Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

82 Workplace and Working-Class Women’s Cricket Cost of playing cricket in 1936 Equipment Minimum cost Maximum Cost Cricket Ball 5 s 12 s Cricket Bat 14 s 42 s Leg Guards 9 s 3 d 25 s Wicket-keeping Gloves 7 s 7 s Batting Gloves 5 s 7 s 6 d Cricket Bag 22 s 6 d 105 s Stockings 2 s 9 d 16 s 6 d Dress 12 s 11 d 25 s 11 d Shoes 12 s 9 d 16 s 6 d WCA Membership 2 s 6 d 10 s Coaching 7 s per hour Source: Women’s Cricket (May-September 1936); WCA, Report 1936. Only new items have been included. For most working-class women, cricket was simply unaffordable unless subsidised by their employer or organisations like the English Federation. Unlike other popular and inexpensive physical recreations, like netball or dancing, cricket required expensive specialist equipment, training and facilities which made it a costly venture. The most widespread entertainments of the period were cheap and hard to compete with. A night dancing at the Ritz in Manchester cost just 18 pence in 1931, almost half the cost of a cheap pair of white stockings, while a ticket for the cinema usually cost just a few pence, or a shilling for more comfortable seats. 24 While the accessibility of some sports was greatly advanced through better public provision in these years, especially tennis and swimming, facilities varied greatly according to the municipal government, and sizeable public investment in cricket facilities did not occur between the wars. Cricket was not a ‘classless’ activity like swimming or tennis: the costs involved in playing could be considerable. 25 Even the initial cost of joining a private club, assuming bats, pads, balls and other equipment could be shared communally, was unaffordable for most, varying anywhere from 7 shillings and 6 pence (Galmpton and Torquay WCC) to 25 shillings (Redoubtables LCC) in 1937. 26 The cheapest new WCA-approved dress, stockings, shoes and membership cost over 35 shillings. Buying used or crafting homemade equipment could make the game more affordable, but this obscured the many incalculable hidden costs involved with playing the sport, including transportation, instructional material, additional batting or wicket-keeping equipment, club blazers and training fees. These costs prevented many average earners from playing at private clubs. A domestic servant earnt between 12 and 15 shillings per week, and although pay in ‘new’ industries was generally more, for example Rowntree’s claimed a ‘satisfactory’ piece-worker could earn over 45 shillings per week in 1927, almost a full week’s wage in initial costs Source: Wom n’s Cricket (May-Septemb r 1936); WCA, Report 1936. Only new items have be n ncluded.