Lives in Cricket No 49 - Enid Bakewell

27 Dartford Chairman’s XI against Middlesex with no conspicuous success, then on July 23 made 44 not out of Midlands’ 115 for eight against South and took three for 21. Women’s Cricket called her ‘our most promising allrounder’ in July, and in August she was playing for the WCA against the side selected for South Africa, but the first day was rained off and on the second she bowled one over and did not bat. On August 14, 1960 she played for Green Circle against a Netherlands women’s team. The Netherlands (batting 12) scored 15 in 46.4 overs, Enid bowling eight overs and taking three for none. Green Circle made 66 for one in 48 minutes, Enid 28 not out, and the Netherlands returned and made 23 for six in the remaining time (21 overs), Enid 4-1-5-0. In September she played for Netta Rheinberg’s XI against Surrey at Chertsey. She was out for no score and it rained before she could bowl, but this was the year that Enid realised that to get noticed in the WCA you had to put yourself about a bit. For the first time she took part in the WCA Cricket Week. To quote the womenscrickethistory website ‘the first Cricket Week was held in Colwall [in Herefordshire] in 1927. It resulted in an annual Festival of Women’s Cricket for players from all levels taking part. In 1928, 48 players took part. Colwall residents provided B&B accommodation and cricket grounds in a wide radius of Colwall were used. Numbers usually facilitated 12 teams, each team captained by an England or county player down to beginners. Apart from the experience of playing matches amongst such celebrated and experienced participants for five or six consecutive days, Cricket Week was noted for its camaraderie and especially its entertainment on the final evening.’ The WCA at this time was inherently conservative. It disapproved of Sunday play, it disapproved of competitive matches, it insisted that players wore skirts rather than shorts. It strongly disapproved of any kind of sponsorship. And it was conservative and proud of it. ‘The sound of bat on ball,’ wrote Netta Rheinberg, ‘is better than any pop music.’ And Netta Rheinberg was the voice of women’s cricket, whatever the publication. Editorials criticising the wearing of trousers or the drinking of beer were not going to play well with everyone. The majority of the players coming into the game were now state-educated, though nearly all from grammar schools. The administrators still belonged to a different class. They had private incomes, were supported by wealthy husbands and families or, like Netta Rheinberg, worked for the family firm. One result of this was a growth in the number of clubs who chose not to affiliate to the WCA, in part because they could not afford it. However for Cricket Week in 1960 it mostly rained, though in two matches Enid took two for 12 and three for 12. With a tour of South Africa coming up in 1960/61, she might have been on the short list but was not in the end selected, though that could have because she could not afford it. Raf