Karl Bellerby works on a pair of shoes to turn into cricket footwear. Photo: Supplied.
The stock standard white cricket shoe could be facing some competition this season, with a Shell Cove cricketer bringing a popular UK trend to the Illawarra crease.
When Karl Bellerby moved from Sunderland to Shell Cove with his wife and two children in January, he was surprised to discover it wasn’t as common or accessible for Australian cricketers to have their favourite sneakers converted into spiked cricket shoes.
So the electrician and lifelong cricketer decided to do it himself, launching Cric Sole Co and recently sending out his first customer order.
“It’s quite a big thing back in England,” Karl said.
“People will buy something a bit different, something that stands out, that’s a running shoe, and then there’s quite a few companies who will turn them into cricket shoes.
“When we got here, I looked into it and realised that there’s only two main companies – one is Brisbane and one in Victoria – that actually do it.”
He decided it was a niche he could step into.
“I’ve played cricket since I was about seven years old back in England at a couple of different clubs,” he said.
“I came through the first class system, as it is known here, and played with a few people who went on to play international cricket.”
Now, he’s found himself playing for Wollongong, but having cricketing ties around the state and country.
He said he was even working on having a high-profile Australian cricketer don a pair.
Over the past few weeks, he’s been experimenting with different types of materials and shoes, and is now receiving orders.
“I sent my first paid-for pair off this morning,” he said last week.
Karl said customers sent in trainers they already loved wearing and, if they were suitable, he modified the soles and fit them with cricket spikes, allowing cricketers to take the comfort and style of their favourite trainers out onto the crease.
He said the process involved sanding the sole to remove the grip and make them as flat and smooth as possible, marking out the shoe on the new rubber, laying out the spike pattern, pressing the receptacle into the rubber, screwing spikes into it, then gluing, cutting and shaping it.
“Cricket shoes in general are quite normal. There’s nothing that really stands out about them,” he said.
“Companies don’t make them to be noticed. They just blend in with your kit.
“Whereas if you can find something that really suits your style, or you can customise it to your club’s colours, it just makes a bit of a difference.
“Obviously, it’s about the comfort aspect for the batters and fielders.
“If they’ve got a nice, comfortable pair of runners or something like that, it just makes it a bit easier when you’re out there.”
Why more companies hadn’t emerged in Australia as was the case in England, he wasn’t sure.
“I think English people like to stand out a lot,” he said.
“I’m one of those people who likes to be noticed.”
Learn more about Cric Sole Co and organise trainers to be built for the crease via Instagram.
