Breaking boundaries: early women's cricket in South Australia
Sheep grazing at the Bungaree Station, c1875. SLSA: B 24043
St. Michael's Church, Bungaree was built on a hill at the Bungaree Station, which was established by English settler James Collins Hawker, along with his two brothers. Over time the property grew to include the main homestead, many outbuildings and this church. SLSA: B 12574
The South Australian Advertiser reported that one of the ladies ‘handled the bat in excellent style’.South Australian Advertiser, 28 March 1870, page 3.
The next reported ladies cricket match was held as part of the first Test Match in Australia in March 1877.
'One of the most prominent features of the day's sport was a ladies' cricket match, which caused great amusement; and taking into consideration the fact that the players were ladies, some capital cricket was shown. Miss J Temby, who was the highest scorer, received a pair of lustres as a prize'. ~ Express and Telegraph , Sat 31 Mar 1877, page 2
Lustres were glass ornaments which had crystals or glass prisms hanging from them and were seen as a sign of wealth, so a pair of these would have been a very welcome gift!
The first ladies cricket club
Despite this apparent success, there was no further cricket team for women until the 1885/86 season when a friendly game was played at Naracoorte in the south-east of South Australia. However, this was short-lived and when another ladies club formed in Hahndorf for the 1889/80 season, Clarence Moody of The Register, an authority on cricket in South Australia, reported this to be the first ladies’ cricket club of the colony.
On 1 February 1895 the progressive thinking Mount Barker Courier wrote,
‘The match on the Mount Barker Oval on Wednesday afternoon may be taken as a sign of the times. A few years ago, the thought of ladies engaging in a game of cricket would have caused the eyes of Mrs. Grundy to be uplifted in abject horror, but in this "age of advancement," when women are competing with males in almost every department of labour, it is accepted as only a natural sequence. At the next general elections our wives, sisters, cousins, and aunts will record their votes at the polling-booth, and before that time ladies' cricket matches will no doubt have become quite everyday events. We have female cyclists by the score, and why should not the equally healthful exercise produced in the cricket field be indulged in by the gentler ones?’
Unfortunately, however, this enlightened view was not widespread. Most early matches were ‘gentlemen versus ladies’ and were for pure entertainment rather than any sporting value.
In 1900, such a match was described in Quizas having…
Members of a women's cricket team in South Australia with two men, possibly coaches or umpires, 1915. SLSA: PRG 280/1/10/246
Women's cricket team at the Quarantine Camp, Jubilee Oval, Adelaide. The group is posed on the oval, with tents and trees in the background, 1919. SLSA: PRG 1638/2/101
Women playing cricket in South Australia showing the wicket keeper catching the ball, 1914. SLSA PRG 280/1/10/214
A woman cricketer bowling overarm. "A snapshot from a London playing field, showing how ladies were taking up the game of cricket with the greatest enthusiasm. The young lady in the picture has even learned to bowl overarm". Observer newspaper 29 November 1919. SLSA: PRG 280/1/15/385
Allendale East Ladies Cricket team Back l-r, Jack McAskill, Myrtle Day, Agnes Sewart, Mary Sewart, Rose Cutting, Maggie McLay, Mrs Jim McKinnon, Annie Kemp, Janet Kerr, Dick Kerr. Front l-r, Laura Kieselbach, Maria Butler, Mrs Beale, 1900. SLSA: B 36975
Two women cricketers assist a third to pad up. The cricketers are members of the Adelaide University team which played (and defeated) a Sydney University team in Adelaide in the 1948-49 season. The cricketer on the left is J. Kelly and the central figure is wicket-keeper L. Blanchard, 1949. SLSA: B 7798/156
Ladies cricket team from Port Elliot. Back Row: Winnie Prior, Una Swift, Lily Swift, Hilda Smith, Belle Ingles, Maggie Smith, Mamie Smith, Annie Smith. Front Row: Mabel Dodd, Ruby Rouse, Polly Golding, Silvia Dodd, 1908. SLSA: B 23843
Group photograph of the Cockburn Ladies' Cricket Club, known as 'The Shamrocks', ca. 1907. SLSA: B 71620
Two women playing cricket with an umpire, 1920. Photograph taken by Doris Constance Barnes. SLSA: B 52749
The run up
Although women's matches had been played at various regional venues, and World War One had changed the role of women in society and overturned societal restrictions on dress and behaviour, the popularity of women’s cricket didn’t really come into its own until the 1930s.This was mainly due to the prospect of playing Test Matches against England and the need for a formal channel to support these women in beating the 'old foe’.
The first meeting of the South Australian Women’s Cricket Association (SAWCA) was held in September 1930 and despite disagreements over what the women should wear and some voicing ‘protest against the invasion of our sports by women’, the first official season was a success, and new associations began to spring up around the state.
A national body was also established not long after. The Australian Women’s Cricket Council was formed in March 1931, and a number of businesses also began to put together teams, Myers, Woolworths and Pilkington Brothers among others.
In 1935 South Australia fielded a team in a national competition and left-armed bowler Sue Summers impressed the national representatives so much that they named her for the first tour to England in 1937, South Australia’s first female cricketer to represent Australia.
The 1947/48 season saw the important introduction of a university team led by Ruth Dow. Ruth was also the captain of the South Australian team the following season, when Adelaide hosted its first Women's Test match, against England. The match was a triumph for Victorian player Betty Wilson who scored a century and claimed a hat-trick in taking 6/23 and 3/39. She was the first Australian woman to hit a Test century against England and the first woman to claim a Test hat trick. She was also the first cricketer, male or female, to score a century and take 10 wickets in the same Test, a feat for which she was inducted to Cricket Australia's Hall of Fame in 2015.
Hitting for six
In the 1980s Cricket Australia invited the Women’s Cricket Council to join them and the sport has gone from strength to strength since. In 2015, the South Australian Cricket Association launched an Avenue of Honor with a dedicated area for female cricketers behind the Western Grandstand at Adelaide Oval.
According to the 2019/20 Australian national cricket census, females now make up about 11% of total cricket players in Australia, showing that those early players really did break the boundaries and paved the way for future generations of female cricketers.
More to explore
Want to learn more about the history of cricket in our state? The State Library has the following resources to help you research:
SA Newspapers: Sporting research guide