Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

39 ‘The cohorts of cricket are being swollen’ In a tightly-fought first test at Northampton, England battled back into the game after Australia’s first innings lead of 94 runs, but despite bowling the tourists out for just 104 in their second innings, still lost the game by 31 runs. It was the first defeat England had experienced, and demonstrated the vast improvement the Australian women had made in just a few years. The star of the show, and of the entire tour, was spinner Peggy Antonio (nicknamed ‘Girl Grimmett’ after Clarrie Grimmett), who took 9 wickets in the match. The second test at Blackpool was an equally tight affair, as England’s Myrtle Maclagan showcased her home form with a fluent 115 on the first day, and backed it up by taking 5 wickets in the match. Australia were set just 151 for victory, but fell 26 runs short with 20 minutes remaining in the match. With the series tightly poised and the teams equally matched, the sides met for the final test at The Oval in July 1937. The game, fittingly and frustratingly, resulted in a rain-affected draw, with Betty Snowball agonisingly run out one short of a century. While England may not have won, the tour was a complete success with the public, and audiences (7,000 at The Oval) surpassed most men’s county championship matches. The visitors played their last match at Mitcham Green in Surrey on 28 July 1937 to a crowd of over 10,000. This game was an illustration of how far women’s cricket had come in just eight years. From a handful of local schoolgirls at the WCA’s first public match in 1929, by 1937 the sport boasted crowds in their thousands at the oldest extant cricket ground in the world. 14 The WCA tourists 1934/5. Standing: D. Turner, M. Child, M. Richards, M. Hide, J. Liebert, M. Taylor, G. Morgan. Sitting: D. Spear, C. Valentine, M. Maclagan, E. Snowball, B. Archdale (Captain), B. Green (Manager), J. Partridge, M. Burletson. (WCA archive, Somerset Cricket Museum)