Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

83 Workplace and Working-Class Women’s Cricket ultimately excluded even better paid working-class women from playing without financial aid. 27 This could lead to novel and inventive solutions, like some men’s clubs which used cinder wickets and played in clogs instead of shoes. 28 Many women found saving money on clothes easiest, despite the WCA’s insistence on high standards of dress. Working-class girls played in a wide variety of everyday gymslips, skirts, dresses and blouses which would have been utterly unacceptable under the WCA dress code, and used men’s bats and equipment. The financial burden of purchasing officially- approved clothing was sometimes navigated by playing in gymslips, which were widely used for indoor sports. While it was possible to democratise the sport to some degree, workplace teams usually played away from the public gaze and therefore did not receive the scrutiny WCA county or international matches did. As a result, the Association’s carefully- constructed, respectable image was protected, while working girls could play within their limited budget. Due to the costly reality of playing sports like cricket and hockey, companies heavily subsidised their workers’ clubs. This was in no way a new development as many larger companies had started sports schemes in the late-19th century before they employed women in great numbers. Managers saw sport as a form of ‘rational recreation’ that could regulate workers’ leisure time and steer them towards activities less harmful to the business, their families and the local community. Out went blood sports, gambling and heavy drinking, and in came football, cricket and athletics. Cricket was often the first sport played, and quickly became a source of pride for all in the company. Huntley and Palmer’s first started playing in 1878, 20 years before their recreation club was formed. It was Rowntree’s Girls’ Cricket Club pictured (above) in July 1920, eight years after it was first formed. The team was typical of working-class cricket immediately after the First World War, as factory girls used any makeshift equipment and clothing available to play. (Rowntree’s archive, Borthwick Institute)