I was the driving force as we won World Cup!
Van driver Jo Chamberlain reflects on her glory day at Lord’s in 1993
Chamberlain runs riot as women win World Cup Big day: how Sportsmail reported England’s triumph
Jo Chamberlain was driving her van in leicester yesterday remembering the day at lord’s she was the toast of the cricketing world and paved the way for today’s women professionals by winning the World Cup for england.
Chamberlain was ‘ man’ of the match the last time england’s women won the Cup on home soil 24 years ago and will be at the home of cricket on Sunday to see whether heather Knight’s finalists can emulate the achievement of her life.
‘it was all very different then,’ said Chamberlain, england’s star all-rounder in their 67-run final victory over new Zealand in 1993. ‘We had to have special permission to walk through the long room to get to the pitch because women weren’t allowed in the pavilion. That’s how it was and we got on with it. it has all changed for the better now and it needed to.
‘but to walk out of the dressing room, go through the long room and walk out on to lord’s was just so special. i’m getting goosebumps now just talking about it.
‘They’ve got a full house, 26,000, watching them on Sunday. We had 5,000 and that was incredible to us at the time so i’m in awe of them.
‘i used to say back then that i enjoyed wearing a skirt to play but i would have liked to wear trousers really. it would have stopped the grass burns. We wore skirts and long socks and you’d get sunburnt above and below the knee!’
Some things do not change, though, and england’s women were seen then as a breath of fresh air at a time when the men’s team were struggling and had just seen Graham Gooch resign as captain after a losing ashes campaign.
‘We didn’t have anything like the media or television coverage the women players have now so we went quietly under the radar for much of the tournament,’ said Chamberlain, now 48. ‘but when we got to the final the bbC said they wanted to put it on the telly which was great. The ashes had been going badly for the men so i think they wanted a bit of good news for cricket.’
The result was new-found fame for Chamberlain, who scored a crucial 38 in england’s 195 for five in what was then 60 overs, and then took the key wicket of Kirsty bond as new Zealand could muster just 128 all out.
‘There was no money in winning whatsoever,’ Chamberlain told
Sportsmail. ‘We just got a plaque each saying “World Cup winners” and i got a crystal decanter for being what they announced as man of the match. i didn’t really think about that to be honest. They read out my name and i went up and got it. it was a very special day.’
but it was not enough to gain any material rewards. ‘i drove a van for a living then and i still do,’ said Chamberlain. ‘it would have been amazing to play the sport i loved for a living like they do now. We did get to travel the world but we had to pay for it ourselves. it never crossed our minds that we shouldn’t or that somebody else should pay for us. That was the era. We just did it and we found the means and ways of going on tour but i’m so pleased for the current generation.’
Chamberlain is a keen supporter of Knight’s team and will be watching on Sunday when england take on the winners of today’s second semi-final between australia and india from the privileged position of an mCC box.
‘We’ve been invited by mCC president matthew Fleming so we will be lording it,’ she smiled. ‘The 1973, 1993 and 2009 winning england teams have all been asked to go so i think all the old emotions will come back.’