D Trelford: Lord's Should Open Doors To Ladies (22 Oct 1996)

THE most cheering sports news for me in the past week - apart, that is, from Coventry`s valiant point at Highbury - was the broad hint from the MCC`s new president, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, that what he calls "the delicate question of

22-Oct-1996

22 October 1996

Lord`s Should Open Doors To Ladies

By Donald Trelford on Tuesday

He raises the hope that this time the MCC committee will come off the fence and support the idea. "It is time this matter was reintroduced," he says in the autumn newsletter, "and we must not be frightened of the opposite sex who are keen cricketers and lovers of the game. It may be that a modern approach might be in the best interests of the club."

He is surely right about this. Friends of mine at Lord`s have been battling for years, with some success I should add, to rid the MCC of their archaic reputation and they become incensed whenever I suggest that remnants of the old attitudes remain. I can think of no better way of demonstrating that the mental cobwebs have been finally swept away than recommending the admission of women as members.

As readers know (not all approvingly), I have campaigned strongly on this issue. When I wrote in July, I received a warm reply from Charles Robins, the former Middlesex all-rounder and son of RWV, the late England captain.

Robins chairs the key MCC committee on membership, so his comments were a significant sign of a change in the wind. "If you have any doubts of my seriousness on this matter," he wrote, "I would mention the case of my late sister, Pennie.

"Not only was she brought up in a total cricketing environment and shared the tension of my father`s excitable behaviour during the run-in for the championship in 1947 (he was always up at dawn for the shipping forecasts around the country, so important tactically in the days of uncovered wickets), but she had to help put up the net in the garden and do most of the fielding during my formative years.

"On leaving school she worked for two years under Diana Rait- Kerr at Lord`s, and then for a further period as Jim Swanton`s secretary when the sage of Longparish [John Woodcock], and now trustee of the MCC, was merely the office boy.

"Finally, when her husband, Brigadier Came, who opened the bowling for Berkshire and the Army, was defence attache in Islamabad, they obtained all the "pop" for the team and media during Mike Brearley`s tour there in 1977-78. That achievement alone in a `dry` country entitled her to some recognition."

He concludes encouragingly: "Satisfying the diverse views of over 17,000 members is going to be impossible, but the way the world is moving, access to the club for anyone with the qualifying devotion to cricket in my opinion must be inevitable."

And no one can deny that that includes women. As we all know, WG Grace`s mother bowled to him in the nets. I seem to recall Ted Dexter telling me that the future Lady Havers used to bowl to him in the garden. Harry Makepeace, of Lancashire, who played for England at cricket and football, bowled to my motherin-law, who passed on the tips to her son.

This, surely, is the way to convince the die-hards, rather than rely on their questionable support for issues like justice and fair play. Think of women like Pennie Robins, Diana Rait-Kerr, Rachael Heyhoe Flint and countless others down the years who have shown their "qualifying devotion to cricket" - and change this insulting rule in their honour.

Dick Richards, the club`s egregious secretary, should be forced to drink the water in the ladies` changing room himself. Or better still, perhaps he should henceforth be known by his first name only.

BURHILL, the most reviled golf club in Britain for banning a mother and her adopted son from a family competition, have even more to answer for.

A lady member of 30 years` standing had an operation to replace both knee joints and applied, quite reasonably, for permission to use a buggy during her recuperation. This was only in the summer months, as she played in Florida over the winter.

The secretary, Dick Richards, refused, even though another member had been allowed to use a buggy. The person who sent me this story (not the lady in question) adds that the club`s management is "Victorian, archaic and without any feeling for human beings. Nobody complains because they are afraid of being picked on."

It was recently discovered that the water in the ladies` changing room was not drinkable. Instead of improving it, however, the club told the women that if they wanted a drink of water they would have to go to the men`s bar - which is 50 yards away and from which they are excluded at certain times of day.

Richards, the club`s egregious secretary, should be forced to drink the water in the ladies` changing room himself. Or better still, perhaps he should henceforth be known by his first name only.

AS I forecast last week, the trustees of the National Playing Fields Association have expressed "deep dismay" at the Sports Council`s new role as sole protector of playing fields, excluding their previous partners, the NPFA and the Central Council of Physical Recreation.

Elsa Davies, director, says bluntly: "The proposed approach is wrong. Don Earley, the deputy director, says the Sports Council`s approach "will prove unworkable".

The battle goes on. The NPFA are seeking urgent talks with the council chairman, Sir Rodney Walker, and next month they will tackle Sports Minister Iain Sproat. Both should listen carefully.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)