Oral Histroy and Sport presentation

1. “It doesn't mean I'm Women's Lib”:
An Oral History of Women's Cricket
Raf Nicholson
Queen Mary University of London
rafaellenicholson40@hotmail.com

2. Introduction
Lois Bryson (1987):
“For many feminists, sport has, quite rightly, been
identified as a supremely male activity and therefore
eschewed, both in practice and as a topic of interest.
However such an attitude cannot be sustained, since if
we are to understand the processes of our domination,
we ignore sport at our peril. Sport is a powerful
institution through which male hegemony is constructed
and reconstructed and it is only through understanding
and confronting these processes that we can hope to
break this domination.”

3. Introduction
Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Heyhoe!, 1978:
“Taking on such a role would certainly mean challenging
male supremacy, but I've been doing that for years
anyway so it wouldn't be anything different! By that
token it doesn't mean I'm Women's Lib. - far from it,
because I value that bit of underwear they rush out and
burn each week with a matinee on Wednesdays. I, too,
believe in good support.”

4. Introduction
Lois Bryson (1987):
“For many feminists, sport has, quite rightly, been
identified as a supremely male activity and therefore
eschewed, both in practice and as a topic of interest.
However such an attitude cannot be sustained, since if
we are to understand the processes of our domination,
we ignore sport at our peril. Sport is a powerful
institution through which male hegemony is constructed
and reconstructed and it is only through understanding
and confronting these processes that we can hope to
break this domination.”

5. Structure of the paper
 1. How female cricketers relate their experiences to
the term “feminism”
 2. Given their rejection of the label “feminist”, how
should we situate them within the feminist
movement in Britain?

6. The interviews
-So far:
9 women, aged between 30 and 82
7 are former England players: played for England between
1968 and 2012
2 played both club and county cricket for over 40 years
Recruited through the Women's Cricket Associates
Semi-structured
1-3 hours in length

7. Women's cricket and feminism

8. Women's cricket and feminism
RN: The other thing is that the media seems to have labelled
female cricketers as “women's libbers” and seen you as
feminists. I wondered what you made of that.
NW: Yes, I'm not greatly enamoured. I mean there's always
somebody who will want to pick on something and chop and
change it all around.
RN: So you don't think, did you see yourselves as fighting
against inequality or anything like that?
NW: No, no, not really, no.

9. Women's cricket and feminism
RN: Are you a feminist?
JB: Oh, I wouldn't have said so, no, no.
RN: Okay. I mean, if I said to you that people have labelled women's
cricketers as feminists, what would your response be?
JB: Well I'm surprised to hear that myself. But no, I wouldn't have
said so, they don't – to me a feminist is someone who is quite
outspoken about things, and I don't think women's cricket, any one
person is outspoken about anything like that...I suppose you're
always trying to move the barrier, the men, trying to give you a few
more facilities...

10. Women's cricket and feminism
RN: So have any of the women that you've played cricket with been
feminists, would you say?
JB: Oh I wouldn't have said so, no. That's all burning bras isn't it? I
don't think any of them are like that! Obviously they like to show
that they're as good as the men, and we have, we've bowled out a
few men in our time playing in the friendly games and things…so
no. No feminists I don’t think.
RN: Do you feel like the Women's Libbers in the 1970s had any
impact on women's cricket?
JB: Erm, well I suppose probably then it made, we had quite a
strong team in the '70s, so people were about. Whether it made
people who thought they couldn't play could now play, possibly.
Yeah, just possibly.

11. Women's cricket and feminism
RN: And might that be linked to Women's Liberation in the '70s at
all, or?
CM: I...probably not, because I can imagine the effect that any
strident Women's Libber had on most cricket organisations would
have been very negative. It was, for me personally, it was a very
softly softly approach, not being strident and saying “we must have
this, we must have that”, because you don't get anywhere. And
that's, I like to think I helped in that respect by understanding and not
banging on the door and saying, “you must give us this, you must”.
You needed to be far more diplomatic than that. And you could
persuade people that it was worth considering, instead of
demanding. That would have been fatal, you'd have turned
everybody against you.

12. Women's cricket and feminism
RN: But yet it seems to have made you cross, some of the ways in
which women's cricket was being treated, so discouragingly I guess.
CM: Yeah it was frustrating, it was very frustrating, but if there's only
a certain amount of money to go round. But it's a very good sport, a
very good sport. I'm not saying we want to compete with the men but
if men do come and watch women's cricket at top level they realise
that at the technical side of things we're just as good as the
men...some cricket men, male spectators say they prefer to watch
women's cricket because it's not all crash-bang-whallop...Skills, the
skill factor is definitely there, definitely there.
RN: So would you describe yourself as a feminist?
CM: No. No.

13. Interview themes
1. Challenging domesticity
2. Female empowerment
3. Control over female bodies

14. The interviews
1. Cricket and marital relationships

15. The interviews
1. Cricket and marital relationships
NW: So when I go, the Whitehorn dynasty ends. Unless I decide to
get married suddenly, and I don't think I will somehow! [Laughs]
RN: So you haven't ever been married?
NW: No. Never had any inclinations. As I used to say, “no, I'll take
my hockey stick and cricket bat to bed thank you”. [Both laugh] And
that was, that was my way of my life.

16. The interviews
1. Cricket and marital relationships
RN: So did you ever, who would look after [your sons] if you were
going off to play cricket for the evening?
JB: Bernard [her husband]. Yeah. So yeah, it worked quite well. It
was my escape!
RN: When you married him, did you, was it a concern that it might get
in the way of cricket?...
JB: No, I don't think, no. Because I joined the cricket in '68 and that
was the end of September, so I didn't really start playing until '69
and I got married in '70. So it was all part of what was already
established. And then you just, weekends you went off and played
and Bernard used to come down and score...So yes, it hasn't really
got in the way.

17. The interviews
1. Cricket and marital relationships
EB: ...I mean I did actually play for a men's side locally once. I was
playing at the Oval and they rang up because they'd got a holiday,
what they have, they have a pit holiday regularly, and it's the same
fortnight each year. And they rang up and said they were short,
would I play for them? Well I came back and of course I told my
husband. So he said “right, if you're playing for the men, I'm going!”
So he packed his bag and he actually went off for a night. Came
back for his Sunday lunch though.
...he couldn't really do anything about it, because my first love has
always been cricket.
...I left him years ago, because I felt I really need to do my own
thing, and I'm not going to be able to do it with him tagging along.

18. The interviews
2. What cricket meant to women
RN: What difference do you think your involvement with women's
cricket has made to you generally?
CC: ...It certainly did make a big difference...I think I'm probably,
now I'm not the most outgoing person in the world, but I think I
would have been considerably worse had I not played cricket.
Through playing cricket I've got, I've done quite a lot of speaking
to organisations, things like that, and that's something that I
would never ever have dreamed of being able to do, had I not,
and it was only really being involved with the cricket. You don't,
I'm not quite sure how it ties in with being able to stand up and
talk in front of people, but I think it does. It just gives a certain
amount of self-confidence. When you go out there to bat in the
middle of an arena with a load of people watching, and you've got
to have a certain amount of self-confidence.

19. The interviews
2. What cricket meant to women
RN: What is it about cricket that appeals to you, do you think?
CM: Ooh, psychological. Psychological, yeah, yeah. Well as a fast
bowler the fact that I knew I could frighten people. [Laughs]
RN: [Laughs] Okay. So the intimidation?
CM: Yes. But very technical, a lot going on in the game, as I say
very psychological, not just, but the tactics, everything that goes
on and the ability to spot and work out an opponent, or spot
something, pass on a bit of information, “look how so and so's
holding the bat, they won't be very good at that shot”.

20. The interviews
3. Cricket and women's bodies
RN: Did you ever encounter any problems playing men's
cricket, in terms of the attitude of opponents, or?
CC: Not really. I think there was, there was a couple of
occasions where guys would get a bit carried away...
Occasionally they'd sort of, you'd get the odd one, “what on
earth's a woman doing here?” But they soon learnt that I was
quite capable of dealing with them. I think once I proved that
I was quite capable of living in that company, then there was
no problem, you were just sort of treated as an equal then.

21. The interviews
3. Cricket and women's bodies
CM: ...they always bowled faster at me. But I could get my own
back, because if I ever got, I remember one famous
occasion, a guy who obviously didn't rate me and had been
making apparently dodgy comments, I got him out, and he
was ribbed the whole evening in the bar. So you can get your
own back!
RN: [Laughs] Nicely done.

22. Conclusions
1. Ideological underpinnings of the Women's
Liberation Movement
2.“The fringes of feminism”

23. “I am not a feminist”: An Oral
History of Women's Cricket
Raf Nicholson
Queen Mary, University of London
rafaellenicholson40@hotmail.com