Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

116 over the world to promote a spirit of cooperation and unity. Although the International Women’s Cricket Council was not formed until 1958, the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations was established by nine countries in 1927 with the aim of nurturing a friendly and productive dialogue among women of different nations. An anonymous article in Women’s Cricket in May 1939 contrasted British democracy, epitomised by cricket, and Europe’s rising tide of despotism. The author claimed that players ‘learn discipline through games so that it comes naturally to her’, and were therefore well equipped that should war come they may ‘stand forth boldly in support of the cause of freedom.’ She maintained voluntary service was unique to liberal democracy as ‘totalitarian states have no volunteers, service is compulsory’, and used this as a rallying cry for cricketers to join ‘some form of service with others from her team or club, a far jollier method of taking the plunge alone.’ 20 The belief that cricket made a positive impact on the lives of individual players, local communities and the nation wove itself into the philosophy of the Association and English Federation. As Marjorie Pollard put it in 1934, ‘cricket is more than a game. I believe that it demands utmost respect and gratitude – and that it must be played in strict order and decorum.’ 21 Cricket also encouraged an active democratic citizenship through the health benefits of playing. Maintaining a healthy body was increasingly viewed as a key element of good citizenship, but the openly eugenicist tone in the 1890s was swiftly dropped by advocates of the game. Opponents of women’s sport such as Arabella Kenealy, who warned of the de-sexing and sterilising effects of over-strenuous play, gradually became less prominent throughout the interwar years as the government embarked on a ‘National Fitness Campaign’ from September 1937 that aimed at improving health through physical education and recreation. Influential physicians including William Arbuthnot Lane and Elizabeth Sloan Chesser argued it was a ‘duty’ for women to maintain their health and beauty to be ‘useful members of society’. 22 These views had previously been sponsored by Edward Cadbury and Joseph Rowntree, both insisting physical fitness was a ‘civic duty’ necessary for generating ‘capable citizens’; those that ignored this duty were often castigated as feckless or unpatriotic. 23 Physical exercise could be a vehicle for self-improvement. Students at Royal Holloway were taught that ‘intellectual keenness accompanies agility of limb’ and were encouraged to play cricket, among other sports. Edwardian physician and feminist Mary Scharlieb believed ‘feeble women’ would be more likely to succumb to the temptation of ‘drink and drugs’, and urged them to take up cricket. 24 Physical strength was believed to result in moral fortitude and intellectual stamina. The WCA was judicious in associating its cause with this popular rhetoric. Lloyd George had warned the nation in September 1918 that ‘you cannot maintain an A1 empire with a C3 population’, and their once ‘virile race’ was rotting in a field of neglect and ignorance. 25 Pollard exhibited her More than a Game: Citizenship and Cricket