An article contributed by Mr David Lausen.
The history of women’s cricket goes back at least three hundred years and it is certainly not a story of steady progression. There were times when there were many barriers to women and girls playing, claims that women playing cricket was either unnatural or unhealthy, and open resentment that women were transgressing into the male ‘domain’. The following is my take on the changes over three hundred years. One of my grandmothers played the game in 1890s and one of my daughters played from 2000 to 2013.
Women’s cricket goes back at least to the 1740s. The earliest newspaper report was of a match on Gosdon Common, near Guildford in 1745. The Reading Mercury stated, “The greatest cricket match that was played in this part of England…the girls bowled, batted, ran and catched as well as most men.” In 1747, the Whitehall Evening Post reported on the Duchess of Richmond’s sponsoring women’s matches, “They play well…being encouraged by a lady of high rank.” Games ranged from village matches to more oddball games, such as Married vs Spinsters. Sometimes there were big wagers on matches and large crowds.
The first official women’s county game was between Hampshire and Surrey, which took place at Balls Pond, Newington in 1811. Thomas Rowlandson did a coloured engraving of the game, and “The match was made between two Amateur Noblemen of the respective Counties for 500 guineas each [gambling around £50,000 in today’s money]. The Performers in the Contest were all ages and sizes.” (Believed to be 14 to upwards of 40).
However, there was a big slump in women’s cricket in the Victorian age from the mid 1830s to the 1880s. This was despite the coming of the railways, which boosted the opportunities for men’s cricket, and the rapid growth of virtually all sports from the 1850s onwards. The majority of women players during this time were middle class, and a women’s role was seen as belonging to the domestic sphere by looking after the home and bringing up families, and cricket became a metaphor for women transgressing into the male space.
In the 1880s, though, there was an upturn and this was probably linked to the rise of women’s suffrage movements. In 1882, the English Cricket and Athletic Association launched an initiative to show that cricket, “was indeed a possibility for women.” In 1887, a group of wealthy ladies formed the first ever women’s only cricket club, the White Heather Club in Yorkshire. In her memoirs – “March of Women” – Dame Ethel Smyth wrote, “During the summer of 1889 the cricket mania possessed all the young women of my acquaintance.” In that year my grandmother (then aged 11) and her sister got the cricket bug.
In 1890, a group of professional women cricketers – “The Original English Lady Cricketers” – toured the country playing a series of exhibition games with teams split into the “Reds” and the “Blues”. In 1891, one match in Liverpool attracted a crowd of 15,000. Cracks soon began to appear with some players not returning in 1892 and one player setting up a rival team. In June, the Star reported that, “some of the players [arrived back home] without a penny in their pockets”. W G Grace (the most famous cricketer of the day), commented, “Cricket is not a game for women…they failed dismally to popularise the game…and ceased to be”. Prime Minister William Gladstone also wrote in 1892 that “the turmoil of masculine life is no place for women.” In 1897, Punch magazine mockingly advised women, “get yourself bowled first ball so you can spend the rest of the time at tea and flirtation.”
Before 1914, women’s cricket continued to evolve and a few companies with considerable female workforces – particularly Cadburys, Rowntrees and Boots – made facilities available for women’s cricket. After World War I, many women’s sporting organisations were formed, and the number of women participating in sport significantly increased. This was to some degree linked to two million women taking on jobs previous held by men in World War 1, and 0.9 million men dying in combat (and over a million wounded) during the war. In 1926, the Women’s Cricket Association (WCA) was formed.
In 1934 the first test match took place in Brisbane, Australia. The England tourists in 1934/35 were captained by Betty Archdale and included Myrtle Maclagan (the first woman to score a test century), Betty Snowball and Molly Hide. England won the three-match series 2-0 and there was a lot of public interest. After the contentious ‘Bodyline’ men’s series in 1932/33, sporting relations between Australia and England were at an all time low. The tour, though, drew crowds in the thousands all around Australia, and did much to restore the game in the eyes of the cricket-loving public. In 1937, Australia toured England. The games drew good sized crowds and the series was drawn 1-1. Australia’s best player was Peggy Antonio, who was nicked-named “Girl Grimmett”, as she bowled leg breaks like her male counterpart, Clarrie Grimmett. In other games around the country, “it is interesting to see the growing interest and enthusiasm among the spectators, many of whom arrived to scoff and stayed to praise.”
During the World War II, women’s cricket virtually shut down, with the exception of a few charity matches. After the war, in ‘austerity’ Britain women were encouraged to stay at home and bring up families. An England women’s team, though, toured Australia in 1948/9 and the tour was quite an undertaking for the women’s game. For two years prior to the tour, women’s clubs held fund raising events. Each player had to raise £200 for the boat passage (around £9,000 in today’s money) plus £50 spending money. MCC contributed £250.
From a small base women’s cricket began to grow in the 1950s / 60s. Unfortunately, disparaging remarks, such as that by the former England captain, Len Hutton, who in 1963 said that women’s cricket was “absurd like men trying to knit” were still all too prevalent. However, in the 1960s two players emerged, who were trailblazers for women’s cricket. Enid Bakewell was not from the traditional public school background, but she soon established herself as one of the greatest all-rounders in the game. Rachel Heyhoe Flint, though, went even further. She was not only a very good batter (hitting the first 6 in women’s test cricket) but she was also brilliant at promoting women’s cricket. In 1973, England staged the first ODI World Cup – two years before the first men’s World Cup – after she had persuaded a millionaire business man to give £40,000 to cover the costs of seven competing teams. The tournament was a great success with England beating Australia in the final game (Enid Bakewell was outstanding with both bat and ball). Encouraged by this success, Lord’s, “The Home of Cricket” agreed to host an England vs Australia Women’s ODI in 1976.
Participation in women’s cricket grew over the next twenty years, but there were many false dawns. In the 1980s clubs could get help for having women’s teams but there was little evaluation of the effectiveness of the money spent. In 1993, England hosted another ODI Women’s World Cup. The tournament was run on a ‘shoe-string’, and the England team turned up for their first game to find that the groundsman had taken the day off. He had prepared the wicket but everything else had to be quickly done by England players, umpires and helpers before the game. However, interest in the World Cup grew as the tournament progressed. The BBC rescheduled to broadcast the Cup Final live and the Prime Minister, John Major, a cricket enthusiast, attended. England beat New Zealand in the final, and Jan Brittin was the tournament’s highest run-scorer (she also held a spectacular catch to clinch the final). The number of spectators, though, was less than a quarter of capacity, which showed that much was needed to be done to improve the popularity of women’s cricket. Sarah Potter, a former vice-captain of England, commented, “Progress has been held back by lack of hard cash and column inches, and buckets of male condescension. The sport in England staggers along in unnoticed crisis. Tours teeter on the edge of humiliating cancellation and players selected for their country are expected to have deep pockets and sympathetic employers, squeaky clean shoes and an inordinate patience about the sweet old dears who mostly run the game.”
The ex-England wicketkeeper-batsman, Ruth Prideaux, was appointed England Coach and Manager in 1988 and she was determined to do things differently. She secured funding from the National Coaching Foundation for a five-year intensive training programme, which not only aimed to develop positive thinking skills and provide team cohesiveness, but also focused on nutrition and physical fitness. Many in the WCA fraternity did not approve. Ruth recalled, “The England selectors were not a bit supportive … they expected [only] the activities of batting, or bowling, or fielding …not that type of fitness work.” The England squad would assemble in Eastbourne with half staying in her house and the rest in sleeping bags at a nearby farm of a friend. Ruth recalled, “They used to run up and down the Beach at Eastbourne, on shingle, which was tough … and then we introduced the importance of diet … it was not popular, because some were very fish-and-chip girls!” Ruth retired as a coach after the world cup win. She was never paid a penny.
Belatedly in 1997, the WCA made the switch to trousers (from skirts) for women playing county and internationals. At club level, the majority of women played in trousers during the 1980s. Views about the change were mixed. In 1993, Karen Smithies, England captain, stated “some of us would look like men if we wore trousers … I see no reason to change.” Enid Bakewell’s comment about Jan Brittin, “one of the reasons they changed from playing in skirts to trousers was JB’s diving stops” suggests that she was in favour of the change. The change, though, did put a stop to dubious ‘ humour’, such as the Glasgow Herald reporting on the first women’s international at Lord’s in 1976, “Skirts, short sleeved shirts, knee length socks – irresistibly ‘upper fifth’ in effect, so that the umpires … are inevitably school mistresses.”
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 as a private members’ club for gentlemen. MCC is perceived as the headquarters of cricket and it ran the game worldwide until 1968. The idea of admitting women as members was discussed by the Committee in 1967, but it would be another 32 years before it became a reality. The catalyst for change was led by Rachel Heyhoe Flint. However, in the first vote of members in 1991 only 13% voted to admit women members. Isabelle Duncan believes, “at that time the prevailing attitude of members was the fear of a massed female invasion of their sacred ‘gentlemen only’ club. They treasured the escapism and comfort of their male preserve and had no intention of sacrificing this.” Pressure for change, though was growing and a second vote in February 1998 resulted in a majority in favour, but the voting felling short of the two-thirds majority required. Then Tony Blair, Prime Minister, and the Sports Minister, Tony Banks, stepped in and another vote was taken at the Special General Meeting in September, which resulted in 69.8% voting in favour. (Today, there are around 980 female full and associated members (less than 5%) and Anya Shrubsole was recently appointed Chair of MCC Women’s Players with the aim to increase MCC’s female playing members).
In 1998, the WCA ‘merged’ with the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). This move was influenced not only by financial difficulties but also by a belief that it would speed up a move to equal opportunities and gender equality. For the first 20 years there was some progress and more money was put in at the grass roots level, such as Chance to Shine, but the pace was very slow.
The reasons for the slower than hoped for growth are complex and the experience of women and girls joining a club varied considerably. Facilities needed to play cricket are costly, and little resource has been provided by the ECB to increase the capacity of cricket facilities to include women. There is a long standing male infrastructure and it is often difficult to ‘share’. Until recently there has been poor representation of women’s cricket at the top decision making, as it was an ‘old boys club’. In 2019, former England captain Clare Conner was appointed Managing Director of Women’s Cricket. In 2013, she took up a new expanded role as ECB Deputy Chief Executive and Managing Director, England Women.
Historically the pool of girl players of any talent has been small. They have tended to be high achievers and the drop-out rate at county age levels has been extremely high, with only about one in ten playing at county level after university. Also some women’s sides have not helped the cause as they have preferred their “otherness” status and did not want any integration. My daughter, Frances (who played for all Devon Girls / Women age groups from 2006 to 2013) remembers, “I have fond memories growing up around cricket and I am grateful for all the opportunities – whether it was playing, coaching or just the team aspect of sport. I benefitted from playing in girls teams and the colt system, and I was lucky to train and play with boys, such as the Overton brothers.”
In recent years the pace of change has speeded up. The establishment of a regional structure led to the number of professionals increasing from 17 centrally contracted national team players in 2020 to over 80 international and domestic players in 2024. By concentrating on developing regional tournaments – the Kia Super League and then the 50-Over Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the 20-Over Charlotte Edwards Cup – it was possible to develop players, coaches, sports scientists and academies under the remit of one of the eight regions.
These, though, have run their course. To a degree they drove up standards but did not create successful ‘brands’. Commercially it was not sustainable. The 2017 World Cup Final at Lord’s – when Anya Scrubsole took six wickets – was a sellout, and since then attendances for women’s internationals in England have been good (and rising) with many sold out. However, attendances at the regional tournaments were consistently low. It also added to a sense of “otherness”.
While a lot has improved in the twenty first century, the Independent Commission for Equality in cricket (ICEC) in 2023 found that a lot still needed to change. Its Comprehensive Investigation into Discrimination report found not only that, “Women are still seen as an ‘add on’ to the men’s game”, but also “Women and women’s teams are frequently demeaned, stereotyped and treated as second class. This included misogynistic and derogatory comments about women and girls, and everyday sexism”
Substantial sums are now being invested through the first class counties in ‘marrying up’ the men’s and women’s games. The counties have a long history, a deep-rooted fanbase, established pathways and strong brand awareness. In 2025, there will be a three-tiered structure. Tier one will be professional and tiers two and three will be semi-professional. Promotion begins in 2029.
However, England’s recent poor performances during the Ashes in Australia shows that England is far behind Australia. There is a massive gap not only between the two sides but also strength in depth. The ECB’s MD of Women’s cricket, Clare Conner, acknowledged that Australia had “set new standards of athleticism and speed and power, and see that as a new benchmark.” It would be a tragedy if the new professional structure doesn’t result in a substantial improvement in standards and the counties find that the expected levels of interest just aren’t there. Hopefully every county will have new faces realistically challenging for England places, not only to strengthen the England team but also to inspire young girls at the grass roots level.
Wouldn’t it be great if Smriti Mandhana’s quote, “I no longer see myself as a woman cricketer. Why should there be labels when none are required?” applied to everyone.
David Lausen – 14/2/2025