THE RISE OF FEMALE CRICKET
The Rise of Female Cricket, Lottie Humphris – Year 8
It is true that women’s cricket is only a relatively recent game. The first recorded women’s match was in 1745 and the first women’s cricket club was formed in Yorkshire in 1887 called the White Heather Club. The first recorded men’s match was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. However, due to an explosion of interest from both girls and women, it is now a very popular women’s game, spectated by millions across the globe. In part, this is because of the success and coverage of the women’s international game with the first match between England and Australia held in 1934. However, the real successes have been more recently with the one day format and World Twenty20. The Women’s Cricket World Cup has been held nine times with England, Australia and New Zealand all sharing the titles. The game is now professional and the quality of batting, bowling and fielding are all exceptionally high.
Since the age of seven when I first started playing cricket, I have been inspired by many female cricketers including the current England Women’s cricket Captain, Heather Knight OBE. She is both a batter and a bowler and famously became the first woman to score a half century and take five wickets in a One Day International. It was often hard for her playing whilst growing up as her team were not always accepting of her and there were often no changing facilities, which you can imagine was incredibly difficult and upsetting! She persevered however, and fought hard to prove herself. She is now at the very top of her game; a professional athlete who has had many memorable career highlights.
At Warminster School, we’re all very fortunate to have a wide variety of sports to partake in throughout the school year and received so much encouragment from our teachers to have a go at all sports. I am really looking forward to continuing the cricket season after half term as well as all the other summer sports.