GIRL CRICKETERS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 5

GIRL CRICKETERS

Lessons For Men Players

As practically every “expert,” when writing upon the games which have recently taken place between the girl cricketers of England and those of Australia has stated, at one stage or another during the course of his remarks, that he “went to scoff and stayed to praise,” I feel that it is only right I should start off in similar strain, partly because I feel in good company in so doing, but mainly because it is the truth, writes “A Male” in the “Sydney Morning Herald.” The first pleasant surprise at the match to which I went occurred very early in the piece. The umpires appeared promptly at 1.15 p.m., and I prepared myself for the usual five minutes’ wait before the fielding side came out. But, lo and behold, the English team, led by Miss Archdale, and followed by the Australian “openers,” were on the ground before the umpires had reached the wicket! Number 1 lesson to men players, and a lesson, too, which could be learnt with advantage. Why the men, in all big matches, persist in allowing the umpires to walk out to the wickets and twiddle their thumbs until the fielding

team condescends to come out about five minutes later, with another couple of minutes to elapse before the bats-

men appear, has always been a mystery to me. I may say that this absence of delay was in evidence through-

• out the match, and it betokened not only a keenness on the part of the girls but a thought for the public, who were not slow to appreciate it. I do not propose to speak of the actual play itself in any detail. This has been done by more able pens than mine. But rather to deal with little incidents, such as the above, which were quite as spontaneous in their action as they were pleasant in their reality. First and foremost was the general air of enjoyment which pervad£d the match. And by this I do not mean that the players were not serious. Far from it. But simply that these girls, whether batting, bowling, or fielding, did not lose sight of the fact that they were playing a game, and whether enjoying success or being temporarily “up against it,” they always appeared to appreciate good work on the part of their opponents. For instance, upon one occasion, when Miss Smith, that hard-hitting girl from Queensland, cracked a loose ball with terrific speed toward the boundary, and Miss Spear, the brilliant English all-rounder, who was fielding at what seemed dangerously close to the bat, brought off a magnificent save—only one of many, by the way—the batswoman was the first to drop her bat and applaud. There were numerous little incidents of this nature throughout the match which showed in what a sporting and proper spirit it was play(d. Then, again, when drinks were brought on to the field, the English captain—or the Australian captain, when positions were reversed —always saw to it that the batswomen and the umpires were given an opportunity to quench their thirst before she allowed her own team to participate. So far justice has hot been done to the keenness of the girls. This was an eye-opener and certainly was a feature of the recent match. There was no casual walking to their places at the end of an over. In fact, one English girl at the conclusion of each over used to run about 70 yards to her new position. She did this all day, and Friday was pretty warm, too. I don’t say that this practice should always be followed; but if the girl felt like it there was certainly no harm done. Again, in the field, with both the Misses Archdale and Peden as inspirations, the girls were always on the alert. It was quite a common sight to see no fewer than four girls “backing up” a return. And, by the way, the wicketkeeping was a revelation. In conclusion, and with all due modesty, lot me' congratulate those who initiated the visit of the English girls, those who were responsible for the arrangements, the girls of both countries themselves for their fine play, and, above all, for the spirit in which they played the game, and, finally, all concerned for bringing home to the comprehension of a number of conceited know-alls like myself the fact that women have entered another of what we considered our own partiiar fields, and have definitely eome here to stay. May we have many more visits from the women cricketers of the Old Country!