Myrtle Ethel Maclagan MBE (born 2 April 1911 in Ambala

Ambala

Ambala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other...

, United Provinces

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh

The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

; died 11 March 1993 in Surrey, England) was an English

English women's cricket team

The England women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1934–35, when they beat Australia 2–0 in a three-Test series. Their current captain is Charlotte Edwards, replacing Clare Connor after her five-year tenure, which she finished by leading England to their first Ashes series win since...

 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...

er. She played in the first women's Test match in 1934, and was one of the best known women cricketers of her day, famous for making high scores against the Australians

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...

. So much so that just after the men's team had lost the Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

, the Morning Post praised Maclagan's batting prowess with the quatrain:

What matter that we lost, mere nervy men

Since England's women now play England's game,

Wherefore Immortal Wisden, take your pen

And write MACLAGAN on the scroll of fame

After the 1934-35 tour to Australia and New Zealand, Maclagan also played against Australia in England in 1937. After the war, she returned to cricket, touring Australia and New Zealand again in 1948-49 and then appearing against Australia in England in 1951.

In 1966 she was awarded the MBE.