While various locations have laid claim to being the home of women’s cricket over the years—including Taunton, which was named the “permanent” base for the England Women’s team by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2006, and Lord’s after hosting a single women’s Test—the true birthplace is rooted in the small village of Colwall in Herefordshire, situated on the western side of the Malvern Hills, according to Theguardian.
Colwall Marks Centenary of Women’s Cricket and WCA Birthplace
The tradition originated in August 1926, when a group of women’s hockey players traveled to Colwall for a cricketing holiday. After returning home and discussing the trip, they gathered in London a month later and officially established the Women’s Cricket Association (WCA). The organization went on to govern English women’s cricket until 1998, overseeing landmark milestones including the first public women’s match in 1929, the inaugural female internationals in 1934–35, and the first Cricket World Cup in 1973.
To celebrate the centenary, Colwall Cricket Club hosted a 1920s-themed party featuring swing music, vintage cars, and a women’s softball competition where participants competed in period-appropriate attire such as straw hats, long white dresses, and white stockings.
Honoring Historical Figures in the Clubhouse
Although Colwall started a women’s team five years ago—with women and girls now accounting to AOL making up 37% of the club’s membership—the clubhouse walls have historically displayed photographs exclusively of men in cricket whites. To correct this imbalance, new historical images have been introduced.
The display now features the first WCA chair, Mrs. Frances Heron-Maxwell, captured in a 1927 photograph wearing a bow tie, alongside England’s first wicketkeeper, Betty Snowball, from 1933. Snowball’s fondness for the annual gathering led her to relocate permanently to Colwall, where she lived until her death in 1988.
Gemma Nurser, Colwall Cricket Club’s communications lead, explained the motivation behind the update: The clubhouse is quite male-dominated, so we’ve been really desperate to show that female presence, and also recognise the history that is associated with Colwall: 1926 is where it all began with the Women’s Cricket Association being formed. We just wanted something in the clubhouse to recognise that.
Decades of Tradition and Global Continuity
The annual Cricket Week tradition persists today, with a dedicated group of women returning every summer to pitch camps around the perimeter of Colwall Cricket Club’s second pitch to spend five days playing the sport where it originated. Participants travel from across the globe; this year’s attendees included Ingrid van der Elst from the Netherlands, a veteran of the 1982 World Cup, alongside Coral Handley and Veronica Savage, who have both participated in Cricket Week for half a century.
Among the event’s enduring traditions is Fancy Dress Friday, an end-of-week fixture where players attempt matches in full costume. Past costumes have included four players dressed as the Spice Girls alongside a cardboard Union Jack bus, an iteration where the Eiffel Tower opened the batting, and an instance where an inflatable Mr Blobby served as umpire.
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