Women’s Cricket In England Is Of A High Standard

Taranaki Daily News, 10 September 1934, Page 11

Women’s Cricket In England Is Of A High Standard

SCOFFERS SURPRISED BY GAME ON ' OLD TRAFFORD GROUND

TpOR the first time • in the history of l ',‘< the Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, a match between teams of women cricketers was played on that famous .county and Test ground, a few weeks ago. It was between an eleven representing England, and one representing the Rest of England. After it the team .which is to visit Australia and New Zealand was. selected. The Rest, which batted first, scored 93 runs. England declared its innings closed, at - 220 for one . wicket, M. Maclagan having scored 100 not out, E. A. Snowball'77, and M. Hide 32 not out. The . Rest lost seven wickets for 104 runs in its second innings. A description of the game in one of the Manchester papers, is interesting in itself,-as well as an. indication of what Australians and New Zealanders may expect, to see when, the touring team of women. cricketers takes the field. The ■ description runs:— Long before the women’s match between; England and the Rest at Old Trafford on Saturday had ended several experts who had drifted in during theimorning with an air of bland: patronage to discover what fun could be extracted from watching : women play 1 cricket, were, heard expressing enthusiastic approval of the skill and proficiency displayed. True, the match was not' without its amusing incidents, as when two : slip-fielders, going for the same catch, missed the ball and grasped hands heartily;’or when two out-fielders, intent on saving. a four, collided catastrophically near the boundary. It was impossible; to repress a smile, too, as the bespectacled Miss Straker, with straight• black hair, and face preternaturally . grave, administered the Fascist salute before advancing to deliver what appeared to be the slowest of slow swingers, until Mrs Herman-Worsley got to work (if that is not too strong a term for one so languid in style). Few were prepared to see a woman bowl 16 overs at a stretch, with a smooth, easy action, a full medium pace, ' a decided nip off the pitch, and the ability, at will, to make an occasional ball swing away to the slips. Miss Belton, who took the only England wicket that fell, was a joy to watch. It was good to see her lick her finger as she walked back to her bowling mark and fasten her grip on the ball, fingers along the -seam, for all the world like J. W.-H. T. Douglas. Miss Hide, for England, was similar in method and bowled medium off-spinners with nice variations in pace. But perhaps the left-arm bowler, Miss M. J. Haddelsey. attracted most attention. She was. in style and effect, the exact replica of hundreds of round-the-wicket left-arm bowlers who wheel up over after over on Saturday afternoons in. league cricket, escape excessive punishment, and • get away with a useful three for 32. Her five for 34 was the reward of being, able to pitch on the wickets and bend an occasional one back. Miss Chamberlain had the courage to experiment with fatish legbreaks, and would have been more dangerous had she contrived to hit the ground oftener. As it was, she kept Miss Snowball on the alert, because the

loosest ball, chin high, requires care in steering it safely to long-leg. As regards batting, the honours of the day went overwhelmingly to England. Miss Snowball and Miss MacLagan scored 140 for the first wicket in an hour and 40 minutes, and clearly demonstrated the possibilities—and limitations—of feminine batting. Miss Snowball is a splendid cricketer. Short and sturdy, as befits a wicketkeeper, she never once let the ball pass her while the Rest were batting; and then went in to attack the Rest bowling with rare spirit and gusto. Her back play was straight and correct. She severely chastised anything loose on the leg side, while the manner in which she swept good-length balls off her toes to the on boundary could not. have been bettered by “Patsy” Hendren: himself. Miss MacLagan astonished everybody by her canny discrimination (see her “pad up” with .the best of them!); her stance at the wicket and skilful placing to . leg reminded one continually of W. H. Ponsford. Moreover, she managed her favourite stroke, a neat square cut, perfectly. ■ The pavilion rose to her as she returned. with a chanceless 100 to her name, made in two hours and 43 minutes.

One would have liked to see more of Miss'Hide,. the. reputed, stylist of the England team. Her first scoring shot, a beautiful off-driye, fairly staggered the experts who had been airing the view that women found it difficult to drive; her next, a wristy, effortless cut that skimmed away to the pavilion rails, would not have . been disowned by R. H. Spooner. Most of the recognised strokes were attempted by one batsman or. another with the exception of the hook stroke: that seemed to be barred. Mannerisms at the wicket turned largely on the difficulties of managing a white skirt flying in the wind. If one could imagine C. P. Meade batting in a regulation gym-slip two inches above the .knee, he would soon have to ignore the peak of his cap and concentrate on stuffing his skirt down on the top of the right pad before starting his shuffle to the wicket. Generally speaking, the fielding on both sides reached a surprisingly high level. Much of the groundwork was brilliant; one-handed pick-ups and swift and accurate returns to the wicketkeeper being matters of little concern. Miss Fawell, at cover-point for the Rest, and Miss Lowe, fielding in the deep for England, won especial applause from the crowd. The catching, however, was disappointing; perhaps because two snap-catches by Miss Pollard and Miss MacLagan early on in the Rest’s innings had led us to anticipate something different. Except for one good effort by Miss Lowe in front of the pavilion, “skiers” were regularly put to the ground, principally because the fielders seemed to Jack the patience to allow the ball to come tb their hands, but reached up to it in a stiff-armed "come-let-me-clutch-thee” attitude.

The match was played throughout in a quiet, workmanlike fashion, without noise and without fuss, with such an obvious knowledge of the finer points of the game that those who had come to scoff needed little encouragement to remain to watch the play.