Women's cricket in Australia

Women's cricket in Australia
Women's Test Cricket. Anne Palmer (NSW) bowled, with Spear, Snowball and Partridge (England), 2nd Women's Test match in Sydney 1935.
Country	Australia
Governing body	Cricket Australia
National team	Australia

While not being urged to avoid competition, women had few opportunities to compete in sport in Australia until the 1880s. After that date, new sporting facilities were being built around the country and many new sport clubs were created.

The founding mother of women's cricket in Australia was the young Tasmanian, Lily Poulett-Harris, who captained the Oyster Cove team in the league she created in 1894. Lily's obituary, from her death a few years later in 1897, states that her team was almost certainly the first to be formed in the colonies [1].

During the 1890s, cricket and rowing two of the most popular competitive sports for women in Australia. Another of the first all women's sport clubs founded in Australia was the Rockhampton Ladies' Club. They were fielding a women's cricket team in the mid-1890s. The team wore dresses with long skirts and long sleeves, sashes attached to their uniform, tight belts and straw boater hats.

One location where cricket was being played was Bundaberg, where a ladies' town team had been established that was competing until as late as 1909. Cricket players, like other female athletes of this era, dressed in ankle length skirts, wore long sleeved blouses, and wore a hat and tie. The uniforms made it difficult to play as they did not allow a full range of movement. Another place where women played cricket on an all women's team was in Memerambi, a Queensland town that is to the southwest of Maryborough. In 1911, this team had several notable players including A. B. Postle who was the sister of the current world champion sprinter. By 1911, the skirts had changed to include fewer layers and allowed for greater movement of the legs. This improvement was offset by the need to wear wide brimmed hats.

The Victoria Women's Cricket Association was founded in 1905 and the Australian Women's Cricket Association in 1931.

During the early part of the twentieth century, small towns in rural areas often lacked enough male players to have a full team. This problem was solved by allowing for mixed gendered teams. One town with a mixed gendered team was found in Croydon at the Croydon Villa Cricket Club. The lack of players was also a problem in the bush. Mixed gendered teams were created as part of informal games at locations such as the Cooroy Showgrounds. By the 1920s, women were playing cricket in outfits similar to men: Long white trousers, white sweaters and blouses. Batters had pads for their shins. The hats had smaller brims and were more fitted to their heads. This change in outfits allowed women a greater range of movement when they played the game. A female cricket team active during the 1920s was found in Toowoomba.