Gillian Elizabeth McConway (born 8 May 1950) is a former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played as a

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...

bowler. Born in New Zealand but settled in England, she appeared in 14

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and 11

One Day Internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cu ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 1984 and 1987. She also played 12 matches for International XI at the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

. She played domestic cricket for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in New Zealand, and for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

in England.

Early life

McConway was born in

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, New Zealand. As a "tiny tot", she would watch her father, John, playing cricket in their family's backyard with other children from the neighbourhood. She would also run out, still in nappies, to have a bat. When McConway was seven years old, the family moved to

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

, and her father joined Union Cricket Club. Through him, she learned much about cricket. On one memorable occasion, when the club hosted a game against player's partners, she stood in for her mother. Despite having to wear

batting pads Pads (also called leg guards) are a type of protective equipment used in a number of sports and serve to protect the legs from the impact of a hard ball, puck, or other object of play travelling at high speed which could otherwise cause injuries t ...

that were far too big for her, she scored more than 100 runs against a team including some of

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

's greats. At 15, McConway moved to Wellington, where she played secondary school and senior representative cricket as a left arm spin bowler and right-handed batter. At 21, she relocated to Dunedin for work. There, a colleague introduced her to Bill Boock, who helped train her and his son,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, a future

Black Cap The black cap is a plain black fabric square formerly worn as symbolic headgear by English, Welsh, Irish and Northern Irish judges in criminal cases when passing a sentence of death. When worn, the square was placed on top of the judicial wig, ...

. McConway later credited Bill Boock for the "final shaping of my cricket". They played in a churchyard on a Sunday, and there he taught her "... to groove my action, and line and length."

Domestic career

In New Zealand, McConway played domestic cricket for

and later

. In February 1973, she moved to England. She was immediately selected for

, where she played the "equivalent of three seasons of cricket in one". Later, she played for

. In 1988, playing for East Anglia in the

Women's Area Championship The Women's Area Championship was a women's cricket competition organised by the Women's Cricket Association that ran from 1980 until 1996. It operated as a 55-over limited overs cricket competition, with teams organised into a number of groups, ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

at Cambridge, McConway bowled what she described that year as "the finest 11 overs I have bowled. Of 66 deliveries all but one went exactly where I intended it, and all were against batsmen of Test quality." She also took one wicket for eight runs in those 11 overs. In her final county match, for East Anglia the following year, she bowled 11 overs and took one wicket for one run.

International career

In 1982, McConway played 12 ODI matches for International XI at the

. By 1984, she was qualified to play for England through her grandparents, and because she had lived in England for at least seven years. Her Test debut for England that year was against the country of her birth. She appeared for England in 14

and 11 ODIs between 1984 and 1987. In an ODI against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1987, McConway played the unusual role for a spinner of opening the bowling, in what turned out to be England's only win that year against the touring team. However, she was not selected for the following year's World Cup in Australia. In Tests, McConway took 40 wickets at an average of 25.47. One of her most memorable performances was in the

second Test The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

against

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in December 1984. In an England victory by just five runs, she finished with seven wickets for the match. In July 1986, she achieved her best Test bowling figures, of 42-27-34-7, in the first innings of the

third Test Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. In 2019, she was belatedly presented with a cap as England's 91st Test cricketer and 35th ODI player.

Administration career

In the 1980s, McConway was manager of a leisure centre in

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. In the 1990s, she was an England team selector. Between 2000 and 2007, McConway served as the executive director of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

. In 2005, she was a member of the first

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) women's development committee, following the ICC's merger that year with the

International Women's Cricket Council The International Women's Cricket Council was formed in February 1958 by the women's cricket associations of Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa to organise international matches between the countries. In 2005 it was ...

Personal life

In England, McConway enjoyed gardening, "... and home decorating my Olde Worlde Cottage, something that you can't find in New Zealand." In 2007, she moved back to New Zealand, where she settled in Ōtaki. She took up golf, always attends Wellington cricket matches, and visits Oamaru at least once a year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McConway, Gillian 1950 births Living people International XI women One Day International cricketers England women Test cricketers England women One Day International cricketers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Wellington Blaze cricketers Otago Sparks cricketers Surrey women cricketers East Anglia women cricketers Cricketers from Whanganui