ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday celebrated 50th anniversary of the start of the first-ever Cricket World Cup, the Women’s World Cup that was staged in England from 20 June 1973. The anniversary marks a five-week long tribute to the tournament, building up to 28 July, the anniver-sary of the final match.
The ICC will publish content that celebrates the event that began global games for both the women’s and men’s games, seeking to pay tribute to the he-roes of that era, the ICC said in a press release.
The tournament opener between Jamaica and New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled.
The tournament was won by England, who beat Australia by 92 runs at Edgbaston on 28 July 1973, with the trophy presented to the winning captain, Rachel Heyhoe-Flint.
The tournament featured seven teams – Australia, England, an International XI, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, and Young England. British businessman Sir Jack Hayward’s liberal sponsorship of GBP 40000 brought to life the first-ever Cricket World Cup.
Having a women’s World Cup before a men’s world event sets cricket apart from other major global sports. To begin celebrations, the ICC has shared several photos from the event on ICC social media channels. The photos include a picture of Jamaica cricketer Paulette Lynch posing with ICC Hall of Famer Heyhoe-Flint, who features in many of the images. Several former players were delighted to share their memories of the inaugural event and what it meant to them and the game.
Enid Bakewell MBE was the tournament’s leading run scorer with 264 runs for England, scoring two centuries in four innings at an average of 88.00 and a high score of 118.
She said: “My main memories of 1973 are seeing my dad with his rug over his arm coming to me after I had scored a century!
“After the final had been won by England, we were presented to Princess Anne who later gave me an MBE at Buckingham Palace.
“Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was the real super woman who fought to promote the women’s game. She took her ukulele to Lord’s and played it outside the ground on the street to let people know that women played cricket.
“She was a real inspiration on and off the field.” Lynne Thomas was the second leading run scorer and opened the batting for England. She ended the tournament with 263 runs in four innings that in-cluded a highest score of 134, averaging 87.66. She said: “It was a great honour for me to represent England in the first-ever World Cup in 1973. I felt I was also representing my home country, Wales, of which I am very proud. It was a hugely successful tournament played in a true sporting spirit.
“The staging of the World Cup in 1973 put a tour-nament format into the women’s cricket calendar for the first time. It took place every four years and is still being played today. I think that its success has contributed to the forming of other women’s world events such as the T20 World Cup.
Being introduced to Her Royal Highness Princess Anne before the final and holding the Cup after the presentation were also major highlights. I have fond memories of the happy times the team spent together. The closeness of the team members, how we blended together and the fun we had. We all enjoyed playing cricket and the friendships we formed will last forever.
Louise Browne (Trinidad & Tobago captain): “It does not seem as though 50 years have gone by since I was asked to lead the Trinidad and Tobago women’s team to the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1973. Four members of our squad had attended Cricket Week in Malvern (England) in 1971, but the rest of the team had not travelled beyond the Carib-bean borders.
“At that inaugural World Cup, we placed fifth among the seven participating teams, with wins only against Young England and Jamaica. Our participa-tion however, brought recognition to women’s cricket, not only in Trinidad and Tobago and Ja-maica, but throughout the Caribbean region. “It is a pleasure to know that women can now play cricket professionally. The franchise tournaments being established worldwide have added excitement to the game. —APP
