Rachael Heyhoe-Flint
Encyclopedia
Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, OBE
, DL
(born 11 June 1939, in Wolverhampton
) is probably the best known female
cricket
er in England
. She was a member of the English women's cricket team
from 1960 to 1982. She was captain
of England from 1966 to 1978, and was unbeaten in six Test series
. She was captain when England won the inaugural Women's Cricket World Cup
, held in England in 1973.
matches, with a batting average
of 45.54 in 38 innings
. She scored three Test centuries, including her highest score of 179, a world record when she scored it against Australia
at the Oval
in 1976, earning a draw to save the series by batting for more than 8½ hours. She was captain of the first England women's team to play at Lord's in the 1976 Women's Ashes series. She also hit the first six in a women's Test match in 1963, also at the Oval against Australia. After being replaced as England captain in 1978, she played her last Test match in the 1979 series against West Indies
, but went on to play in the 1982 Women's Cricket World Cup.
in 1999, as an honorary life member. In 2004, she was the first woman elected to the full committee of the MCC. Outside cricket, she played as goalkeeper
for the England national field hockey
team in 1964. She has been a director
of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
since 1997. She has been President of the Lady Taverners since 2001. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours
.
With Netta Rheinberg
, she co-authored a history of women's cricket: Fair Play - the story of women's cricket, Angus & Robertson, 1976, ISBN 978-0207956980.
In October 2010 she was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
, the first woman to achieve this accolade.
On 19 November 2010 it was announced that she was to be ennobled to sit in the House of Lords as a Conservative Party
peer. "I was completely taken by surprise when I took the call from the Prime Minister in September," Heyhoe Flint said. "Obviously I am really thrilled at my appointment but still very humbled at the thought of joining such an historic institution...My background in sport, journalism, charity and community work will I hope stand me in good stead, and I hope I can make a positive contribution as a working peer. I will certainly look forward to the commute from one Lord's to another Lords."
.
She is the wife of Derrick Flint (born 14th June 1924), who had a first-class cricket
career in batting and fielding between 1948 and 1949. He furthermore was a first-Class career bowler (1948-1949). Heyhoe Flint has a son named Ben G Heyhoe-Flint who also played cricket, regularly for the Sir JP Getty's XI.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
(born 11 June 1939, in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
) is probably the best known female
Women's cricket
Women's cricket is the form of the team sport of cricket that is played by women.-History:The first recorded match of women's cricket was reported in The Reading Mercury on 26 July 1745, a match contested "between eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon, all dressed in white." The...
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 in England
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...
. She was a member of the English women's cricket team
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...
from 1960 to 1982. She was captain
English national cricket captains
This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any...
of England from 1966 to 1978, and was unbeaten in six Test series
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...
. She was captain when England won the inaugural Women's Cricket World Cup
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is a Women's one-day international cricket competition. The first tournament was held in England in 1973, two years before the first men's ICC Cricket World Cup....
, held in England in 1973.
Cricket career
Heyhoe Flint was chiefly a batsman. She played in 22 Women's Test cricketWomen'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...
matches, with 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 45.54 in 38 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...
. She scored three Test centuries, including her highest score of 179, a world record when she scored it 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...
at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1976, earning a draw to save the series by batting for more than 8½ hours. She was captain of the first England women's team to play at Lord's in the 1976 Women's Ashes series. She also hit the first six in a women's Test match in 1963, also at the Oval against Australia. After being replaced as England captain in 1978, she played her last Test match in the 1979 series against West Indies
West Indian women's cricket team
The West Indian women's cricket team is the team that represents the West Indies in international women's cricket matches.-Test history:The first Test series played by the West Indies was at home to Australia in 1975-76, when both the three day matches were drawn. In 1976-77 the same team then...
, but went on to play in the 1982 Women's Cricket World Cup.
Post-cricket career
Since retiring from cricket, Heyhoe Flint has been a cricket journalist and broadcaster, and after-dinner speaker. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1972, and was one of the first ten women admitted to the MCCMarylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 1999, as an honorary life member. In 2004, she was the first woman elected to the full committee of the MCC. Outside cricket, she played as goalkeeper
Goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, a goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal...
for the England national field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
team in 1964. She has been a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
since 1997. She has been President of the Lady Taverners since 2001. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours
New Year Honours 2008
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....
.
With Netta Rheinberg
Netta Rheinberg
Netta Rheinberg MBE played for the English women's cricket team in a single Test, but was a notable figure in the women's game as an administrator and journalist. Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, the former England captain, said of her work as an administrator, "Netta was an action girl...
, she co-authored a history of women's cricket: Fair Play - the story of women's cricket, Angus & Robertson, 1976, ISBN 978-0207956980.
In October 2010 she was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame "recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". A hall of fame, it was launched by the International Cricket Council on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers'...
, the first woman to achieve this accolade.
On 19 November 2010 it was announced that she was to be ennobled to sit in the House of Lords as a Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
peer. "I was completely taken by surprise when I took the call from the Prime Minister in September," Heyhoe Flint said. "Obviously I am really thrilled at my appointment but still very humbled at the thought of joining such an historic institution...My background in sport, journalism, charity and community work will I hope stand me in good stead, and I hope I can make a positive contribution as a working peer. I will certainly look forward to the commute from one Lord's to another Lords."
Personal life
Heyhoe Flint was educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High SchoolWolverhampton Girls' High School
Wolverhampton Girls' High School is a selective, single-sex school for girls at Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.-Overview:Wolverhampton Girls' High School, founded in 1911, educates girls from the age of 11 to 18. Its students are led by a headmistress along with a Board of Governors....
.
She is the wife of Derrick Flint (born 14th June 1924), who had a first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career in batting and fielding between 1948 and 1949. He furthermore was a first-Class career bowler (1948-1949). Heyhoe Flint has a son named Ben G Heyhoe-Flint who also played cricket, regularly for the Sir JP Getty's XI.
External links
- Player profile from CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- Biography from 2002 on her honorary doctorate from University of BradfordUniversity of BradfordThe University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
- MCC delivers first 10 maidens (BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 16 March 1999)