Lynne Thomas: Wales Hockey International turned into an English cricket that made history at Wembley and Lord’s | Current news

1973. Lynne Thomas became the first woman to achieve a one -day international century for England.

Since then, 22 other women have achieved this feat, but what remained unique is that Thomas did it when the females of the crickets did not get training, were not paid for playing and had to raise funds to go to tours abroad.

Almost 52 years later, and the female cricket continues to break up obstacles. The minimum wage for home players from England is now equal to their colleagues in the male game, during the ashes, Heather Knight’s side has played on the Cricket in Melbourne, for the first time since 1949, and in 2026 Lord’s will host its first female test match.

“The woman’s game has changed extremely since I first started playing,” Thomas said, 85.

“We didn’t have a coach, we just would show up with exercise nets, we weren’t paid and we wanted to play for love for the game.

“I had to play in a team for boys, because there were no teams for girls at the time.

“I was very lucky because I was left with the salary that allowed me to go on a tour, and when I got home, I had ready money for the next trip.

“But a lot of girls had to give up their job and look for others when they returned home. They went through some really difficult times and admire them.”

In 1973, the Women’s World Cup was held – two years before the male edition – where Thomas will continue to achieve the first GODA with its 134, not on Hoveu, the highest result of the tournament.

She opened a hit with Enid Bakewell, who became the second woman 10 minutes later who reached the century for England.

However, only when Thomas’s niece, Laura, noticed an achievement in the Guinness Book of Records, realized that she had made history.

“We didn’t keep the statistics in those days, we just played the game and wanted to achieve a good result,” Thomas added.

“I was pleased when I heard about it, but we were just doing what we otherwise did – opening a hitting together.

“We didn’t have experience playing a cricket, it was our first time. There were no specialist teams, we just played our best players, whether it was an ODO or a Crickket test.”

This opening of the 246 partnership stood for 25 years until it was broken by Caroline Atkins and Sarah Taylor, who shared a position of 268 against South Africa in 2008.

“I was in the Lord when it happened and they asked us to go to the Pavilion to interview and take our photos, I didn’t understand what it was first, and then they told us that the record was demolished,” Thomas said.

“It was funny because there was no rush during our time.”

She has played 10 tests and 24 Zada ​​for England in an international career that has lasted 13 years, including two World Cups for Women.

From Wembley to the Lord

The cricket seems to come naturally to Thomas, but before that it is a real history like Wales Hockey International.

In 1961, she played her first game for Wales, and two years later she played against England at Wembley, where her team won 1-0. It is the first time England has lost on Wembley and have not been able to score for the first time.

But only when Thomas was 83 years old will she get a cap in 2023 that she was finally recognized for her achievement, despite her hockey career that ranged from 1961 to 1979.

Thomas is the only player, male or female, who won international matches at the two most respected stadiums: Wembley and Lord’s.

Thomas’s father tempted her to change her sports career after suggesting giving up on the cricket because there was too much of a trip.

“I told him to renounce the cricket, and he said, ‘Can’t you give him another year? “, Thomas added.

“He said it was a shame because he thought I was a better cricket than a hockey player who really shaken me. I thought he didn’t think much about my hockey, even though I played international level.

“I played that extra year and then I was elected trial in England.”

Female cricket still faces challenges

The woman’s game has moved far from when she first started, and Thomas’s stories testify to this progress, but they continue to face the challenges.

An example of this in a hundred, where wages were raised for the competition season at 2025, but although the total pot increased by 25 percent, the bay between the potential of earnings of leading men and women also increased.

In men’s competition, the highest level players will notice a salary increase by £ 200,000, compared to an increase of 30 percent to £ 65,000 for a leading female star as part of a total increase of 25 percent in all wages.

The report on the impact on the cricket for women, published on the eve of International Women’s Day, March 8, said: “The professional crisis association is worried that the difference between men’s and women’s best wages has increased, this cannot be allowed to continue.

“Given that the tournament is placed equally among the male and women’s teams with two teams, one club mantra, which needs to be applauded, it is more than disappointing to see the gap in gender salaries increases.

“With the influx of money to the tournament through private investment in teams, the stakeholders in the game should do everything possible to close that gap, especially given the increased interest, viewership and sell tickets for hundreds of women’s matches.”

The English captain Heather Knight, greeted positive moves such as leveling international matches between men and women, aligned with minimal salary in the home cry and a new district of the One, repeated the point.

In the preface to the document, she wrote: “It is an honor to me that I was part of the greatest transformation that the women’s cricket saw, and the players were immensely grateful to the PCA for provoking on our behalf and what they were in the negotiations.

“Ultimately, this happened because of the cooperation between PCA -ei ECB -Ai I privileged to support with that. However, it is necessary that progress continues because it still takes a lot of compensation, because we are because we have too we have
Recently, one can see with inequality in a hundred salary, while we want to provide a fair game in England and Wales. “

International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8, and this year the topic is ‘accelerating the action’.