Test Match Special - How England won the 1973 Women’s World Cup

Episode Date: November 2, 2025

Alison Mitchell looks back at how England won the first ever Women’s World Cup, with the tournament hosted in England. She speaks to cricket journalist and historian Raf Nicholson, plus we hear some archive interviews from England legend Rachael Heyhoe-Flint.

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Deloitte. Learn how industry leaders in the energy sector have turned complex challenges into competitive advantage. Available now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Hello, this is Alison Mitchell with a special episode of the TMS podcast. We'll be looking back at the first ever women's ODI World Cup, which took place in 1973. We'll hear an archive interview with the captain of the winning England team, the late Rachel Hayhoe Flint, who made that first World Cup happen.

And we'll speak to cricket writer and historian, Raff Nicholson. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Former England captain Rachel Hayho Flint. died in January 2017 as Lady Ho Ho Flint. She was 77 and was a pioneer trailblazer and driving force behind women's cricket in England. Long before she became an OBE and then a conservative peer, she was responsible for the first ever Women's World Cup.

I went to meet her back in 2013 to mark the 40th anniversary. And she was at the House of Lords. She invited me to Westminster to do the interview. And so we met in a dimly lit half-panelled room with a plush red carpet, and she told me the story. Well, I always actually blame it on a bottle of brandy, because... The best things often are, aren't they? Well, that's right.

I don't know if that was the right decision or not, but in 1970 I'd written to Jack Haywood, who was Wolverhampton-born, Bahamas-based businessman, who was known to help eccentric projects and things that were good to do with Great Britain and England, United Kingdom, and he's known as Union Jack and he brought SS Great Britain back from the Falkland Islands to Bristol, turned it into a maritime museum.

He was born in Wolverhampton, so I just dropped him a note and I said it was in the days before, you know, quick communication. I had to write a letter physically. Bahamas-based, that's where his successful businesses are, would he like to sponsor the England women's cricket team on a tour to the West Indies this was in 1970? 71 and damn me i couldn't believe it he actually rang me about three weeks later and said i've got your letter here um you know i'll sponsor the england women's cricket team and i thought

this is crazy because ever since i'd been captain which um happened in 1966 i just resented the fact that there was so little profile as we would call it nowadays of women playing cricket and international women's team playing and so i thought well the only way to do this is to get sponsorship but it's a sort of a vicious circle if you're not known in the media sponsors aren't interested and then well how do you get interested because you you can't have series of cricket matches without the money because we are a very amateur organisation so for sir jack he was only playing jack when i first wrote to him so look what we did for him for him to sponsor those two tours we then became great friends uh had a match down in was it hovel hastings

down in Sussex, and I was staying with his family in Sussex. After supper, Jack and I sort of thought we'd try a little bit brandy, and there we were, working our way through this wonderful bottle of high in brandy, and eventually said, you know what we ought to do, we ought to have a World Cup of Women's Cricket, have another drink, and I thought, yes, that's a great idea, but who's going to pay for it? He said, I'll sponsor it, and that really was the seed of an idea, and I said, well, you'll have to get official sanction. Next day, the last day of our match down in, I can't remember, I think it was Hastings. Wonderful memory 40 years ago.

Jack went to speak to Sylvia Swimbin, chairman of the Women's Cricket Association, said, I've got this idea, let's go for it. It'll put women's cricket on the map. So, 1973, lo and behold, it took place and it happened. So it took a fair amount of planning, but it was eventually held in England, and described the teams which took part because it drew quite heavily on the West Indies still, didn't it? Yes, in those days, we'd created a lot of interest in the West Indies

through our tour tours which Jack had sponsored. But it wasn't a West Indies team. They hadn't got together as many islands and representing the whole of the West Indies. So it was Trinidad and Tobago was the one team. Jamaica was the other team. And then we had Australia, New Zealand and then to make up the numbers we had a young England 11 and then an international

11 which was a composite of representatives from all the other teams that were taking part and it was it was done as a round robin tournament and that was the only problem or it could have been a problem but it did actually happen that the last match of the round robin series was England against Australia at edgeberston and whoever won it would win the first World Cup and afterwards you think well thank God you know thank goodness that it was the two who were in to win it who came to that otherwise it would have been a rather bore a draw wouldn't it who had two teams that had no part in the ultimate destination of the World Cup so that felt pretty much like the final I suppose it gets referred to as the World Cup final doesn't it

and was attended by Princess Anne no less yes it happened to coincide with the day that she was doing good deeds in Birmingham and we were thrilled that she came along because I I'd met her on one or two other sporting occasions like the Daily Express Sportsman, Sportswoman of the Year awards, and that was when she was very high profile in three-day eventing. And so to be able to have her their royal presence, again, it gave more credence to the event. There was a reasonable crowd, I would think, probably about 4,000 turned up, mainly our relatives. And it's, the trophy was a very handsome, because Jack sort of said, oh, well, I'll pay for the trophy. And instead of having one of these conglomerate things, you know, made from a trophy manufacturer,

he took me to the silver vaults up in the city of London. And we chose a Georgian silver chalice that was beautifully, beautifully designed. but I think it was actually something that people sold things onto the silver vaults there and I think it was for an allotment competition or something like a second-hand trophy a second-hand trophy almost but very high-quality silver I hastened to add so of course that's all flooded out and I don't actually know where it is now there's a bit of research for you to find out and I was going to ask if you knew where it was I have a feeling that it was in it was placed in lords in the museum but I honestly it's very naughty of me I should have

kept an eye on it for Sir Jack, shouldn't I really? So that trophy presumably carried right the way through until just the last, the 2009 World Cup, because that was the first that was under the auspices of the ICC. Would that be right? Yes, yes, that's right. So, yes, if we could find it, I think it ought to be used as a subsidiary trophy on the final day this time. Presented to the winners as well as the main. Yes, or it could be like the Johnner's magic moment of the whole series, couldn't it?

That would please Sir Jack actually because he's got such a great sense of humour and in fact many people used to question him why do you sponsor women's cricket and he said well I love women and I love cricket and you know I've got the best of both worlds there and in fact I think private eye referred to Sir Jack Hayward as that eccentric British millionaire

who has saved such ancient British relics as SS Great Britain Lundy Island and Rachel Hayley went to the England women's cricket team. So he's got a place in history in private eye as well. Do you remember what media coverage you got during that World Cup back then? I think leading up to the final match, it was just minimal. And it was at the stage where what we put into it, we would get out of it as far as media coverage was concerned.

And I was very conscious of the fact, because I just about moved into journalism in those days. and I knew how one should create that interest. And all the nationals covered us, the serious nationals anyway. And there were some very glowing comments in the heavies as much as anything else. We did get some television coverage, which was put out as highlights the next weekend, I think on grandstand or something like that. But not the sort of coverage that happens nowadays.

Because the Women's Cricket Association in those days was one paid official in a tiny office at which we at least or probably had it donated to us from the Sports Council in Brompton Road. So one paid official but enormous number of volunteers in all the counties that played and it was a remarkable achievement to get it off the ground. We had the opening ceremony actually on Jack's birthday on June the 14th at Chiswick on the civil service ground so that all the teams could play on the various pitches and it was. opened by the then chairman of the sports council, Roger Bannister, no less. Well, that was the late Rachel Hayho Flint telling me how the 1973 Cricket World Cup

first came into being. Well, let's bring in Raph Nicholson, cricket writer and historian. Raff, it's just wonderful to hear Rachel's voice, isn't it? And her humour really comes across there. But what vision to stage a World Cup before even the men had staged a World Cup? Yeah, absolutely. You're right. It's lovely to hear her kind of reflect. on it 40 years after the fact. And it was quite a revolutionary thing to do, actually. You know, there hadn't been a men's World Cup. And I think we have to remember as well that kind of limited overs or one-day international

cricket was still really new. So the first men's one-day international had been played in 1971. And these World Cup matches were actually the first ever one-day internationals for the women. Mostly women's cricket was kind of declaration cricket or multi-day cricket. And so actually the idea of having a World Cup and having it as a kind of limited overs competition as well, both kind of really radical ideas. But, you know, that was Rachel Haygo Flint, right?

She was a radical person and she was revolutionary. So fill in a little bit more of the picture of the World Cup. We know then the what got billed as the final, but of course it was the climax of the round robin was played at Edgebaston. What are the grounds staged matches back then? Yeah, it's a great question. and I think that the answer reflects the sort of status with which women's cricket was then held.

There were mainly kind of club grounds involved. So you're looking at places like Dean Park in Bournemouth, Trin Park Cricket Club in Hertfordshire, Ealing Cricket Club in London, Q Green was mentioned. There were a couple of first-class grounds that were used as well. So Hove, I think partly because there were strong kind of sustenance, connections and also Edgeburton for the final, but not lords, notably, because the MCC refused permission. Yes, that would come much later. What about Rachel mentioned

media coverage, some national newspapers picking it up and some TV highlights are appearing later on, but what about people actually watching in the grounds? Did many people have awareness that it was happening? Were there many there to watch? I don't think they have huge crowds. And I think that's partly a reflection of the grounds that were actually being used. But there was definitely a kind of big push for publicity. So you would have got, at that stage, women's cricket just wasn't really getting big crowds. So I think the WCA were quite pleased, sorry, the Women's Cricket Association were quite pleased with the publicity that they got. And certainly kind of Rachel Hayho Flint, who was sort of appointed official tournament press officer,

was really doing this great job of sort of pushing it out. and getting some of the newspaper correspondence to turn up to matches. So they were certainly getting more coverage than they would have otherwise had. And it did make a big splash with it being this kind of quite unique new event. So it was the sort of a little bit of that kind of newness factor, I think. But in terms of crowds, I mean, obviously the biggest one was at the final. We're talking about a few thousand people, which for women's cricket then was really exciting and impressive. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

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So they were still in what was called the collops or the divided skirt. So the idea was to kind of try and appear feminine, I suppose. They were kind of, there were stringent women's cricket association rules about how long they could be. So they were meant to be kind of knee length. And yeah, so all in white as well, of course, because we don't see coloured clothing in one day international cricket until much later. So, yeah, quite traditional uniforms and, of course, the long socks as well.

There would have been a lot less diving in the field, but if you did dive, then you had your stockings to protect you. Thank goodness for the stockings. What about where players might have been put up then? There was a team from Australia and New Zealand, the team from Toronto, the team from Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Any idea where these players would have stayed during that time? Well, it was a real kind of national effort across England with each sort of area being responsible for one of these teams.

And so it would have been a bit of a mix, but often they would have been actually billeted with kind of locals who were involved in women's cricket, whether that be players, whether that be organisers, whether that be families of players. So, yeah, it would have been. a kind of real mix of accommodation. But actually, if you look at the social calendar as well,

this is really interesting because you think, well, it's quite expensive to get teams over to England and have them here for a few weeks. So the focus will all be on the cricket. But no, it's the sort of real other era, sort of amateur era, whereby the social side is almost as important as the cricket. So they have to kind of organise,

the WCA had to organise a sort of full social calendar for all of these teams. So you read things like Australia going to Long Leat Safari Park and bumping into what they were called an inquisitive rhino a couple of days before one of their matches. Players sort of going around biscuit factories and getting free biscuits and free Christmas pudding. That was one of the teams.

I think that was New Zealand. And then there was actually the sort of big highlight socially was the champagne reception at 10 Downing Street for all of the teams. So Ted Heath was the Prime Minister then and Rachel actually presented him with a cricket bat and made a joke about the fact that because he wasn't really known for being a cricketer, but he was known for being a keen sailor. So she said, oh, you can use it as a paddle instead of for cricket. But yeah, so lots of kind of social events as well as

the cricket. Did that reception take place at the end of the tournament, or was that in and amongst the matches? I think that was actually at the start before any of the matches got underway. And of course we're talking about the amateur era. So all of these places, players very much having other jobs and having to take time off work. It's something which obviously continued for many years afterwards, but this being the very first World Cup. Give us a sense of maybe what some of those players were doing when they weren't representing their country at this new World Cup.

Yeah, sure. Interestingly, in the England team, you had a couple of women who kind of labelled themselves as housewives, one of which was Enid Bakewell, who will probably talk a bit about later, had a very successful tournament. but then you think about you're then also having to juggle child care for the duration of the tournament.

Australia is Raleigh Thompson. She was working as a fingerprint specialist in the Victoria Police. New Zealand's squad included Jocelyn Burley, who was a professional swimming coach. And one of the Trinidadians, Donna Carmino, who eventually ended up playing for the International 11. She was only 16 years old. So she was having to miss school in order to participate.

So, yeah, you've got lots of kind of these different aspects going into the actual, for the players having to make room for this tournament in their lives. Sounds like a fabulous tour to be on in terms of all those social events that were happening as well. And, of course, the idea of this International 11 being a composite of the other countries that are taking part because they're just won enough, if you like, competitors, countries who could come and partake at that time. Yeah, there's a, there's a bit of a serious side to that as well, which is that actually the International 11 was initially conceived of as a way of enabling South Africa to participate, kind of in a non-controversial way, because obviously this was an era where apartheid was kind of in full swing, and unfortunately, you know, South Africa kind of being isolated from international cricket. it. The WCA decided that one way to enable some South Africans to participate in the tournament was to have an international event and have five South Africans within that. But quite understandably, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the governments found out about this were unhappy and threatened to withdraw their teams from the competition. And so the idea of having any South Africans participate had to be abandoned. And then it became this competition. of all of the other participating teams.

So that's the sort of story behind the International 11. But actually eventually, you know, it ended up being a really interesting team. And, you know, kind of one that actually involved lots of people coming together who maybe wouldn't have otherwise encountered each other and who, you know, by all accounts came together really well and were relatively successful in the context of the tournament. Well, let's talk about the tournament itself then. Give us a flavour of some of the key performers across the course of the event.

Well, I've just mentioned Enid Bakewell, who listeners may well have come across. She's still a sort of key personality within women's cricket, isn't she? But she was the leading run scorer. So one of England's first fixtures was at Hove against the International Eleven and she scored a century there. did her opening partner of England, Lynn Thomas, that she put on this huge, this huge kind of record-breaking partnership for the first wicket at Hove. So yeah, she was, she was certainly a key performer and then went on and hit another century in the final. And then kind of

other sort of key performers, well, Rachel herself, of course, hit her, she had a half-century performance in the final. There are a couple of kind of interesting performers with the ball as well. So Glenys Page for New Zealand took six for 20 against Trinidad and Tobago and Tina McPherson for Australia took five for 14. And you're looking at kind of some of these performances actually that then these are these are records that are set and endure for many, many years at World Cups. So yes, some really interesting performances. And the format of course was not the 50 overs that we're accustomed to today? No, because

one day international cricket was then 60 overs. So the WCA decided that the simplest thing to do was to adopt that. So yes, it's interesting to think about that as being a bit longer than we're used to nowadays. Indeed. So England, Julie, topped the group with 20 points from their six matches. They had

five wins and one defeat. And the Aussies runners up, 17 points with four wins. Rachel Hayho Flint, we heard her talking about the trophy, the Sir Jack Haywood trophy. What has happened to that over the course of the year? Because we talked about it being presented up until 2009 when the ICC had taken over the running of the game, formerly in a shiny, a brand new trophy, was inaugurated then. So what did happen to the trophy? The trophy is now on display in the MCC museum.

at Lords, which I think is, you know, you could argue that it would be more appropriate for it to be at Edgefuston, but there was a lovely exhibition at Lords a few years ago on the history of women's cricket, and that original kind of chalice trophy had pride of place in that exhibition, and it is nice for it to be at the home of cricket, I think. And what then of the legacy overall of this first ever World Cup

back in 1973? Yeah, I mean, I think, A couple of things. So we heard Rachel there really nicely talking about the coverage that it got. If you read the WCA's official report on the tournament, they say the doubting Thomases can be forgotten, the ability and prowess of the international players who took part, and the respect of all who saw them in action.

And so I think that there was an increase in awareness and an increase in respect for what women cricketers were doing and what they were achieving. I think that was really important. certainly the view of the MCC changed after this tournament. I think that they were a little bit embarrassed by the fact that it was so big and so popular and that they were criticised in the media

for not hosting the final. So immediately afterwards you get the MCC president writing to the WCA and saying you've done enough to deserve a game at cricket's headquarters so three years later in 1976 they did get the first ever Women's International at Lords. So that was quite important. And then finally, I suppose, just the fact that we still have a

Women's World Cup now and then it became a kind of centrepiece of the calendar. You know, this was a big gamble. We didn't know they didn't know how it was going to turn out. They didn't know if it was going to be a success. There had never been a Cricket World Cup. But lo and behold, the men followed them two years later. And as I say, the women's Cricket World Cup became this huge centerpiece of the calendar and it shows that they were right to take this gamble

and it's really wonderful to now kind of be able to look back and go, yeah, it was a huge success. And of course, women have led the way in a number of aspects in the development of cricket, haven't they? This World Cup just being won, but there are several instances where women have in fact been the first

to take the leap to do something. Yeah, definitely. Well, I mean, I guess another one would, you know, we had the first T20 International in 2004. That's one that comes to mind. Even bowling over on. Bowling over on. Absolutely.

It's to do with those skirts again. So, yeah, what women wore to play cricket is often significant, I suppose. That's a great early example of that. And do you think the World Cup is Rachel Hayho Flint's greatest legacy? I mean, she did many things, didn't she? She was involved in Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club there. She was a board member on the ECB. You mentioned her being a peer in the House of Lords as well.

Big drive for female membership of the MCC even. Yeah, I think it probably is her biggest legacy because I think that the World Cup itself was such a big moment for women's cricket having that event and gaining that coverage and that kind of respect that they wouldn't have otherwise got. I think that it's the fact that it's kind of endured to this day as being a really important moment in the women's cricket calendar. I think it was her kind of initial hard work actually writing to Jack Hayward because there had been a suggestion of potentially having a world tournament a few years before this. I think it was actually Australia who said perhaps we should have a go at doing this.

and the WCA said, well, no, because we just can't afford it. And actually it was Rachel writing to all of these people, but obviously Jack Haywood was one of the people who responded and getting his support and then almost kind of charming him and getting him on board to make a significant financial investment allowing this event to happen. And that was what she was so good at. It was, you know, it was her kind of force of personality

that enabled this event to happen and enabled women's cricket to grow in terms of profile. So I think it is really important that we recognise that this was a big team effort by the Women's Cricket Association who were having to kind of do all this planning and it took two or three years to plan it

and to actually kind of put all the arrangements in place and do all of the admin and book all of those flights and all of those just things that we don't really think about now because they just get done for professional women cricketers but it was the WCA having to do all this

and there were other really significant figures so Sylvia Swinburne as as a kind of overall kind of head of the WCA and so it was a team effort but I think it was Rachel Hayho Flint's kind of as a safe sort of force of personality that enabled it to get off the ground

as an idea. A legacy of World Cup's built on the shoulders of a fabulous idea but the hard work of so many volunteers to make it happen and ensure then that it continued as well. Raff Nicholson, Cricket Writer and Historian, thank you for being with us on the TMS podcast. Well, that's it for this episode of the TMS podcast.

Make sure you subscribe so you get a notification every time we upload. Also, check out the rest of the Women's World Cup podcasts we've done as they're available on the TMS feed right now, as is the latest episode of No Balls with Kate Cross and Alex Hartley. And while you're on BBC Sounds, search for BBC. see stumps while you're there. Thanks for listening. Speak to you next time. Bye-bye. Welcome to the team behind the team. A new podcast series in partnership with the Open University where we'll be showcasing the people, the tools and the techniques to help athletes

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