The Women's Cricket Association (WCA) was responsible for the running of

women's cricket Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...

in England between 1926 and 1998. It was founded by a group of enthusiasts following a cricket holiday in Malvern. Forty-nine games were arranged in that first season, and the popular cricket festival at Stowe Lane,

Colwall Colwall is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB. Areas of ...

, which is still held today, was launched. By the following season there were ten affiliated clubs, by 1934 there were eighty, and by 1938 the number had reached 123. At its peak there were 208 affiliated clubs and 94 school and junior teams. By 1931 the first county associations had been formed, and Durham played a combined Cheshire and Lancashire XI. Four years later the country was divided into five regional associations or 'Territories': East, Midlands, North, South and West. High interest in forming women's clubs was seen in the late 1940s and the 1950s. In 1970, the regional organisations were reformed into Area Associations, which covered smaller areas of the country. The WCA administered 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, ...

(1980–1996), the Women's Territorial Tournament (1988–1994) and the first Women's County Championship season, in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. In 1998, the WCA handed over the running of women's cricket in England to the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka 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 ...

(ECB) and disbanded.

External links

History of women's cricketECB women's cricket pages

References

History of women's cricket Cricket organizations Women's cricket in England Cricket administration in England Sports organizations established in 1926 1926 establishments in England Sports organizations disestablished in 1998 Women's organisations based in England 1998 disestablishments in England {{cricket-org-stub

See also

External links

References