Winning it in front of a Royal
Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, England's captain from the inaugural World Cup, shares her enduring memories from tournament
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Rachael Heyhoe-Flint
My recollections of the first World Cup in 1973, which was sponsored by businessman Jack Hayward, are rather hazy; memories of 35 years ago are difficult to recapture. But I can recall that the inaugural tournament created huge public awareness of the very existence of women's cricket. That was a great bonus because even though the first recorded writings about women's cricket were in 1745, the general public in the UK were still very ignorant about us.
A known keen sailor, Heyhoe-Flint produced much laughter when she presented Heath with a cricket bat signed by all the players and said he might find it useful as a paddle if there was no wind when he was sailing.
Interview by Nishi Narayanan