Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

146 Conclusion - War Again, and its Aftermath than deal with feelings of separation and longing on tour. The voices of women were usually absent, let alone the presence of female players. 23 Art imitated life. But it was not all doom and gloom. While post-war austerity may not have led to an explosion of new players, spectator numbers were certainly up. When Australia faced England at Adelaide in 1949, 20,000 attended over the three days. Their return trip in 1951 saw a crowd of 15,000 at The Oval. Cadbury’s initiated an annual cricket tournament in 1945, and by 1960 had international teams competing. On 19 February 1958, another milestone was reached with the creation of the International Women’s Cricket Council. The body was formed, in the words of WCA secretary Vera Cox, to ‘aid the ideals of international peace and happiness’ and promote ‘mutual understanding and friendship.’ The Association continued along the lines set before the war, but also met the same pitfalls. Men were barred from holding formal power, although they could become associate members, and the ‘separate but equal’ policy persisted as female selectors, scorers and (if possible) umpires were always prioritised. In this regard, the future of the game remained in capable, steady hands. However, the sport still struggled to attract working class girls. Women’s cricket was rooted in middle-class educational institutions, and while emphasis on decorum may have pleased the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), it alienated most working girls. Tours were still self-financed and therefore excluded all but the wealthiest players. Working-class company teams became more of a rarity than before the war, and attempts to engage girls from poorer backgrounds were half-hearted. Austerity had boosted spectatorship at women’s cricket games as crowds flocked to sporting venues for cheap entertainment, but with the rise of home-based leisure and alternative pleasures in the 1960s, the slow revival of the sport after the war soon melted away. By 1965, the WCA was smaller than it had been 30 years earlier, and by 1992 the Association was a shell of its former self, with just 50 clubs and 35 schools affiliated. 24 The late 1930s was undeniably a highpoint for women’s cricket in the 20th century. By the 1970s, it was clear the WCA would have to modernise to survive, and the decade became one of many firsts. The first international tournament was staged, the first MBE awarded to Rachael Heyhoe-Flint for ‘service to women’s cricket’, and the first women’s World Cup was held (two years before the men’s) in England in 1973. In 1976 women played at Lord’s for the first time, and it was in this decade the first national knock- out competition began. When Marjorie Pollard, the enduring voice of interwar women’s cricket, passed away in 1982 the game she had helped forge had been radically altered. Nonetheless, despite these innovations the game still failed to reach a wide audience, or attract more players. By 1993, when England won the world cup in front of 5,000 fans at Lord’s – then the largest ever for a women’s World Cup match – competition and creeping professionalism was taking over, but the sport had undoubtedly been in decline since the 1950s. When the same feat was repeated 24 years later, the reception was