Betty Rebecca Wilson (21 November 1921 – 22 January 2010) was considered one of the greatest woman

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 ...

ers of all time. She represented

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 ...

Women's Test cricket Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the female equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. The rules gov ...

between 1947–48 and 1957–58. Wilson batted right-handed, and was a good

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler and a superb fielder.

Early life

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Wilson grew up in the inner neighbourhood of Collingwood and learned the game by playing against a lamp post in her street. At the age of 10, she joined the Collingwood Women's Cricket Club where she played with the adults. She made it to the

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 ...

second XI at the age of 14, and to the senior side at 16.

Cricket career

The Second World War delayed her Test appearances till 1948. On her debut 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 ...

, she scored 90 and took 4/37 and 6/28. In her second Test in 1949, she scored 111 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 ...

becoming the first Australian woman to score a Test century against England, and took nine more wickets. This made her the first woman cricketer to score a century and to take a five wicket haul in an innings of a Women's Test match. She toured England in 1951 and scored 81 in the first Test at

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. Against Yorkshire, she scored 100* in 77 minutes, leading Australia to a last ball win. After this series, she stayed in England for two and a half years. In the St. Kilda Test against England in 1957–58, she became the first cricketer, male or female, to score a 100 and to take 10 wickets in a Test. On a wet wicket, she took 7/7 in the first innings which included the first ever

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a women's Test. The feat was not repeated until

Shaiza Khan Shaiza Said Khan (born 18 March 1969) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played as a right-arm leg break bowler and right-handed batter. She and her sister, Sharmeen, are considered pioneers of women's cricket in Pakistan. She appeared in th ...

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did the same in 2004. She top scored with 12 in Australia's low first innings and a 100 in the second. Taking 4/9 in 19 overs in the second, she set another record for the best bowling of 11/16 in a match, which stood as a record till 2004. Wilson played 11 Tests in her career scoring 862 runs at 57.46 and taking 68 wickets at 11.80.

Test centuries

Honours

In 1985, Wilson became the first woman cricketer to be inducted into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame. In 1985–86, the Under-21 National Women's Cricket Championship was renamed the Betty Wilson Shield. In 1996–97, the age group was changed to Under-19. In 2015, Wilson was inducted into the

ICC Cricket Hall of Fame The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fed ...

. In 2017, Wilson was inducted into the

Australian Cricket Hall of Fame The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the Australian Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This hall of fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time, a ...

. The Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year award was inaugurated at the 2017 Allan Border Medal Ceremony, to recognise a female cricketer who, prior to 5 December 2015, was aged under 25 and had played 10 or fewer matches.

References

Notes

*''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket''

External links

*
Cricinfo : Wilson interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Betty 1921 births 2010 deaths Australia women Test cricketers Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees Cricketers from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia) Victoria cricketers Women's Test cricket hat-trick takers Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees