The first-ever Cricket World Cup was played by seven women's teams in England in 1973, two years before the first men's edition of the competition. Manager of the Internationals team, Netta Rheinberg, reported on the tournament in the 1974 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
In 1777 The Third Duke of Dorset watched the Countess of Derby’s XI play a Ladies’ Invitation team at The Oaks in Surrey. He wrote afterwards: “What is human life but a game of cricket? And if so, why should not the ladies play it as well as we?” Ever since those days the ladies have been proving his point and certainly, nearly 200 years later, the staging by women cricketers in 1973 of the first ever World Cup competition has shown beyond a doubt that, thin on the ground as we women cricketers are, we are still not afraid of trying out something new and not lacking in enterprise.
The whole ambitious project of the World Cup competition would not have been possible without the financial generosity and support of our patron, Jack Hayward. The two West Indian teams were Government helped, members of the Australian and New Zealand teams paid their own way to and from this country and the W.C.A. also footed the bill for a great deal.
After a two-week period of gathering together and settling down in London, Dr. Roger Bannister, Chairman of the Sports Council, declared the Competition open at the Civil Service Sports Ground, Chiswick on June 16, at a colourful opening ceremony attended by seven teams from five nations. There should have been a sixth nation, India, who requested inclusion in the competition but too late for acceptance; and had difficulties not arisen, there would have been a seventh nationality, South Africa, but the Jamaicans and Trinidad & Tobago governments would not permit their teams to play against the five South African players who had been invited to join the International team.
One of the most memorable receptions was that given to all the teams by the Prime Minister at No. 10 Downing Street. Mr. Heath, in a short informal speech of welcome, referred to Lady Baldwin, wife of the former Prime Minister and a cricketer of some repute. She was a member of the White Heather Women’s Cricket club and she called a committee meeting of the club at No. 10 during the General Strike of 1926.
The competition proper began on June 20, with 21 international matches spread over six weeks and played on different grounds in widely scattered parts of the country, from Bletchley to Bradford, Sittingbourne to Swansea, and Eastbourne to Edgbaston. Soon it became apparent that the seeding of England and Australia as the strongest teams might be correct. Both Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, unaccustomed to limited overs cricket, found it hard to adjust themselves to a game in which the run rate is all important, and in which a new set of tactics has to be learned.
Suddenly, at the very start, the weather intervened and the match at Kew, between Jamaica and New Zealand was abandoned. This was a severe blow for New Zealand who had the prospect of gathering four points, but instead each team collected one point. Fate certainly played some queer tricks, for after this the weather was brilliant until July 14 when New Zealand faced England at Exmouth. Rain delayed the start and the overs were reduced to 35 each. New Zealand batted first and scored 105-7, but after 15 overs’ batting by England, rain caused play to be abandoned and as the England run rate had been slower New Zealand, they took four points for a win.
Fate stepped in again a week later on July 21 at Swansea. The International XI, by now welded together into a capable fighting unit, were all set to do battle with Australia and were confident. The Australians had won all their four matches, and were hoping for a fifth win which would place them in a near unassailable position. The Internationals lost the toss (for the first time in six games), were put into to bat and played five overs for the loss of one wicket when Welsh rain descended and continued relentlessly, causing the match to be abandoned, each team taking one point. This caused the final match, England v Australia at Edgbaston, to become a “needle game” with the Australian total at 17 points and England’s at 16 points. All was nicely set for a grand climax.
Only these three matches were affected by adverse weather, but other competitors had provided some shocks and surprises, including my own team, the Internationals. We had the uncanny knack of leaving the winning of a match to the last moment, beating New Zealand on the fifth ball of the last over on the beautiful ground at Chesterfield, and Jamaica at Kirby Muxlow only owing to a late recovery after being 16-3, through an unbroken partnership of 82 by the two young New Zealand members. Had we not foolishly lost our match with Young England (giving that team their only win in the competition) the Internationals would have finished second. I cannot fail to praise the Internationals, four Australians, three New Zealanders, two Jamaicans, two Trinidadians and three English, who, despite their very different backgrounds and upbringings became, during the six weeks, a capable and well-knitted bunch of cricketers. Our team song, which evolved of its own accord, helped by a ukulele playing member, has been recorded on tape and should perhaps be sent to the United Nations!
The final “needle” match at Edgbaston between England and Australia proved to be of the highest standard and quality, producing some of the best cricket within living memory. England, having won the toss, batted with no sign at all of any tension. Enid Bakewell (118) scored fluently and looked as relaxed as if she had been on the beach. Admittedly she was served a rather tasty diet of all sorts of bowling, which she digested with relish. Her example inspired the team and she received excellent support from Lynne Thomas (40), Rachael Heyhoe-Flint (64) and Chris Watmough (32*). Those who watched the morning performance will not easily forget the sparkle of the game in the excellent setting of Edgbaston and under a cloudless sky. During the afternoon, when the Australians’ turn came to bat, Princess Anne arrived to watch and stayed to present the cup at the end. After England’s batting, Australia’s performance came as something of an anti-climax and they never succeeded in mastering the situation. The fielding of both teams was a joy to watch and especially for England, Jilly Cuwys’ throwing in from the deep would have put many county players to shame.
There were a number of outstanding performance during the tour. Four centuries were recorded, all by England players. Enid Bakewell scored two (101* and 118), Lynne Thomas (134) and Rachael Flint (114) one each. Twelve players registered half centuries, fairly equally divided among the teams, though Trinidad & Tobago just failed. In the bowling, the best performance came from New Zealand’s Glenys Page with 6-20 against Trinidad, and Australia provided the runner up with 5-14 by Tina Macpherson against Young England.
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