Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

78 Workplace and Working-Class Women’s Cricket to advance such schemes. 12 Schools and workplaces were encouraged to send pupils to county trials, while the many ‘Old Girl’ teams within the WCA presented an opportunity to continue playing into adulthood, and integrate within the wider cricketing community. The White Heather country-house image that was typical of women’s cricket prior to the First World War no longer dominated the sport. Like in men’s cricket, many private-members clubs had both working- and middle-class members. The Ilford Wanderers in Essex, for example, included players employed as postal workers and telephone operators, as well as auditors in the City of London. As the vast majority of women cricketers worked full-time, it was simply not possible to play matches that lasted over a whole or half-day, as a small number of socialites were still able to do. Marjorie Pollard marketed the WCA as a welcoming, approachable and inclusive organisation. Countering claims from one young woman who had ‘been told that all your clubs are exclusive and expensive’, Pollard contended she had never experienced ‘snobbery’ in the WCA and clubs made every effort to keep costs low. She maintained some of the closest friendships in the Association were between women from polar backgrounds, including ‘a daughter of a wealthy manufacture’ and a ‘packer in a chocolate factory.’ 13 Fry and Son’s take on Cadbury’s in their annual sports day, where cricket took centre stage, 17 July 1920. Here they pose at Gloucestershire’s Ashley Down Ground (owned by Fry’s), originally purchased by W.G. Grace. Both company sides were early members of the WCA, and were playing on first-class grounds six years before the Association was even established. (Cadbury archive, Mondelēz International)