A SILSDEN company has been credited with helping to transform women's cricket.

Viking Cricket has been working with top female professionals on new equipment which is revolutionising their sport.

One star to benefit is Hollie Armitage – captain of the Northern Diamonds team, which draws its players from Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham.

The 25-year-old says that traditionally girls wishing to play the game have had to put up with "hand-me-down" gear – such as ill-fitting pads and bats that were either too heavy or too long.

But Viking, which is owned by cricket coach Jeff Wilson, has been collaborating with the sport's leading figures on new designs.

Hollie has had three bats made specifically for her.

She began her career as a youngster at Meltham Cricket Club.

"I was the only girl in the team and that was the case until I was around 12 and was picked up by Yorkshire," she says.

"At that time there was no such thing as girls' or women’s cricket gear. We just wore equipment for youths and got on with it.

"Many girls struggled to run between the wickets because their pads were heavy or ill-fitting.

"I was lucky in that I’m quite tall so could get away with bats and pads that were too big for most girls.

"Now that equipment is being designed for the female body shape and build, it’s made a big difference.

"Just to look inside the gear and see the label 'girls' or 'women' is so important. The sport is growing at a phenomenal rate and it’s great to see a Yorkshire company at the forefront of that."

Jeff has also worked closely with Jenny Gunn, who played for England for 15 years, to fine tune designs for gloves and pads.

And Viking – in conjunction with an online female cricket store set up by another ex-England international, Lydia Greenway – is making the equipment as accessible as possible.

"Female cricketers tend to have smaller wrists so their gloves are smaller in the wristband – and they also tend to have smaller calves than your average man so we adjusted pads to make them fit better," says Jeff.

"We couldn't believe how many parents were commenting that they couldn't get female gear – they can now! Providing the right equipment has been so important to help female cricketers improve their game, and it’s something we’ll continue developing."