On this day: Finally, Lord’s allowed women to play their first-ever cricket game

August 4th, 1976, marked an important day in the history of Lord’s stadium. Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was not your typical individual. She was a very successful captain and had outstanding averages of 45.54 in Tests and 58.45 in Women’s ODIs, but her greatest contribution may have been that she was largely to blame for turning women’s cricket from a marginal sport into the widespread phenomenon that it is today.

Two years before the first Men’s World Cup, the first Women’s World Cup took place in 1973. Heyhoe-Flint and her girls still had one objective to accomplish, though, and that was to acquire entrance to Lord’s, even after planning, hosting, and winning the World Cup in her capacity as captain.

It was a difficult task. The inflexibly conservative MCC fiercely opposed the idea, but Heyhoe-Flint was unwavering; she even threatened to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission against them.

However, that was 1973. Things went quite slowly, and nothing productive seemed to be taking shape until 1976. Due to Lorraine Hill’s 106 and an English top-order collapse that left them reeling at 75 for 6, England Women had suffered a significant loss in the maiden Women’s ODI at Canterbury. The teams then moved on.

MCC ultimately decided to assign the second Women’s ODI of the series to Lord’s, assuming Lancashire could defeat Middlesex in the second round. If Middlesex were to win, they would not be scheduled to play at Lord’s, in which case the match would have had to be moved to Sunbury Cricket Club.

With the help of a 101-run partnership between Harry Pilling and Frank Hayes and some savage hitting by Jack Simmons in the game’s closing moments at Old Trafford, David Lloyd’s Lancashire pulled off a robbery against Mike Brearley’s Middlesex in front of a bunch of Heyhoe-Flint squad members.

Finally, the women were allowed entry to Lord’s when the visitors were knocked unconscious. Lording it, at last, was the headline in the Glasgow Herald the next day.

The customary limitations were still in place, though, and the only women who could enter the pavilion were the cricketers. The changing rooms and, most importantly, The Long Room were open to the players, who were given access to the same amenities the men enjoyed.

Some of the members didn’t like the decision very much. A participant even went so far as to declare, “Women are the greatest distraction a man can have around,” in reference to how crucial it is for males to focus when playing cricket.

Peter Curtis, a member of the MCC who was there at the scene, subsequently revealed that he had been praying for rain in order to prevent the sacrilege. Curtis was unfortunate since it turned out to be a sunny day. Anne Gordon won the toss and decided to bat as the sacred strip basked in the splendour of the rare English Sun.

The English fielders started playing. The Glasgow Herald described their outfit as “irresistibly ‘upper fifth’ in effect, so that the umpires in their douce, straight skirts below the knee, and the finger-tip length white coats are undoubtedly school mistresses.”

Peter Curtis, a member of the MCC who was there at the scene, subsequently revealed that he had been praying for rain in order to prevent the sacrilege. Curtis was unfortunate since it turned out to be a sunny day. Anne Gordon won the toss and decided to bat as the sacred strip basked in the splendour of the rare English Sun.

The English fielders started playing. The Glasgow Herald described their outfit as “irresistibly ‘upper fifth’ in effect, so that the umpires in their douce, straight skirts below the knee, and the finger-tip length white coats are undoubtedly school mistresses.”

Despite this, after Hodges had dropped Hills when she was two, Sharon Tendrea and the rookie Wendy Hills held down the fort as the runs continued to come in a steady stream. There wasn’t much of a rush because it was a 60-over event. Tendrea, on the other hand, pressed the gas pedal hard and drove and sliced the ball.

After another collapse, Australia Women were abruptly reduced to 127 for 9 from 112 for 6, and she added 71 with Hills. Prior to the latter being run out by Glynis Hullah, Marie Cornish (née Lutschini) and Wendy Blunsden scored 34 runs for the last wicket, and Australia Women were dismissed for 161.

In retaliation, Lynne Thomas struck Patsy May to Karen Price at mid-off after Enid Bakewell and she put up 85 for the first stand. Bakewell had earlier played admirably, going 2 for 30, and she now hit a cool 50, nearly winning the game. When Heyhoe-Flint left the field on her own to join Chris Watmough, England Women lost both of their first matches quickly.

The pair led England Women to a convincing eight-wicket victory, tying the series, without losing another wicket. It was appropriate that the skipper was in the box as Watmough scored the go-ahead runs, which also brought up her fifty-run milestone.

However, the ECB showed little interest in the game. With the exception of the Gillette Cup, they didn’t even attempt to provide any information regarding cricket to the Post Office for transmission. The Glasgow Herald reported that “The WCA, they stated in effect, have nothing to do with us, hence we don’t know about them.”

What happened next?

By winning the third game at Trent Bridge by an even larger margin of 9 wickets, England Women took the series. However, Lord’s did not host a women’s match again until 1987. Women were not allowed to watch cricket from the Lord’s pavilion until far into the new millennium.