Women's cricket
Women's cricket is the form of the
team sport of
cricket that is played by
women.
The first recorded Women's cricket match was reported in
The Reading Mercury on
26 July 1745 and took place between the towns of
Bramley and
Hambleton near
Guildford in
Surrey. The
Mercury reported:
"The greatest cricket match that was played in this part of England was on Friday, the 26th of last month, on Gosden Common, near Guildford, between eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon, all dressed in white. The Bramley maids had blue ribbons and the Hambledon maids red ribbons on their heads. The Bramley girls got 119 notches and the Hambledon girls 127. There was of bothe sexes the greatest number that ever was seen on such an occasion. The girls bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do in that game." [
1]
Historically,
cricket deliveries were bowled
underarm or
roundarm. The modern
overarm bowling action was pioneered by
Christina Willes in the early 1800s, to avoid becoming ensnared in her
skirts.
The first women's cricket club was formed in 1887 at
Nun Appleton in
Yorkshire and named the
White Heather Club. In 1890, a team known as the
Original English Lady Cricketers, toured England, playing in exhibition matches to large crowds. [
2] The
Women's Cricket Association was founded in 1926, and the first overseas tour was made to
Australia and
New Zealand in 1934-35 which included the first
Women's Test match between
England and
Australia in December
1934.
In
Australia, the
Victoria Women's Cricket Association was founded in 1905 and the
Australian Women's Cricket Association in 1931.
The
International Women's Cricket Council was formed in 1958 to coordinate women's cricket which was now being played regularly in Australia, England, New Zealand,
South Africa, the
West Indies,
Denmark and the
Netherlands. England toured South Africa in 1960-61, and the first
Women's Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1973, won by the hosts.
Lord's cricket ground staged its first women's
Test match in 1979, between England and Australia.
In 2005, after the eighth Women's World Cup, the International Women's Cricket Council was officially integrated under the umbrella of the
International Cricket Council, and an ICC Women's Cricket Committee was formed to consider all matters relating to women's cricket. [
3]
Women's Test cricket has been played since December 1934. Current international women's cricket teams include nine Test teams, as follows:
*
Australia*
England*
India*
Ireland*
New Zealand*
Pakistan*
South Africa*
Sri Lanka*
West IndiesNote that
Bangladesh and
Zimbabwe do not play women's Test cricket although they
do have men's teams, and that
Ireland is a Test nation in women's cricket but not in the men's game.
Women's One-day Internationals have been played since 1973. The first
Women's Cricket World Cup competition was held in 1973, two years before the first men's
Cricket World Cup. Four women's cricket teams field one-day international sides but do not play Test cricket:
*
Denmark*
Japan*
Netherlands*
ScotlandThere are also four One-day International teams which no longer field sides at this level:
*
International XI*
Jamaica*
Trinidad & Tobago*
Young England*
List of women cricketers*
Cricinfo Women*
Cricketwoman portal*
ICC Women's Cricket*
A History of Women's cricket
