In the winter of 1984—35 a team of English cricketers, led by Betts Archdale of Kent, toured. Australia and brought comfort to our hearts by winning all three Test matches easily. This year the Englishwomen have not found things go so much their own way. Once upon a time there was a great little Australian cricketer called Macartney, who when he found things going against his side, used to stick out his chin and take the field with the intention of knocking the cover off the English bowling. When Macartney saw the Australian girls beaten by England he could not put his own glorious bat between them and defeat; but he said: "I have seen more true stroke-play from these girls than Tve seen in Inter-State cricket for years," and he gave them his invaluable support and encouragement.
In England cricket is played in every girls' school, and there are also more than one hundred clubs affiliated to the Women's Cricket A: sociation. In Australia affairs are very different, Until five years ago there was no- Women's Cricket Association at all, and before the Englshwomen toured Australia they had never heard of the lighter ball. Today. they acknowledge it to be "logical."
Their opening match proved what Jardine has always claimed for Test cricket, namely, that a side deficient in fast bowling can never hope to win, but also that if a team has to depend on medium and slow-paced bowling its captain must learn subtlety in the setting of the field, In this match both sides bowled an inordinate number of full-tosses and half-volleys on the leg-side, and the on-boundary remained woefully empty of fleldsmen
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.