Young girl highlights an important issue female cricketers are facing.

In a letter which has gone viral on social media, 11-year-old Olivia Cotter of Moorooka wrote to sports equipment company Kookaburra to express her dismay at only being about to find batting pads for “boys” and “men”.

“Today I went to Rebel (Sports store) and bought the Kookaburra Verve Pro 400 batting pads in the size ‘boys’,” she wrote.

“It made me a little bit sad that the size was just called ‘boys’ as so many girls are playing cricket now too.”

Olivia told The Courier-Mail yesterday she did not expect to receive so much online support.

She said it highlighted the fact female cricket was becoming increasingly popular.

“There are so many girls playing cricket at the moment which is great,” Olivia said.

“Cricket gear definitely should be at least unisex (to recognise the female popularity).”

Beautifully argued request from player in our Heat Girls League team. Fair point made. Thnx for response so far @KookaburraCkt. @ahealy77 pic.twitter.com/y2N4gftG6u

— Bulimba Cricket Club (@BulimbaCricket) August 24, 2018

Kookaburra Cricket responded to Olivia’s letter by saying they had changed their sizing last year. “Kookaburra changed all its sizing to ‘adults’ and ‘juniors’ in 2017 to better reflect the growing female participation in cricket and break this anachronism,” a spokesperson said. “We think Olivia has seen some old stock somewhere that has old sizing, but regardless, her letter shows how crucial these changes are to reduce the barriers for girls to play cricket.

We think Olivia has seen some old stock somewhere that has old sizing, but regardless, her letter shows how crucial these changes are to reduce the barriers for girls to play cricket. It’s another reason why we proudly sponsor so many female players in Australia. (2) pic.twitter.com/sSa8FwMcga

— Kookaburra Cricket (@KookaburraCkt) August 28, 2018

Kookaburra changed all its sizing to ‘Adults’ and ‘Juniors’ in 2017 to better reflect the growing female participation in cricket and break this anachronism. (1) https://t.co/rYUDQY9i4q

— Kookaburra Cricket (@KookaburraCkt) August 28, 2018

Full statement re Olivia’s letter: pic.twitter.com/2q7eAv86OM

— Kookaburra Cricket (@KookaburraCkt) August 29, 2018

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