NO HOLES BARRED – Cricketer designs caps for every hairstyle

“I sold my house to create a hat” reads the eye-catching headline. But there’s much more to cricketer Marie Kelly’s story than that. Having spent her life cutting holes in her cricket hats to accommodate her high ponytail, Kelly created her own cap. Now, she reckons, you never need to compromise on comfort or style again. 

Clare McEwen speaks to Marie Kelly to learn more about her fledgling hat business and how a simple frustration turned into a brand new design.

Marie Kelly (above) grew up in a sporty family. Following in the footsteps of her mum – who played county tennis – she and her twin sister began life with racquets in their hands. At the tennis club, when they were nine, their parents began chatting to a local cricketer. He suggested they’d be good at cricket and recommended a nearby club. They went to a session and loved it.

Kelly had immediate success and soon got onto the County pathway. The early validation encouraged her to move from tennis to cricket, and the rest is history. Kelly now plays professionally for country cricket side The Blaze. 

Although cricket stole Marie Kelly’s heart, she didn’t fall in love with the hats. As standard, they didn’t allow her to wear her hair in the high ponytail she liked. So she snipped holes in them. Several years later, her cricket cap frustration has turned into her business. 

In August last year, she launched a range of caps and bobble hats that allow wearers to put their ponytail hole wherever they want.

When did you first start getting frustrated with hat design?

When we began playing for Warwickshire senior women’s team, we were given the same kit as the men and that was a really exciting moment for us. We were given the same caps as the men, which had no hole at the back for your hair. So whilst it was a really special moment, that sticks in my head. 

That’s when I first started to cut holes into my caps. It meant I could choose exactly where to put my ponytail because it was starting from scratch. 

A couple of years ago when we were training more and more outside in winter, I started cutting holes in the bobble hats too.  Running and playing cricket with your hair down and tucked under the bobble hat, I thought, well, I cut my cap, so why don’t I cut my bobble hats as well? It’s one of those things that once you do it, it makes so much sense.

I wear caps a lot and when I was doing my research for this interview, I began wondering if I wear my ponytail low because I choose to, or whether it’s because I wear hats a lot.

I do think, especially in cricket, a lot of young girls probably choose to have a low ponytail because, subconsciously, that’s what’s available, isn’t it? I think it’s enforced a certain style. And putting your helmet on and getting your hair out ready to bowl and things like that. It’s not exactly what you want, but it’s what we’ve had to deal with.

I guess you soon realised it wasn’t your hair, it was the kit not being designed for you. It shows women are not considered and adapt to a product because that’s the only option, right?

I don’t think it was ever done with malice or bad intent or anything like that. And me pushing the brand for women and girls, I’m not hateful of men for having caps made for them or anything like that [laughs]. It’s just a matter of fact that it hasn’t really been considered for long hair, whether it’s men or women.

Even things like velcro with caps,  it’s a terrible idea. I don’t know why it’s the tradition. 

Yes, a very good distinction. It’s not that nobody designed a cap to stop women playing, it just wasn’t considered.

Then once you’ve got the opportunity to start from scratch, you can design it exactly how you want.

Except nobody else thought of it, that was all you. When was that tipping point from, oh this is really annoying to stuff this I’m doing something about it?

In Perth, a couple of winters ago was when it really got to me. Obviously with cricket in the UK, I was probably only wearing a cap once a week in summer so it was something I could put up with. But in Perth, it’s 40 degrees, dry heat, the UV is really high, so you don’t leave the house without caps, sunglasses, sun cream.

That’s when it got to me more. I started noticing I couldn’t wear the cap that I’d cut a hole in if I was going for a coffee or walking the dog or going to the beach.

I either had to wear my hair in a low ponytail and feel a bit rubbish or I had to wear my cricket cap I’d cut a hole in.  I didn’t want to ruin my fashionable hats by putting a hole in them and that’s where I got thinking, could I turn this into a business opportunity? Or start to look out for what’s out there – I thought there must be some more options in Perth and there really weren’t. 

There were some options online that had tried to do it, but all of them still had something wrong with them. They had velcro or too much of a gaping hole at the back or had visors – things like that. That’s when I really went, okay, there’s probably a gap here we could do with solving.

For people who might think, it’s only a hat, what difference can it possibly make, what difference does it make?

I think the big thing is when girls try it on for the first time – it still surprises me – their eyes light up that it actually fits. 

The magnets [that fasten the hat at the back] are the USP of the cap – the magnetic opening. But I was really big on getting the female sizing element too. We have so many women that say, ‘I’ve got such a pea head I probably won’t even fit the extra small’. And I’m saying, ‘no, no, this is made for you’.

I spent a whole year measuring loads of heads and really going into detail on sizes – back and forth with the manufacturer.  Getting loads of samples and trying them on with myself and my teammates. 

So there’s that side of it but also the depth. One thing I always found was that I haven’t got a particularly shallow or small head but caps never seem to really fit the top of my head, they would sit below my eyes. And then I’d have to wear sunglasses to prop the cap up or that’s when my hair didn’t quite fit in. So I wanted to make it a little bit shorter so it genuinely feels comfortable and it actually fits people smoothly. 

Then the third thing is the quality. The big thing I found with a lot of caps is we either find one that’s comfortable, functional, or stylish. There isn’t really something that does all three of those things. You naturally compromise on one of those aspects. 

I wanted to have something that was really high quality, but it did the job and was comfortable at the same time.  Then you could wear it, whether you’re going for a dog walk or to the pub; you can wear it for sports or taking your kids to school. It’s a cap you could wear in all kinds of situations. That’s where the name Versatail® came from – it’s a versatile option, it’s adaptable and it adapts to you rather than you having to adapt your style to the cap. 

What feedback have you had so far?

Really good feedback. Probably that visceral reaction straight away of ‘oh my god it fits’. I think so many girls will try on the large and say that it fits and I’m like no, try the medium, try the small, because they don’t realise what fitting actually feels like. They’re so used to them being so big for them that even a little bit of room and they’re, oh yeah, it fits.  I’m saying, ‘no, no, have the proper comfort’. 

And loads of positive reviews online. People saying they adapt to their needs. They can finally wear their high ponytail or wear their hair how they want to.

I’ve not had many people return the cap. I thought there might be a few more issues with the sizing because it’s obviously quite hard to gauge the right size online, but I think spending that year really getting to grips with the sizing system and making it clear on the website has really helped. 

The overall consensus is they’re really comfortable, they’re really high quality, and they’re functional for what people need. 

As well as selling the hats, do you hope you can highlight the wider issue of appropriate sports kit for women and girls? 

Absolutely. I think cricket is doing its best to be an inclusive sport. It’s come on leaps and bounds with that, but growing up, I was definitely of the era that nothing was made for women. You’re constantly in men’s or boys trousers, pads, gloves, bats, helmets, everything. Nothing had a women’s label on it. 

Again, not intentional, not hateful, just how it is. I think the big thing is not having one style of thing, it’s being able to have options. People want different things, boys and girls want different things. Girls want different things. Women want different fits. So it’s trying to increase the options for people, increase the range of choice. 

Some women prefer men’s fit or might prefer a men’s helmet or whatever. I think we’re slowly awakening to the notion that things weren’t necessarily designed for women in mind and things have started to change.

We’ve seen a lot more kit providers now specifically for women and girls – spikes and pads and bats. It’s definitely getting there. I’m hoping my caps are a piece in the puzzle within that – a contribution back to the game.

And for younger girls growing up, I don’t want them to even be aware that caps weren’t made for them or caps don’t fit them. I want it to be a subliminal theme, you don’t want to shove the message down their throat that this kit wasn’t made for them, but you want to have things available for them – it fits them and it’s comfortable.

You sold your house to help fund the project. Where is the business at now?

Obviously it’s a bit of a headline, but there is a lot of truth behind it. There’s a lot that goes into setting up a business, a lot of financial costs. I had a shared ownership house in Solihull and then moved to Nottingham to play for The Blaze. At the same time, we were starting to launch the business so it was a happy coincidence. I was looking to move into the area anyway but at the same time was thinking, I’m going to have to order a lot of stock so need to release some funds.

I decided to sell the house and rather than have it in savings, we decided to rent instead of buying so we could put the money into the business and really go for that.

Now we’re renting a lovely house in Nottingham and I’ve got all the stock in my conservatory. At the same time as selling the house – it was a very busy month in November – I won the University Campus of Football Business entrepreneur award and the £50,000 prize for that. So that was a big help and a big weight off my mind, financially. 

I’ve got a little bit more freedom. I can take a bit more risk and try a few things out and probably experiment with some things.  And having the backing and support of a pretty big business university as well. 

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster of a year.

How did you manage to juggle everything: the business and your cricket career?

I think it was the perfect time to have done it. Obviously setting up a business for anyone is pretty daunting but now is a good time as I’ve got the security of a full-time job. 

Cricket can take up so much of your life, it becomes all-consuming – you spend hours thinking about it. The business provides a nice escape from cricket but I’ve got the financial security and consistency of pay from cricket now –  which, for years we didn’t have. It felt like the right time to go for it.  It’s only money at the end of the day. Take the risk.

We’ve got cricket supporting us as well. The PCA [Professional Cricketers’ Association] are brilliant. They really advocate for us having things outside of cricket to help with our self-identity – we’re not just cricketers.

It can get quite tight at times with timings and spending lots of time on meetings and trying to grow the business, though. I think the next step will probably be to try and hire someone to take a bit of the load off. It’s finding the right balance of giving a bit of your baby up but also allowing it to flourish in other ways. It’s been a big learning experience too because I didn’t have any real business knowledge going into any of it. 

Beyond hiring someone to help, what would really move the needle for you at the moment?

Probably it’s that, being able to double what I can do and get it out there more, that would be amazing. 

I do quite a lot of teamwear for lots of clubs. I stayed in cricket but then with the bobble hats, they had quite a lot of interest from hockey, rugby, football clubs. So, whether I put more eggs into that basket. 

I’ve not even approached golf or tennis yet or running clubs. There’s trade shows I could go to. I’ve been doing a lot in private schools, so there’s so many avenues I can go down.

If I can double or triple what I can do and get more people in different areas, that would be great. If you know anyone who wants to do it, we are looking [laughs], do get in touch. 

Winter was good for networking but I’ve taken a bit of a backseat now the cricket season has started to get busy. But when I’m on the coach [travelling to games] I’ve got dead time and a lot of travel hours to Durham and Essex and Somerset, so plenty of time to get the admin done or the accountancy sorted. 

We’re so lucky we don’t have to drive to places anymore, we get the team bus. We are well looked after. It helps physically and mentally switch off. A couple of hours doing some work and a couple of hours having a nap.

What does it mean to you knowing that girls never have to cut a hole in their hat again?

Yeah, it’s awesome, honestly. Seeing their faces reminds me of why I did it. It’s a really awesome feeling when people resonate with you and you see comments of, ‘oh, where has this been all my life?’ People thanking me for doing it. It really hits home. 

It was a problem I had, but with most things in life, if you’ve got a problem and you share it, you find out lots of other people deal with it as well. Helping others out, even if it’s not that deep – they fancy having a cap that they can wear their hair up in a high ponytail – now they’ve got the option. Yeah, it’s really cool. It makes me realise it’s all worth it – that’s why I did it. 

I did have a lot of debate about whether to make this a woman and girls only thing or whether to open it out. I recognise I’m probably not being inclusive by specifying women and girls. But at the same time, I wanted something for us because we’ve had so many years of not having products labelled for us – I wanted to contribute back that way.

I’ve had corporations and events get in touch because there’s a lot of female staff in the workplace that often have caps that are made for men: people that work at Cheltenham or Silverstone in racing. There’s so many avenues to go down. I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself. One step at a time. 

I think it is time that women had some things for themselves.  I think of it as equity rather than equality, we’re trying to bridge that gap a little.

Absolutely. If somebody wants to make it with the men’s version, they can try. And it is technically inclusive, it is for everyone, but I’d like to shout to women and girls – this is available for you. Have you seen this? You can wear your hair, however, you want to. 

Are you beginning to see more people out in the wild wearing them?

I actually got approached in the gym by a guy.  He came over and said, excuse me, are you Marie from Versatail®? Are you going to do floppy hats or bucket hats next? And I thought, oh, that’s really cool. It’s not only my family seeing the Instagram posts, it’s actually getting out there to people I don’t know. 

When I had the first couple of orders through, I knew each person through so and so – it’s my mum’s friends’ sisters’ cousins, and all that. Then when it started being random people that I’d never met, I was like, okay, it’s actually working. That’s pretty cool. 

It’s getting it out there. Once people see the magnets open and they try it on and see how well it fits, that’s it, that’s the sell.

We’ve got a big summer of cricket coming up with the T20 World Cup. Are you excited about it?

Yes. I really wanted to somehow partner with the World Cup, whether I could get some World Cup embroidery on [the caps], but the timings didn’t quite allow – a little bit too late with it. But the hats are in the shop at Lord’s, so they’ll be logoed up with ‘Lord’s’ and the ‘MCC’ – that’s pretty cool, to be at such a prestigious venue of cricket.

They wanted products in stores that their female fans could buy when the World Cup’s on. They’re at Trent Bridge as well. Retailers are starting to realise the financial benefit of having products in store for their female fans – not only fans of women’s cricket but female fans of men’s cricket as well. Just having some products in store that women can buy and feel part of the club and feel well looked after – I think that’s a really important message.

Marie Kelly’s hats are available from her website: https://www.versatail.co.uk/

Photos: Marie Kelly