Lives in Cricket No 49 - Enid Bakewell

83 Enid in South Africa and had taken pills and I had to guide her to the plane, dragging her away from the duty free shops looking for a present for Ben. She was not with it at all as the tablets were taking effect. But the La Manga trip was in part an excuse for Rachael to talk to Enid about South Africa. Enid says that the men spent most of their time getting very drunk, and she was appalled that one of the players was a young Warwickshire second teamer and they basically sledged him all the time rather than being encouraging. There had already been a number of Unicorns trips to South Africa, initially organised by Pam Crain, who had been an England selector and team manager. Later trips were organised by Pam Groves. Margaret Taylor was captain but at some point Enid had to captain at short notice – she was never too happy about field placings and somebody ended up at long on both ends. But signing up Enid could be regarded as a coup for the South Africans. While she was now 43, she was easily the most distinguished player in the squad, having played in the World Cup only two years before. It was not like the men’s dirty tours. There were no krugerrands here. To help pay for it and because she thought Enid was short of money after the car was written off, Rachael Heyhoe Flint mentioned she had a connection with St Georges Insurance. Enid says: ‘I raised the money for the air fare by joining a concern through Rachael who was lending her name to St. George’s Assurance - which was part of Mutual Life Insurance. Their mantra was that only two per cent of women have their lives insured. So a friend and I who both coached at Trent Bridge and played for Nottingham Women started as a partnership selling the insurance. She worked in a bank so was good with figures and tended to do the talking whilst I sometimes put the children to bed whilst parents were deciding about whether to commit to a policy. It seemed pressurised as they expected folk to sign up at first appointment - whereas we maintained that folk were making a big undertaking so we should put the facts to them - let them consider and we would then go back. The company were not happy with that and to top it all the “bosses” whom we could trust left.’ However Rachael Heyhoe Flint made sure that Enid was paid £600 – just what she needed for South Africa – for attending a training course at Hitchin Priory. Enid remembers one occasion when the bottom part of her false teeth broke and she tried to sit the rest of the evening silent, but failed and it was obvious to all. Enid took out a policy herself but the bosses we trusted left and the policy made very little when I cancelled it.