White Heather Club (cricket)
The White Heather Club was a women’s cricket club founded in 1887 in Nun Appleton, Yorkshire which is often noted as the first cricket club for women.[1][2] It was founded 'in consequence of the large amount of cricket at Normanhurst, Glynde, and Eridge,' the Sussex manor houses of the founders. In women's cricket, it developed out of country-house cricket and informal women's and mixed teams.[3] An amateur club which drew mainly from the upper classes, it predated semi-professional women’s cricket such as the Original English Lady Cricketers. It was followed by a small number of other women’s clubs such as the Dragonflies and the Clifton Ladies' Club.[4]
The Club was founded in the summer of 1887 by eight ladies, most of them from aristocratic backgrounds. By 1891 its membership had grown to fifty.[5] The players wore the club's colours of pink, white and green on their ties, blazers and boaters.[4]
The Club toured the country playing other women’s teams. From 1908 the team had a regular fixture against Miss Evelyn Tubb's Eleven in Oxfordshire. There was also an annual Married vs. Single game.[5] Presidents of the club included Lucy Baldwin, who hosted a General Meeting of the club at her home at 10 Downing Street while her husband, Stanley Baldwin, was Prime Minister.[3]
As part of a general decline in the membership of cricket clubs after World War II, the White Heather Club was dissolved in 1957.[5]
Founders
[edit]- The Hon. M. Brassey
- The Hon. Beatrice Brassey (married name Stacey)
- Lady Milner
- Lady Idina Nevill (wife of Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey)
- Lady Henry Nevill
- The Hon. Maud Lawrence
- Miss Chandos-Pole
- Miss Street[6]
Notable members
[edit]- Lucy Ridsdale, who averaged 62 with the bat in 1892, the year she married Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.[4]
- Dorothy Heseltine, founder of a Hampshire ladies' eleven, and her sister Sylvia Heseltine, founder of Finmere Ladies' team (daughters of John Postle Heseltine).
- Nona Hermon-Worsley (daughter of Robert Hermon-Hodge). In 1935 she played for Milney Manor against the White Heather Club, making 73 runs and taking seven wickets for 38.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "White Heather | British cricket club | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ "women's cricket". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ a b Velija, Philippa (2015-06-13). Women's Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women's Cricket as a Global Game. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-32352-1.
- ^ a b c Duncan, Isabelle (2013-05-28). Skirting the Boundary: A History of Women's Cricket. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-611-9.
- ^ a b c d Salway, Paul (2018). A Novel Match at Cricket: A History of Women's Cricket in an English Shire. Paragon Publishing. pp. 49–52. ISBN 978-1-78222-597-3.
- ^ McCrone, Kathleen E. (2024-11-01). Sport and the Physical Emancipation of English Women: 1870-1914. Taylor & Francis. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-040-27956-4.