BGS student Izzy Gurney has featured alongside England captain Alastair Cook in a Toyota marketing campaign looking at ideas of how to make cricket better.

As part of their Future of Cricket project, Toyota and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have created a competition asking cricket fans how they think they could make the sport better.

Toyota and the ECB officially launched the initiative on Wednesday (18th May) on their website. The campaign involves profiles from Test captain Cook and his fellow England stars Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood, together with Izzy and other members of the grassroots game, revealing some of their own innovative ideas for making the game better.

Izzy, who keeps wicket for Buckinghamshire U17 Girls, came up with the idea of inventing a pair of wicki-vision goggles that would help wicketkeepers see the ball more clearly.

“I really like Toyota and the ECB’s idea of letting the fans come up with an idea of how to improve the game we love, and it was a brilliant experience to be able to contribute,” said Izzy, the only female youth player to be selected to feature in the campaign. 

“As a wicketkeeper I rely on my quick reactions to see and catch the ball coming towards me. I’ve always thought it would be useful if someone created goggles that exaggerate the red (or white) of the ball against the background.

“This would allow me to pick out the ball more clearly, making it ever so slightly easier for me to see – and hopefully – catch the ball.”

Toyota, the official vehicle partner to the ECB, has launched a digital hub for people to contribute their ideas at toyota.co.uk/bettercricket. Entries can also be made on Twitter by tweeting ideas using #bettercricket.

See Izzy feature in the launch advert at toyota.co.uk/bettercricket, and we expect to hear more from the wicketkeeper about her idea as the campaign unfolds.