Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

106 Separate but Equal: Feminism Divides the Game had disbanded after their managers absconded with the profits, and could see a similar model operating in the English Federation. They had acted as a warning from history that, as Marjorie Pollard wrote, ‘savoured of exploitation and was not a genuine effort to provide cricket as a summer game.’ 41 In placing the game at the vagaries of men and money, players not only lost control over the direction and permanence of the sport, but risked becoming purely a spectator sport devoid of mass participation. The sport needed a firm foundation and grassroots support, which the Association provided. Amateurism was therefore not just a matter of class, but was also a feminist issue. In rejecting leagues controlled by men, women asserted control over their bodies, the direction of the sport and the permanence of the game. Like the Women’s Hockey Association, the WCA maintained that truly opening the door for women in sport meant independence from men and markets. Although this probably hindered the growth of the sport, and certainly caused divisions, it was necessary to avoid becoming just another temporary ‘attractive novelty’. Where leagues existed outside of male control, caution was again the deciding factor. The ban on competitive or professional cricket imposed by the WCA safeguarded them from accusations of female impropriety. Medical (but mainly pseudo-medical) opinion still stressed the ‘unsexing’ or sterilising effect of strenuous activity, and fears that overly-competitive cricket could cause further vitriol in the media prevented real progress on the subject. The English Federation was never officially recognised by the Association and where leagues were accepted, in schools, universities and other educational institutions, the risk of public criticism was minimised due to their secluded and decorous play. Federation leagues that did survive the Second World War, following the organisation’s collapse, were eventually integrated into the WCA after 1949, but were still ‘viewed with disfavour’. It was not until 1965 that the Association initiated a knock-out competition, but modernisation was still opposed by older members and eventually their hands were reluctantly forced by grassroots pressure and changes in the men’s game. 42 Amateur women’s cricket had a distinctly different ethos, style and outlook, and was consequently viewed differently. In lauding ‘sheer joy and exercise’ over the need for victory, the WCA hoped to attract newcomers to the game and nurture a harmoniousness which would translate into improved ‘comradeship’. It was evident the Association hoped the sport would not result in bitter infighting (on and off the field) but project an image of determined unity. Competitive league cricket enriched the standards of play for spectators, especially for Northern working-class audiences supportive of professionalism in the men’s game, but it also encouraged a more aggressive, strenuous and ‘masculine’ gameplay. Coupled with this, the Federation’s laissez-faire attitude towards playing attire projected a ‘damaging’ image in the eyes of the WCA which far exceeded what the educated middle-class women of the Association deemed acceptable womanly behaviour. 43