Netta Rheinberg

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(24 October 1911 – 18 June 2006) was an English

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 str ...

er, journalist and administrator. She appeared in one

Test match 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) ...

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 ...

in 1949, against Australia. She played domestic cricket for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. Her single Test match came on England's tour of Australia in 1948/49. She was the team's manager, and had to play in the match because of injuries to other players. She made a "pair", becoming the first woman to do so on Test debut. Rheinberg was most notable in the women's game as an administrator and journalist.

Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, ( Heyhoe; 11 June 1939 – 18 January 2017) was an English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was best known for being captain of England from 1966 to 1978, and was unbeaten in six T ...

, the former England captain, said of her work as an administrator, "Netta was an action girl. We had very few people then, and she galvanised activity, partly just by having a great personality and a sense of humour." "For a north London Jew, playing cricket for England and being one of the game’s most important administrators is about as well-trodden a career path as prime minister or bacon-buttie salesman," wrote Rob Steen shortly after her death aged 94 in 2006. "That Rheinberg happened to be a woman made her accomplishments all the more admirable." She was secretary of the

Women's Cricket Association The Women's Cricket Association (WCA) was responsible for the running of women's cricket in England between 1926 and 1998. It was formed by a group of enthusiasts following a cricket holiday in Malvern. Forty-nine games were arranged in that firs ...

in 1945 and from 1948 to 1958. She was also membership secretary and vice-chairman of

the Cricket Society The Cricket Society is a charitable organisation founded in 1945 as the Society of Cricket Statisticians at Great Scotland Yard, London. It has grown steadily to be the largest body of its kind in the cricket world. The Cricket Society now has mor ...

. She edited the magazine ''Women's Cricket'', reported on women's cricket for ''Wisden'' for more than thirty years, and wrote a regular column for

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...

. With Heyhoe-Flint as co-author, Rheinberg wrote a history of the women's game. In 1999 she was one of the first ten women to be awarded honorary membership of MCC.MCC delivers first 10 maidens
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 16 March 1999)

References

External links

* * England women Test cricketers Cricket historians and writers English cricket administrators English cricket umpires Members of the Order of the British Empire 1911 births 2006 deaths People educated at South Hampstead High School English Jews Jewish cricketers Middlesex women cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1910s-stub