History of women's cricket

[3] A match, on 13 July 1747, held at the Artillery Ground between a team from Charlton and another from Westdean and Chilgrove in Sussex spilled over into the following day after it was interrupted by crowd trouble.

Other matches, often held in front of large crowds with heavy betting on the side, pitted single women against their married counterparts.

In 1890, a team known as the Original English Lady Cricketers, toured England, playing in exhibition matches to large crowds.

The founding mother of women's cricket in Australia was the young Tasmanian, Lily Poulett-Harris, who captained the Oyster Cove team in the league she created in 1894.

Test cricket has now been played by Australia, England, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Betty Wilson was the first player, male or female, to record a century and ten wickets in a Test match, against England at the MCG in 1958.

Another phenomenal club performance saw right-hander Jan Molyneaux make a record 298 for Olympic v Northcote in Melbourne's A grade final in 1967.

The first Women's Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1973, funded in part by businessman Jack Hayward, and won by the hosts at Lords in front of Princess Anne.

Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies while Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and International XIs have played in World Cups.

Female wicket keepers were the first to record 6 dismissals in a one-day international, New Zealand's Sarah Illingworth and India's Venkatacher Kalpana both accounting for 6 batsman on the same day in the 1993 World Cup and Belinda Clark, the former Australian captain, is the only female player to have scored a double hundred in an ODI, recording an unbeaten 229 in the 1997 World Cup against Denmark.

Pakistan's Sajjida Shah is the youngest player to appear in international cricket, playing against Ireland four months after her 12th birthday.

She also holds the record for the best bowling figures in a one-day international, taking 7 wickets for just 4 runs against Japan Women at the Sportpark Drieburg in Amsterdam in 2003.

In 2009 England batsman Claire Taylor was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year [5][dead link‍], the first woman to be honoured with the award in its 120-year history.