We have often heard that cricket is a gentleman’s game. It didn't take long for female cricketers to excel in the sport. Let’s explore this exclusive women's cricket journey.
History of Women’s Cricket
The earliest recorded match played by women cricketers was
in 1745 between the 11 maids of Bramley and the 11 maids of Hambledon. Among
the villages in South England are Bramley and Hambledon.
First County Match
The first county match was played between Surrey and
Hampshire at Middlesex, England, in 1811. Two noblemen sponsored the game. The
participants ranged from teenage girls to middle-aged women.
Timelines of Evolution
In 1887 a women’s cricket club, ‘White Heather Club,’ was
formed at Nun Appleton in Yorkshire. In 1890, a team known as the 'Original
English Lady Cricketers’ traveled to England and participated in exhibition
matches.
In 1926, England founded a Women's Cricket Association. In
1933, England played their first match against the ‘Rest At Leicester.’ England
embarked on their first Australia tour in 1934, playing three test matches.
England won two matches and drew one. In 1935, England played against New
Zealand in Christchurch, New Zealand, where Betty Snowball scored 189 runs and led
her team to victory.
In 1937, Australia toured England and took part in three
test matches. In 1958, the International Women’s Cricket Council was formed.
Before 1900, women cricketers wore long skirts and blouses.
Famous Cricketers
John Willes was the first cricketer to experiment with round-arm
bowling. Yet, Tom Walker of Hambledon is credited with having first used
round-arm bowling. Christina Willes invented this method in women’s cricket
because the bowl often got stuck in her skirt. Every nation in which women’s
cricket was played formed an association that took cricket forward.
Cricket Associations
In 1988, the Women’s Cricket Association of England merged
with the men’s association, the England & Wales Cricket Board (EWCB).
Slowly the other nations merged the men's and women's cricket associations.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 in
England. It consisted of cricket laws. For more than 200 years, membership was
limited to male cricketers. The only woman allowed to enter the club was Queen
Elizabeth II.
She was the club's official patron. MCC had no doors for
women cricketers. In the mid-20th century, Rachael Heyhoe Flint was one of the
most famous female cricketers in history. She played for England during the
1960s & 70s, and under her captaincy, the team won the first world cup in
1973.
She started a campaign against the MCC, and for the first
time in 1999, the club gave membership to 10 women (including Rachael Heyhoe).
Australian Women’s Cricket
A first unofficial match was held in Bendigo, and the first
official match was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) between Fernleas and
Siroccos.
The money raised during the game was used to help the
victims of a minor disaster that happened earlier that year. The first
international women’s match between England and Australia was played at the
SCG. Betty Wilson was the first player to take ten wickets and score a century
in the same match. In 1997, Belinda Clarke became the first player to hit a
double century in an ODI.
She led the team to several World Cup wins. Karen Rolton was
the first to score the most runs in an innings during a test match (209*). Lily
Poulett Harris led the team to several victories until 1897.
Pakistan Women’s Cricket
In Pakistan, women are not given enough rights as men. Women
had to fight to dig a ground into the field of cricket. Women’s cricket was
introduced through the efforts of sisters Shaiza & Sharmeen Khan.
They had a desire to start the Pakistan Women’s Cricket team
in the 1990s. They started training several women and formed a team. They faced
a lot of death threats & criticism on their journey.
When they challenged the men’s team, they were threatened
with forfeiting their game. They were permitted to play the match, and both the
men's and women’s teams were brought in tight security.
The Pakistan Women’s Cricket Control Association was formed
in 1996. They participated in their first world cup in India in 1997 when they
came last. They won their first international match and series against the
Netherlands (4-3).
They played their first test match against Sri Lanka in
1998. In 2005, the Pakistan Cricket Board established a women’s wing and
started looking after women cricketers.
South Africa Women’s Cricket
The first report on women’s cricket in South Africa was in
1888 when some fair people indulged in this sport. The following year, a group
of male students played a match against a group of ladies, in which the ladies
won.
South Africa's women made their test debut against England
in 1960. They were the fourth team to compete at that level. The sport was
boycotted in South Africa, so they didn't play between 1972-97.
South Africa returned to international cricket and played a
match against Ireland in August 1997 and a world cup in 1997 in India.
Indian Women’s Cricket
India made its test debut on October 31st, 1976, against the
West Indies in Bangalore. They registered their first test win in November 1978
against the West Indies under Shanta Rangaswamy’s captaincy at the Mohin-Ul-Haq
stadium in Patna.
They made their ODI debut in 1978. Mahendra Kumar Sharma
(founder secretary) registered the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI)
under the secretaries act at Lucknow in 1973.
Summary of All the Editions
Shortly after this, the International Women’s Cricket
Council gave membership to WCAI. In April 1973, the first women’s inter-state
national was held in Pune. It was contested by three teams (Bombay, Maharashtra,
and Uttar Pradesh).
The second edition of this competition was held in Varanasi
with eight teams. During the third edition, 14 teams participated, which was
conducted in Calcutta. Later even railways and Air India employed women
cricketers.
The Inter-Zonal tournament by the name Rani Jhansi was
contested at Kanpur in 1974. The first bilateral women’s cricket series was
played in India in 1975 when the Australia under-25 team toured India to play a
three-match test series.
They were played in Pune, Delhi, and Calcutta. India hosted
the 1978 world cup and made its debut in the world cup. Anjum Chopra was the
first Indian to score more than 2000 runs in a career. Jhulan Goswami tops the
list as the highest wicket-taker of all time in women’s ODI.
Shanta was the first
Indian to score a century in a match against New Zealand. Mithali Raj was the
youngest cricketer to score a century on her ODI debut. She also broke Karen
Rolton’s record by scoring 214 runs in an inning during a test match (the highest
individual score in a test inning).
Women’s World Cup
The Women’s World Cup began in 1973. It was contested by
seven teams, including England, Australia, New Zealand, Young England, Jamaica,
Trinidad & Tobago, and the International Women’s XI.
It was hosted by England. England won the cup, and Australia
came runners-up. India hosted the 1978 world cup. It was played by four teams,
namely India, New Zealand, England and Australia.
Australia won the cup, whereas England finished runners-up.
England hosted the 1982 world cup. It was played by five teams (including the
Women’s XI as well). Australia won the cup, whereas England came runners-up.
Australia hosted the 1988 World Cup.
It was played by five teams, including Ireland and
Netherlands (replacing India & International Women's XI). Australia won the
cup, with England coming runners-up.
England hosted the 1993 world cup. It was played by eight
teams (including India, Denmark & the West Indies). It was won by England,
whereas New Zealand finished second. India hosted the 1997 world cup. It was
won by Australia. The 2000 world cup was hosted and won by New Zealand.
Australia came runners-up.
Women’s Cricket in the 21st Century
Women’s cricket has begun to gain popularity. From a time
when no one spoke about women’s cricket to the time in which I am writing this
article, I feel there has been a drastic improvement.
It didn’t take long for these players to establish their
dominance in the sport. However, it took even more time to establish a feeling
for women’s cricket in the hearts of its fans. The Women’s IPL has been an
excellent spark to improvise women’s cricket.
Equal Pay Renumeration
BCCI has taken the initiative to provide equal pay for both
men and women. The field of cricket is growing in Argentina, both among men and
women. Brazil became the first country in the world in which the women's
cricket team has gone professional before the men’s.
Way Forward
In the last ten years, things have accelerated for women
cricketers. An indisputable issue they face is low pay compared to male
players.
The men’s West Indies cricket team won the ICC T20 world cup
in 2016, and they were awarded $1.6 million. In contrast, when the women’s West
Indies team won the same tournament, they were given only $100,000.
Another problem they face is insufficient media coverage,
due to which many people don’t know about women’s cricket. But slowly, they
will be able to overcome their problems. The permission was given to Indian
players to play in foreign leagues such as the Women’s Big Bash League. It is a
big step for Indian women's cricketers.
Written by Claton Borges Suares
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