Girl Power, a historical look at Women's cricket
The game of cricket has always been considered as a gentleman’s sport. It is traced back to the Tudor times in the early 16th century. The men played the game to entertain themselves where as the women of used to sit pretty in sheds and encourage
their male counterparts.
NOT A FAIRYTALE
In 1745 when a news article in The Reading Mercury reported that a match between
“eleven maids of Bramley with blue ribbons and eleven maids of Hambledon with red ribbons on their heads- were dressed in white”. It was also reported that “there was crowd of both sexes the greatest number that ever was seen on such an occasion”.
It was interesting to watch “the girls bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do in that game".
It is clear from the above report that people were enthusiastic about seeing a new version of the game. The initial matches recorded were in between villages of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789.
The winning team was awarded a pair of “fancy gloves”. It is said that the round arm technique of bowling, a technique in which the bowler has his arm at 90 degrees angle away from their body, was invented in 1800s by women cricketers as the ball often got
entangled in their skirts.
Women’s cricket had a breakthrough with the inaugural first women’s cricket club in 1887 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867 named the White Heather Club. The first tour for women cricketers came in 1890 when the Original English Lady Cricketers travelled all over England playing
in exhibitions.
But it was soon put off as the manager didn’t rake in “huge profits” even though there were huge crowds. Due to this club the ladies games were not confined to lawn tennis and swimming only.
After a gap of 38 years, Women’s Cricket Association was founded in 1926 in which the England women’s team undertook the first international tour to Australia in 1934 and 1935. This was a historic moment in women’s cricket as the first Women’s Test match
between England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 was held in 1934.
England won the two Tests out of three and then toured New Zealand. The success of England encouraged other international boards to promote women’s cricket in their countries. Australian Women’s Cricket Association was established which still runs the Women’s
National Cricket League.
In 1958, International Women’s Cricket Council was formed to coordinate women’s cricket of all forms as Australia, England, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 had established national teams.
A TWIST IN THE TALE
The first Women’s World Cup was held in 1973 in England- two years before the first Men’s World Cup in 1975. The hosts won the World Cup against International XI- a team comprising the “best of the rest” players, who were not selected by their countries.
England again hosted the World Cup in 1993 and won at the home ground.
In 1998, the Women’s Cricket Association was handed over to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Since then, ECB has been promoting the sports in breaking the “gender barrier”.
They are responsible for holding national and international events in order to inspire young girls to play cricket. In 2004, women’s cricket took to new heights as they played the first International Twenty20 match in Hove between England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754.
After the eighth Women’s World Cup, the International Women’s Cricket Council was amalgamated into the International Cricket Council. The 2009 Women’s World Cup was the first under the control of ICC.
AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER
After the merger with the men’s tournament in 2008, the women’s cricket supporters were ecstatic. However, lack of attention on part of the media failed to acknowledge the power of female skills in the sport. Women’s cricket “few” but “positive” supporters
argue that the girls are playing the best cricket, even better than men!
When England won the Women’s World Cup in 2009, they sparked a never before seen interest in the women’s game. Subsequent years would show how far the women go but one thing is for sure girls’ rock!
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