Australia's first Test team
History Makers—Part XVIII
What follows is the latest installment in our series on the inaugural women’s Ashes tour of 1934/35. The previous installment is here.
21st December 1934
Australian captain retires
If the inaugural women’s Test had been played at Christmas 1933, Dot Debnam would have been leading her team onto the field; however, following her retirement in February, there are two candidates for the Test, which will begin on 28 December.
Debnam’s Australian XI, selected after the 1934 interstate carnival, will probably form the basis of the team. Kath Smith, the talented Queensland all-rounder and current vice-captain, is perhaps too young at 19. Margaret Pedan has a sharp cricketing brain and has captained NSW for several years. She is also an outstanding administrator who helped form The Australia Women’s Cricket Council in 1931.
The Australian selector, E. Preddy, will manage the Australian team, and D. Waldron and N. McLarty will name the team after the Queensland match. McLarty, who should be in the XI, is acting as a proxy selector for V. Hillard, who is staying in Victoria. The squad will be similar for the first two tests. However, players will have a chance to impress during the interstate carnival in early January before the team is announced for the third and final Test.
Australian XI, selected after the 1934 Cricket Carnival
D. Debnam (Capt, V)
K. Smith (Vice Capt, Q)
H. Hills (V) WK
N. McLarty (V)
P. Antonio (V)
A. Palmer (V)
F Blade (NSW)
E. Shevill (NSW)
R Monaghan (NSW)
M Hannan(NSW)
J Brewer (Q)
N Whillans (Q)
Doris Debnam (1905-1980)
Dot Debnam (Mummery) retired at twenty-nine, at the peak of her career. A brilliant cricketer, she became an outstanding administrator during and after her career. Debnam debuted for the St Peter’s Club in 1922 in a game captained by Lilla Brockelbank, who helped form the Victoria Ladies Cricket Association in 1905. She moved to and formed several clubs, playing a higher level each time, eventually captaining Clarendon. She played in 126 matches, scoring 2,711 runs at 31.16, with one century and eleven fifties. In 104 innings, she registered only three ducks. She also took 373 wickets at 4.80, with 28 five-wicket hauls and best figures of 9-5. Her finest season was in 1932, when she scored 946 runs and took 100 wickets
After she retired from the state, she played grade cricket until 1940, and served as a Victoria and Australia selector.
“A Sports Girls Prayer”: Women’s cricket and Bodyline
Following the Bodyline tour of 1932-33 and the confirmation of the England women’s Tour, there was speculation that the Australian team would resort to Bodyline bowling. Pioneer Sports reporter Pat Jarrett at the Melbourne Herald asked Debnam for her views:
“Victorian bowlers are too good at the orthodox methods to resort to packing the leg side. The girls in my team love the game too well as it has always been played, to want to see it altered in any manner that might cast a reflection on the game” (“The Start of Something,” The Maiden Summer Podcast)
Debnam published a poem, “ A Sportsgirl’s Prayer,” that reflected her views on the game:
Career records for the Victoria Women’s Premier cricketers can be found here.
Nick Richardson’s Podcast The Maiden Summer offers an in-depth tour analysis.
If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please either respond to the email in which you received it, or leave a comment below.