Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

38 ‘The cohorts of cricket are being swollen’ England captain Betty Archdale (1907-2000) later wrote, ‘people were so relieved to find that we could play cricket without trying to kill the other side.’ 11 Women’s cricket did not pretend (nor aim) to be similar to the men’s game, but instead players proudly created their own style, spirit and attitude. The 1934/5 tour was undoubtedly a significant milestone in the history of women’s cricket, even if at times it was little more than a five-month activity holiday for wealthy young women. The tourists were undefeated in both Australia and New Zealand, winning easily against most provincial sides. Although the first two tests were comfortably won by England, which included the first international century by England’s Myrtle Maclagan in Sydney (119), Australia battled hard in the third and final match for a draw. Soon after, the tourists set sale for a short trip to New Zealand, playing only a single international test at Lancaster Park, Christchurch. With women’s cricket in New Zealand only just starting to take shape, they overwhelmingly won by an innings and 337 runs – Betty Snowball (189) and Molly Hide (110) joining Maclagan on the list of international centurions. The tour was well covered by the local and national press, but little reported in Britain. 12 The return series of 1937, however, had a distinctly more serious feel to it. Between May and July 1937 the Australian women’s cricket team visited England, again with the tourists financing only their own travel. The tour included tea with Lucy and Stanley Baldwin at Downing Street, dinner with the Duke of Westminster, lunch with the Duchess of Gloucester and a meeting with all the women Members of Parliament. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) even invited them to watch the annual Gentlemen versus Players match, but did not extend an invite to play on their hallowed turf. Of course, there was also time to enjoy the delights England had to offer, from Blackpool pier to a tour of the Cadbury’s factory, but at all times the players must have felt like the standard-bearers for women’s cricket, their country and their sex. 13 Crowds watch on at Sydney Cricket Ground as Mary Taylor bowls to Australia’s Joyce Brewer on 4 January 1935. (WCA archive, Somerset Cricket Museum)