Myrtle Baylis (1 May 1920 – 23 September 2014), also known as Myrtle Craddock, was an Australia women's Test cricketer and an Australia netball international. In 1948 she made her debut for both national teams, just five months apart. Between 1948 and 1951 she played in six cricket tests for the

Australia women's national cricket team The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all wor ...

. Between 1948 and 1954 she made three appearances for the Australia national netball team. In 1953 she also captained the Australia netball team. According to

Netball Victoria Netball Victoria is the governing body for netball in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organising and managing the elite level team, Melbourne Vixens, who compete in the Suncorp Super Netball. It i ...

, she was the first woman to represent Australia in two sports.

Early life

Baylis was the daughter of Johnny Craddock, who during the late 1910s and 1920s played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

for

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

. His "bulldog tenacity" was said to have inspired the club nickname. Myrtle was raised in Sunshine, Melbourne and was still a resident of the suburb when she died in 2014.

Playing career

Cricket

;Victoria Baylis made her debut for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

during the 1945–46 season. ;Australia Between 1948 and 1951, Baylis played in six cricket tests for

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 ...

. She made her Test debut on 20 March 1948 against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

during the 1947–48 tour. She was the 30th Australian woman Test cricketer to be capped. Baylis was described by ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' as a bowler of "unwavering patience and accuracy". She made her last test appearance on 3 June 1951 against

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 ...

Netball

;Victoria Baylis represented

between 1937 and 1954. She later recalled cycling from her home in

Sunshine Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...

to Royal Park for training each Sunday. In 2000, together with

Sharelle McMahon Sharelle Jane McMahon (born 12 August 1977) is an Australian former netball player who captained the Australia national netball team. She played in the goal attack and goal shooter positions. Domestic career Born in Bamawm, Victoria, McMahon ...

Wilma Shakespear Wilma Joyce Shakespear (born 4 March 1943), previously known as Wilma Ritchie, is a former Australia netball international, Australia head coach and sports administrator. As a player, she represented Australia at the 1963 World Netball Cham ...

, Joyce Brown,

Shelley O'Donnell Shelley O'Donnell is a former Australia netball international. Between 1990 and 1999, O'Donnell made 84 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 World Netball Ch ...

and

Simone McKinnis Simone McKinnis is a former Australia netball international and the current head coach of Melbourne Vixens in Suncorp Super Netball. As a player she was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 1991 and 1995 World Netball C ...

, Baylis was named in

's Team of the Century. ;Australia Between 1948 and 1954, Baylis made three appearances for

. She made her senior debut on 14 August 1948 in a 27–16 win against

Forbury Park Forbury Park Raceway was a horseracing venue in the New Zealand city of Dunedin until its closure in 2021. It was located close to the Pacific Ocean coast in the suburb of Saint Kilda. The raceway was initially developed in 1870 on an area of ...

. This was just the second-ever netball international between Australia and New Zealand. It was also part of Australia's first-ever international tour. In 1953 she also captained Australia. In 2012, Baylis was inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baylis, Myrtle 1920 births 2014 deaths Australia women Test cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Australian netball players Australia international netball players Netball players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) People from Sunshine, Victoria