Betty Snowball
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth "Betty" Alexandra Snowball (9 July 1908 in Burnley
, Lancashire
– 13 December 1988 in Colwall
) is best known as an English
sportswoman. She played international cricket
in the England women's cricket team, and also played international squash
and lacrosse
. She scored 189 runs against New Zealand
in the fourth women's Test match in 1935, setting a world record for the highest individual innings
in women's Test cricket
which was not surpassed for over 50 years, until Sandhya Agarwal
scored 190 in 1986. It remains the highest Test score by an Englishwoman.
She was born in Burnley
, Lancashire
, and became an opening batsman and wicketkeeper. She played in 10 Test matches
from 1934 to 1949, including the first women's Test against Australia
in Brisbane
in 1934. She toured to Australia
twice. She scored 613 runs
at a batting average
of 40.86. Behind the stump
s, she took 13 catches and 8 stumpings.
After her cricketing career, she retired to Colwall
in Herefordshire
to teach cricket and mathematics at The Elms School
, where Michael Singleton
was headmaster. She died in Colwall
.
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
– 13 December 1988 in Colwall
Colwall
Colwall is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England on the border with Worcestershire, nestling into the side of the Malvern Hills. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall and Colwall Green along over a mile of the B4218 road...
) is best known as an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sportswoman. She played international cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
in the England women's cricket team, and also played international squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
. She scored 189 runs against New Zealand
New Zealand women's cricket team
The New Zealand women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1935, when they lost to England. Since then they have only won two Tests, once against Australia, and once against South Africa....
in the fourth women's Test match in 1935, setting a world record for the highest individual innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
in women's Test cricket
Women's Test cricket
Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the gender equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations...
which was not surpassed for over 50 years, until Sandhya Agarwal
Sandhya Agarwal
Sandhya Agarwal is a former captain of the Indian women's cricket team. She hails from Indore.She played in 13 Test matches from 1984 to 1995, scoring 1110 runs at a batting average of 50.45, including 4 centuries...
scored 190 in 1986. It remains the highest Test score by an Englishwoman.
She was born in Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and became an opening batsman and wicketkeeper. She played in 10 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1934 to 1949, including the first women's Test against Australia
Australian women's cricket team
The Australian women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1934/5, when they lost to England two-nil in a three-Test series. Since then they have improved and are generally considered the best women's cricket team in the world...
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in 1934. She toured to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
twice. She scored 613 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
at a batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of 40.86. Behind the stump
Stump
In its most general sense, stump is an English word. It may refer to:*Tree stump, the rooted remains of a felled tree*Stump, the remains of a limb after amputation...
s, she took 13 catches and 8 stumpings.
After her cricketing career, she retired to Colwall
Colwall
Colwall is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England on the border with Worcestershire, nestling into the side of the Malvern Hills. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall and Colwall Green along over a mile of the B4218 road...
in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
to teach cricket and mathematics at The Elms School
The Elms School
The Elms School is a co-educational, independent, boarding, prep school located in Colwall, Herefordshire, England, at the foot of the Malvern Hills. Including its pre-prep department, it caters for children from 2½ to 13 years old....
, where Michael Singleton
Michael Singleton
George Michael Singleton CBE MC was an English cricketer who played three first-class games, appearing once for Cambridge University and twice for Worcestershire. Michael took five wickets with his left-arm spin and scored 34 runs in his five innings...
was headmaster. She died in Colwall
Colwall
Colwall is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England on the border with Worcestershire, nestling into the side of the Malvern Hills. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall and Colwall Green along over a mile of the B4218 road...
.