Tributes to first lady of world game
WHEN the England women’s team begin their assault on the World Cup this summer on home soil, they will owe almost everything to one woman.
Without Rachael Heyhoe Flint, there would be no women’s World Cup and the modern women’s game – with professional players and a growing following – would not have happened.
Heyhoe Flint, who has died aged 77, was the first lady of cricket and indeed one of the first 10 women elected as a member of the MCC when the private club that owns Lord’s finally admitted women in 1999.
The MCC flag on the Lord’s clock tower has been lowered to half-mast as a mark of respect for a cricketer who played in the first women’s match at the ground – against Australia in 1976. MCC president and former England all-rounder Matthew Fleming said: “Rachael was a pioneer – the first global superstar in the women’s game and her contribution to MCC, cricket and sport was immense.”
BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew described her as “one of life’s enthusiasts”.
She became a director of Wolves football club, continuing her association with the club’s millionaire owner Jack Hayward, with whom she concocted the idea of a women’s World Cup.
Amazingly, the tournament, first staged in 1973, came two years before the men’s inaugural event in 1975. Heyhoe Flint led England to victory.
She played 22 Test matches and 23 one-day internationals between 1960 and 1979.
She was also the first woman to hit a Test six.
Clare Connor, former England captain and now head of women’s cricket at the ECB, said: “This is so sudden and sad. She was so special, so ever-present and now she has gone – but her impact can never be forgotten.
“She was my friend and mentor and inspiration. And I’m not alone; her impact, kindness and support was felt by so many.
“Rachael was one of our pioneers and it is no exaggeration to say she paved the way for the progress enjoyed by recent generations.
“I will continue to be inspired by her fortitude, deep love of the game and her wicked, wonderful sense of humour. We are all in her debt.”
She worked for her hometown club Wolves in the PR department from 1990 before becoming a director.
“She was a wonderful lady who meant so much to the football club, the city and much further afield,” said Wolves managing director Laurie Dalrymple.
She was awarded an MBE in 1972 and an OBE in 2008 before entering the House of Lords in 2011 as a life peer.
John Stern was editor of The Wisden Cricketer, 2004-2011.