Pavilion, Madam? Sorry...

Women's Test breaks final Lord's barrier

My dear friend and TalkSport co-host, Steve Harmison, recalls having to leave the pavilion to speak to his wife when first selected for England at Lord’s in the summer of 2000. Steve and Hayley married young and the first of four children, Emily, was just a baby. Steve was gobsmacked and embarrassed that Hayley had been denied entry.

Say what you like about the prejudices of northern England but the subjugation of young mothers was not amongst them, not in the Harmison household anyway. As far as a naieve Harmy was concerned, having seen dominant Mums, Aunts and Granmas shooing their men out of Working Men’s Clubs at dinner time for much of his life, it was a posh, southern affectation.

The MCC members had, in fact, finally voted to allow women into the pavilion in 1999, well over a century into the club’s existence, but old habits die hard amongst the crusty and their gardians so Hayley was required to stand outside while her husband was summoned. The memory still makes him prickle.

It was so much worse in the century before that. Rachel Heyhoe-Flint fought a heroic battle to have women’s cricket recognised culminating in the first ODI (above) against Australia in 1976. But they were not permitted to enter, never mind use the pavilion. She had, of course, been the driving force behind the establishment of the first ever World Cup, staged in 1973, but obviously not at Lord’s.

50 summers after that first game, the first Women’s Test is about to be staged at the iconic venue with England hosting India. As with almost all Women’s Tests after the first in 1934 – a three-match series between England and Australia – it will be a one-off fixture.

There is no first-class structure in the Women’s game anywhere in the world which makes the demands of playing over four days especially challenging. It’s like asking 5000-metre runners to have a crack at the marathon. Both teams have just completed the T20 World Cup which is more of a 1500-metre race. It’s a stiff task but all the more intriguing for it.

The pursuit of equality in other sports is simpler than it is in cricket. For all society’s advances, women are still the majority of the world’s home-makers so it requires exceptional circumstances for them to train and play a sport as demanding as cricket much beyond their early 30s. Current England captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, has been able to continue only because her wife, Katherine, retired from the game to have their son, Theo, and take care of him while Nat continues her playing career.

Test cricket belongs as much to women as it does to men but, practically, it cannot be played as frequently. The Women’s game has identified T20 as their golden egg with ODIs a distant second. So, does that mean Tests are a curious, irrelevant oddity? Quite the opposite. They are cherished by the players for their rarity and should be equally appreciated by followers. Close to 40,000 tickets have been sold so far for the Lord’s Test with almost half of them on the second day, Saturday. MCC members don’t need to buy tickets for their cherished pavilion seats. There is considerable interest in how populated the old building will be over the next four days.

Apart from the physical challenge of playing Test cricket so rarely – and temperatures are forecast to be in the mid 30s for all four days – there are the technical and tactical changes to consider. Four overs of T20 variety aren’t going to cut it for the bowlers who may be required to deliver as many overs over four days as they did over four weeks in the World Cup. Top order batters will have to learn restraint on the job or risk being dismissed for 160 before tea. Intriguing.

The painfully slow and gradual progression of women’s sport towards parity with the men’s game has been a part of my life. I was always fascinated by the stories of women forced to disguise themselves as men in order to run marathons when women were banned – for ‘reasons of physicality and wellbeing.’ So, I’ve never understood why women are still playing three-sets of tennis instead of five, especially at the Majors where the prize money is the same. Just seems odd.

After 380-something men’s Test matches, the Women’s Test at Lord’s will be my debut all over again. I’m excited and even strangely nervous. If you’re outside the UK you can listen in on the TalkSPORT Cricket YouTube channel. Just log on and subscribe – it’s free!