Connor hits back in row over Heyhoe Flint statue at Lord’s
MCC has been urged to “move with the times” and install a permanent memorial to cricket pioneer Rachael Heyhoe Flint at Lord’s.
Incoming president Clare Connor told MCC members during an online forum on Tuesday that she wanted to commemorate Heyhoe Flint by erecting a statue or naming one of the stadium’s gates in her honour.
It was reported that her suggestion had been met with resistance from within MCC – which allowed women to join only in 1998 – with one member allegedly saying the move smacked of “gesture politics”.
That prompted a stinging rebuke from Heather Knight, the England women’s captain, who tweeted: “Come on MCC, move with the times. Women’s cricket in England owes everything to Rachael.”
Connor said that suggestions of a revolt against her plan were misguided.
“Discussions within MCC to commemorate Rachael Heyhoe Flint’s impact in a public way at Lord’s are very well advanced”, she wrote on Twitter. “For the record – I had met
no objection in doing so until I read today’s Times article.”
Among her achievements during her playing career, Heyhoe Flint was the first woman to hit a six in a Test match and the creator of the first women’s World Cup in 1973, two years ahead of the inaugural men’s tournament.
Before her death in 2017, aged 77, she was a working House of Lords peer from 2010, and was integral to securing more investment in women’s cricket – including the first central contracts for female England internationals.
Ebony Rainford-brent, the former England player, tweeted: “[Heyhoe Flint was] an absolute legend of the game and fought for... change. MCC needs to sort this one out. There is no more [worthy] person of this honour.”
In a statement issued last night, Guy Lavender, chief executive of MCC, said: “Rachael Heyhoe Flint’s contribution to the women’s game and to MCC is unparalleled. The club has been considering further ways to commemorate Rachael’s considerable achievements and when we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we will be looking at how we honour Rachael’s legacy as part of our wider strategy to advance women’s and girls’ cricket.
“The notion that there is a revolt at Lord’s is highly misleading, with no such challenge raised across our club committees, or by the broader membership.”