Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

121 Annual father-daughter matches were also commonly played. St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith went further still, with every pupil playing at least one match per week by 1930, and even devoted a verse of their school’s ‘Playground Song’ to cricket: ‘Oh! The finest game in all the world Is played with a bat and ball! and the only thing that the ball must hit is the bat – or the boundary wall! but not for the glory of selfish fame must you score ere your wicket falls, but just for the sake of the wonderful game, and the honour of St Paul’s.’ 37 Clearly, cricket was central to the school’s ethos, and it was believed the selflessness, friendly amateurism and self-expression learned on the field should be brought off it too. Pupils eagerly absorbed this message. In the school newsletter, girls wrote of the ‘public spirit and unselfishness’, the ‘sociability’ and ‘superiority’ of cricket over individual summer sports. One pupil proclaimed, ‘games are much better than work, a good match of cricket or hockey is worth 20 exams, and is much better for you.’ 38 The position of captaincy took on particular significance. Unlike team games such as hockey or football, the cricket captain required ‘more thought, more cunning, and more knowledge’, as Marjorie Pollard put it. She was not only her team’s leader, she was also a tactician, a hostess, an administrator and (at times) ’a dictator’. Interwar instructional literature for boys equally held the captain in high esteem. Chapters dealing with captaincy, ranging anywhere from managing difficult players to setting a field or arranging refreshments, were a staple of most books on the game. They stressed the need to lead by example, to be civil and welcoming to the opposition as the manners of a team reflected their own etiquette and respect. In short, they were model English citizens and the fullest expression of sportsmanship and a sense of fair play. 39 Women echoed these sentiments. The second publication of Hockey, Field and Lacrosse detailed the fundamental qualities a captain needed, including tact, firmness, organisation, patience and good judgement. Meanwhile, the English Federation asked their captains to ban any player from bowling who did not wear the correct clothing. Betty Archdale was chosen to lead the first English team because as a well-educated professional lawyer, she was believed to embody all these demanding characteristics. These qualities were placed before her sporting talent, which was fortunately also in abundance. Cricket teams were seen to be a microcosm of parliamentary democracy, and as a result the WCA and schools encouraged players to elect their leaders by ballot. 40 The game’s emergence as a mass participation sport in the interwar years was therefore heavily linked to ideals of responsible and active citizenship. Women’s integration into the political mainstream was mirrored in pedagogical attempts to instil skills essential for later life, and More than a Game: Citizenship and Cricket