| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eileen Ash (nee Whelan) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 October 1911 Highbury, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 18) | 12 June 1937 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 29 March 1949 v New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 25 November 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eileen Ash (née Whelan; born 30 October 1911) is a former English cricketer who played seven Test matches for England between 1937 and 1949. She is the oldest living international cricketer. [1]
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each player. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When ten players have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.
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 governing the format differ little from those for the men's game, with differences generally being technicalities surrounding umpiring and field size. Far fewer women's Test matches are played each year than women's One Day Internationals, with the international calendar revolving around the shorter format of the game. The first women's Test match was played by England women and Australia women in December 1934, a three-day contest held in Brisbane which England won by nine wickets.
The England women's cricket team represents England in international women's cricket. The team is administrated by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB); they played their first Tests in 1934–35, when they beat Australia 2–0 in a three-Test series. Their current captain is Heather Knight, and their current coach is Mark Robinson. There is also an England Women's Academy team, consisting of players just below the full England squad.
Whelan played Test cricket both before and after the Second World War, making her debut against Australia at Northampton in June 1937 and playing her last game against New Zealand in Auckland in March 1949. A specialist bowler, she took 10 Test wickets at 23 runs apiece. Whelan also played representative cricket for the Civil Service, Middlesex and South of England. [2]
The Australian women's national cricket team represent Australia in international women's cricket. They were nicknamed Southern Stars, but in 2017 this name was dropped and are now known only as the Australian women's cricket team in an attempt to promote gender equality with the men, who have no nickname for their team.
The New Zealand women's national cricket team, nicknamed the White Ferns, represents New Zealand in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship, the team is organised by New Zealand Cricket, a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The Middlesex Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Middlesex. They play in Division One of the Women's County Championship.
Outside of playing cricket, Ash was employed by the Civil Service from the age of 18. She was seconded to MI6 during World War II, and went on to work with the organisation for eleven years. Ash and her husband eventually retired to Norwich. She took up golf in later life, only quitting at the age of 98. [3]
Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as Her Majesty's Civil Service or the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government, which is composed of a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.
Norwich is a historic city in Norfolk, England. Situated on the River Wensum in East Anglia, it lies approximately 100 miles (161 km) north-east of London. It is the county town of Norfolk and is considered the capital of East Anglia, with a population of 141,300. From the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important.
In 2011, Ash became the first female test cricketer to live to 100 years old. She was made an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club to mark the occasion. [3] Writing for the BBC in February 2017, Heather Knight, England's captain, said,
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's cricket ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and Wales and, as the sport's legislator, held considerable global influence.
Heather Clare Knight is an English cricketer who is captain of the England women's cricket team. She is a right-handed batsman and right arm off break bowler.
"I had the absolute privilege of meeting Eileen Ash, the oldest living Test cricketer (male or female) for some filming before I left for Australia, and she is easily one of the most extraordinary ladies I've ever met. She's 105, does yoga every week and I've met teenagers who have a lot less energy than she does! It was amazing to hear some of her experiences of playing cricket for England, especially the boat trips they used to have to take to play in Australia, and she also took me through her yoga routine. My pride, and a number of my muscle groups, are still in tatters after being put to shame by a 105-year-old." [4]
In July 2017, aged 105, Ash rang the bell at Lord's to signal the start of play at the 2017 Women's World Cup Final, which England won. [5] She passed her driving test at the age of 105, a feat covered on the ITV reality show 100-Year-Old Driving School. [6] To mark her 106th birthday, she was taken for a flight in a Tiger Moth. [6] In November 2018, she opened a sports hall named in her honour at The Hewett Academy in Norwich.
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known simply as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the European Cricket Council (ECC) and, until August 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC). Lord's is widely referred to as the Home of Cricket and is home to the world's oldest sporting museum.
The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England. The 2017 World Cup was the first in which all participating players were fully professional. Eight teams qualified to participate in the tournament. England won the final against India at Lord's on 23 July by 9 runs.
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and many other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. In addition to the type's principal use for ab-initio training, the Second World War saw RAF Tiger Moths operating in other capacities, including maritime surveillance and defensive anti-invasion preparations; some aircraft were even outfitted to function as armed light bombers.
