Lives in Cricket No 49 - Enid Bakewell

53 Enid from 1969 evening at “night school”. Later too we ran an hour for adults as during the holidays because if parents could not swim they were not able to take the children. Schools in the County with no PE facilities sent children to this learner pool. It was exhausting in 86 degrees heat, at times three hours without a break or a drink, though sometimes Sam Jamieson who is very keen on cricket would take time out from his break to bring me a cuppa. Eventually I taught swimming for approximately 20 years. It was a struggle at times as dad lived till 92 and at the end I would go down to Newstead three times a day and did his washing, gardening, cleaning etc.’ The Cricketer having indicated it would take over coverage of women’s cricket, they decided this meant giving a short column to Netta Rheinberg. She wrote an article on Rachael Heyhoe: “There are still, it seems, some in the world of women’s cricket who regard Rachael’s methods with suspicion.” Next came a short piece by Netta Rheinberg mentioning the upcoming trial games. Then in the next edition we find her hoping that the ‘hippie’ acessory of headbands will not catch on in women’s cricket. Later she turned to the question of married women: “ One married international [probably Enid] expressed the opinion that if a woman wished to continue playing cricket after marriage, and play it well, the matter should be sorted out before the wedding. No good getting married and then saying you wanted to continue playing. Not much good either marrying a cricketer as this led to difficulties. Nor was it advisable for your husband to accompany you, dutifully carry your bag, and then watch. Better for him to carry on with the chores at home … Some wives play dismally after marriage, others much better than before, though it was granted that a toddler or two on the boundary was inclined to be a worrying factor and clear, shrill questions such as ‘what’s mummy doing out there?” were difficult to answer from first slip. She also mentions an official triangular tournament with Trinidad and Jamaica to be played in Jamaica in early 1971. Enid, Netta Rheinberg says in the next issue, was ‘not available’. The Cricketer’s coverage was in fact very thin: almost always less than half a page for a piece by Netta Rheinberg and that was it. The first issue of the shortened WCA Bulletin for 1970, however, includes a piece about the Nottingham club. At present early league fixtures often clash with hockey fixtures and as several of our members play club and county hockey their loyalties are divided. Pauline Richardson, Kath Sharman and Cheryl Winfield have all represented Notts County and Cheryl now has the job of being North Midlands secretary as well as club secretary. Kath Sharman too has a hard task collecting subscriptions etc to make the dwindling balance in hand remain in black figures. There is no mention of Enid as a hockey player here, though the bulletin does refer to the article