History of women's cricket facts for kids
The history of women's cricket began a long time ago. The first known report of a women's cricket match was in a newspaper called The Reading Mercury on July 26, 1745. This exciting game happened between two villages, Bramley and Hambledon, near Guildford in Surrey, England.
The newspaper said that it was "the greatest cricket match" played in that area. Eleven young women from Bramley played against eleven young women from Hambledon. All the players wore white, with blue ribbons for Bramley and red ribbons for Hambledon. The Bramley team scored 119 runs, and Hambledon scored 127. Many people came to watch, and the newspaper noted that the girls "bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do."
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Cricket's Early Days in England
Early women's cricket matches were not always calm. For example, a game on July 13, 1747, was stopped because of crowd trouble. Records show that women's matches were often played in front of large crowds. People would even bet on the games. Prizes for winning could be anything from barrels of ale to fancy lace gloves.
The first county match for women happened in 1811. It was played between teams from Surrey and Hampshire. Two rich noblemen supported the game with a lot of money. The players in this match ranged widely in age, from 14 to 60 years old.
Originally, cricket players bowled the ball underarm (like throwing a softball). A popular story says that a new way of bowling, called roundarm bowling, was started by Christiana Willes in the early 1800s. She supposedly did this to avoid her skirts getting in the way! However, the roundarm style was actually developed by a man named Tom Walker in the 1790s.
The very first women's cricket club was started in 1887. It was called the White Heather Club and was in Yorkshire, England. In 1890, a team known as the Original English Lady Cricketers toured England. They played exhibition matches, which are games just for show, and attracted big crowds. The team was very popular until their manager ran off with all their money, forcing the team to break up. A cricket book from 1890 said that cricket was a good exercise for ladies, not too hard or dangerous.
The Women's Cricket Association was created in 1926. This group helped organize women's cricket. The England team played its first international tour in 1934–35. They traveled to Australia and played the first ever Women's Test match in December 1934. England won two of these matches and drew one. After Australia, they went to New Zealand, where player Betty Snowball scored an amazing 189 runs in a Test match.
Women's Cricket Starts in Australia
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In Australia, a young woman named Lily Poulett-Harris is known as the "founding mother" of women's cricket. In 1894, she captained the Oyster Cove team and even created a league for women's cricket. Her team was likely the first women's team in the Australian colonies.
After this, the Victoria Women's Cricket Association was formed in 1905. Then, the Australian Women's Cricket Association was started in 1931. Today, women's cricket in Australia is run by the Women's National Cricket League.
Cricket Spreads Around the World
In 1958, the International Women's Cricket Council was formed. Its job was to help organize women's cricket around the world. By this time, women were playing cricket regularly in many countries. These included Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Since then, women's Test cricket has been played by teams from Australia, England, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Most of these Test matches have involved England or Australia. Test matches used to last three days, but since 1985, most have been played over four days.
Many amazing records have been set in women's Test cricket:
- The highest team score is Australia's 569 runs against England in 1998.
- The highest individual score is 242 runs by Kiran Baluch for Pakistan in 2003/04.
- Neetu David of India took eight wickets in one innings in 1995/96.
- Shaiza Khan of Pakistan took 13 wickets in a single match in 2003/04.
- Three English players, Janet Brittin, Charlotte Edwards, and Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, have scored the most runs in Test matches.
- Mary Duggan of England and Betty Wilson of Australia have taken the most wickets.
Betty Wilson was a truly special player. In 1958, she became the first cricketer, male or female, to score a century (100 runs) and take ten wickets in a Test match. This happened against England. In that match, Australia was bowled out for only 38 runs. But then, Wilson took seven wickets for just seven runs, helping Australia bowl out England for only 35 runs! This 35-run score is still the lowest ever in a women's Test match. Australia then scored more runs, thanks to Wilson's century, and the match ended in a draw. In 1985, a cricket championship for young Australian women was named the Betty Wilson Shield in her honor.
Women's Cricket Today
Cricket for clubs and counties in England has changed a lot over time. There are now national competitions and leagues. The main county competition is the LV Women's County Championship. There are also special teams for elite players to help them prepare for international games.
In 1970, two girls, Sian Davies and Sally Slowe, attended cricket coaching classes at Lord's, a famous cricket ground. This was a big step, as it broke the "gender barrier" at these traditional classes.
The first ever Women's Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1973. It was partly paid for by a businessman named Jack Hayward. England won the World Cup at Lord's, with Princess Anne watching. In that World Cup, Enid Bakewell and Lynne Thomas of England scored 246 runs together, a record that stood for 25 years. Lord's hosted its first women's Test match in 1979, between England and Australia.
One-Day International (ODI) cricket is now played by many countries. These include Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies, among others. Over 700 ODIs have been played. The highest team score in an ODI is 455 runs by New Zealand against Pakistan in 1996/97. The lowest is just 22 runs by the Netherlands against the West Indies in 2008.
In 1998, the Women's Cricket Association gave control of women's cricket in England to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Then, in 2005, the International Women's Cricket Council joined with the International Cricket Council (ICC). An ICC Women's Cricket Committee was formed to manage all things related to women's cricket. England won the 2009 World Cup, which was the first held under the ICC. This made them the first English team, male or female, to win an ICC competition.
Women have also achieved some "firsts" in one-day cricket before men:
- They played the first international Twenty/20 match (a shorter, faster game) in 2004, between England and New Zealand.
- The first tied One-Day International was between two women's teams: New Zealand and England in 1982.
- Female wicketkeepers were the first to make 6 dismissals in an ODI.
- Belinda Clark, a former Australian captain, is the only female player to score 229 runs in an ODI, which she did in the 1997 World Cup.
- Pakistan's Sajjida Shah is the youngest player to play international cricket. She was just 12 years old! She also holds the record for the best bowling figures in an ODI, taking 7 wickets for only 4 runs.
- Fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick of Australia took 180 wickets in her ODI career.
In 2009, England player Claire Taylor was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year. This was a huge honor, as she was the first woman to receive this award in its 120-year history.
Since 2017, the England and Wales Cricket Board has also promoted a new, shorter version of the game called women's softball cricket. This is played in many leagues in England. The traditional game with a hard ball is sometimes called "women's hardball cricket" to tell the two apart.
See also
- Lily Poulett-Harris – the person who helped start women's cricket in Australia.
External sources
- Cricinfo Women
- Cricketwoman portal
- ICC Women's Cricket
- A History of Women's cricket
