cricket.

When the mixed junior teams at Lewes Priory Cricket Club go out to bat this season, the boys and girls will abandon the 200-year tradition of wearing whites, and play in striking new black kit emblazoned with Half the Sky.

I am proud that Half the Sky is the first sponsor of the club’s new junior kit

I am especially proud because of the reason the club wanted to switch. It’s a move made in pursuit of its ambition for equality and inclusion.

Half the Sky is the name of the diversity and inclusion consultancy I founded, and it is so called as a poetic and now a very visible reminder of the importance of equality…

… the ancient proverb says: “Women hold up half the sky”

The club realised that girls as young as 9 can begin their periods. Moving to coloured kit means that no girl need worry about wearing white when they have their period. The club has removed a barrier to girls loving cricket and playing in mixed teams. The new kit is functional, and a system of lending shirts makes it affordable too.

Taboos remain around women and girls’ health. In the workplace women don’t yet have many rights or freedoms to adjust how, when and where they work to be able to manage menstrual symptoms or menopause. Spain is to become the first country in Europe to experiment with menstrual leave to help women manage painful periods. In the UK, Ministers are considering evidence about how the law supports and protects women at work who are experiencing menopause symptoms.

Things are changing, but progress is slow, and attitudes can be ingrained

At Half the Sky we work with organisations to help them identify and remove barriers that hold women back. Sometimes it’s structural - you can’t be promoted unless you work full-time which penalises many working parents, mothers especially. More often it’s the culture that needs to change. It is painstaking work.

What we have learned is that a combination of dogged determination and practical action is needed, and sometimes, it is the seemingly small moves that have the biggest impact on equality and inclusion.

That is why Lewes Priory Cricket Club’s decision to switch to coloured kit is so significant. Other clubs have changed their kit to engage youngsters because it looks good and more like the clothes kids wear, but this is a move made in pursuit of equality and inclusion. The club is proud to announce it and Half the Sky is thrilled to support it.

Professional female cricketers have opened up about some of the barriers they have faced getting to the top, and it is clear that plenty remain

Schools and community sports clubs have vital roles to play in introducing children to all sports and nurturing their enthusiasm as well as their talents. Taking away the obstacles before they block anyone’s path is what Lewes Priory Cricket Club has done and I hope where they lead, others will follow.

Image shows LPCC’s Under 12s squad in their new kit, shared with kind permission of LPCC