Passion for helping women and girls enjoy cricket drives Joe Leach's NEXX Cricket venture

Former Worcestershire captain's business is providing solutions for female players up and down the country

Many innovations in the history of cricket equipment claim to be "game changing", but at NEXX Cricket that truly is the case.

Driven by a passion for making cricket more accessible for all age groups and abilities, Worcestershire bowler Joe Leach set out with former Shropshire teammate Ed Foster to create a brand that would make women and girls feel more comfortable within the game.

Prior to his retirement at the end of the 2024 season, the former Pears captain sought expert opinions from England internationals including Alex Hartley and Georgia Elwiss, as well as other top pros like Fi Morris, to see whether they could find a gap in the market – and, in doing so, ending the “travesty” of poor fitting equipment for female players.

“We’d talked about starting a business together, but what we didn’t want to be was a generic brand,” recalls Leach.

“We wanted to make sure if we were going to do something, we did it properly.

“We were looking at the girls’ and women’s game and getting a general sense that equipment didn’t fit.

“Reaching out to our contacts, we had women professionals and internationals letting us know that hunch was right, and that took us on a journey of trial and error to reinvent sizing so that it was bespoke and relevant to the female game.

“We spent a reasonable amount of time in research and development to come up with two new sizes and we’ve proved the concept over a couple of years. They’re designed for females and they work.”

^{NEXX kitbags aim to help clubs and schools introduce cricket to more women and girls}

As well as offering individual equipment tailored especially for women and girls, Leach is also proud of a team kitbag offered by NEXX, which increases the ability for new starters to enjoy cricket without a great personal financial commitment.

“There’s an underlying passion for the sport of cricket and accessibility to the game,” says Leach.

“Last year, the fastest growing sport in the country was the girls’ game.

“The fact they weren’t wearing equipment fit for purpose was a travesty. If you’re wearing equipment that doesn’t fit, it’s going to affect your enjoyment.

“In my career, I wasn’t particularly fussy about equipment but this came from a premise that we didn’t feel like the women’s game was being served correctly.”

^{Fi Morris is among the top pros to use NEXX kit}

That commitment to service has paid dividends, with clubs, schools and county boards all rushing to use NEXX kit for their female cricketers.

“We’re both extremely proud to have started this from scratch,” concludes Leach.

“The biggest difference is in the team kitbags because if clubs, schools and county boards understand what they can achieve by introdicing new players to cricket, then that’s really important for the growth of the game.”

For more about NEXX Cricket’s products and services, click here.