The history of women’s cricket has produced a number of fascinating moments since 1745. Let’s recall some interesting facts of women’s cricket that attest the richness of the same.
- Women’s First Test
The first women’s Test match was played on December 1934 between England and Australia at Brisbane, Australia. To put into perspective, it was just two years after India’s Test debut and the infamous Bodyline Series between the same countries. New Zealand joined the party next year and for the first 25 years only these three teams were engaged in women’s Test cricket. In fact, these are also the only teams to have taken part in all editions of women’s cricket World Cup. South Africa became the next team to start playing women’s Test in 1960. Indian women played their first Test in 1976.
- First World Cup
Women’s cricket may lack popularity compared to men’s one but women’s cricket history can easily give men’s version a tough competition. Women’s world cup was first played in 1973, a couple of years before the men’s event in 1975. With Seven teams from England, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, an International XI and a Young England side participating in the event, England came out as the debutant winner. England won five of its games, losing only to New Zealand in a rain-affected match. The tournament was played in a round robin format where each team playing against others once with the highest point holder declared as winner.
- First 100 and 10-wicket
Betty Wilson from Australia was the first ever cricketer, male or female to score a hundred and take ten wickets in same Test match in her final series in 1958 against England. She took 7/7 in the first innings which was also incidentally the first hat-trick in women’s Test cricket. Her batting performance wasn’t up to the mark in the first innings and she could accumulate only 12 runs. But in the second innings she scored exactly a hundred run and also took four wickets (4/9 in 19 overs) setting the record of best bowling figure of 11/19. Her records were broken by Shaiza Khan from Pakistan in 2004.
- First 200 in ODI
The first One Day International double century was hit thirteen years before Sachin Tendulkar recorded the feat in 2010 as the first male cricketer. Belinda Clarke scored first ever double hundred in the history of one day cricket during 1997 world cup in Mumbai. The then captain of Australian Women’s Cricket Team smashed an unbeaten 229 runs off 155 balls against Denmark. In 2018 Amelia Kerr from New Zealand broke the 21-year-old record of Belinda and became the highest ODI scorer in women’s cricket.
- First Twins
During New Zealand Women’s tour of England in 1984 the Test cricket saw the appearance of the first twins of cricket. Elizabeth and Rose Signal, born 4 May 1962, became the first twins to feature in a Test match together, seven years before the Waugh brothers (Mark and Steve) played Test cricket together in 1991. Both of the sisters were all-rounder. Rose couldn’t perform well in the first match at Headingley and never appeared in another Test. Elizabeth didn’t get a chance to bat in the first innings, scored just one in the second and ended without taking a wicket. She continued to play Test and ODIs where Rose later made a decent come back in the one-day format.