Getting to know the "friendly and informal" English team
History Makers—Part XIII
What follows is the latest installment in our series on the inaugural women’s Ashes tour of 1934/35. The previous installment is here.
Australian sports journalist Pat Jarrett has joined the touring England team on their voyage from Fremantle to Melbourne on board the SS Balranald. An accomplished sportswoman herself, Jarrett is a familiar name in Australian women’s sport, thanks to her extensive work as a journalist. Her weekly page in the Melbourne Herald covers not only cricket but also swimming, rowing, and track and field sports, providing opinion pieces on a wide range of issues and reporting on games and events. She travelled to the English team’s first game in Perth overland, but her return journey by sea alongside the English touring party has allowed her to get to know the visitors a little better.
At the beginning of the tour it was announced that only tour manager Betty Green and captain Betty Archdale would be giving interviews to the press, not for reasons of subterfuge or gatekeeping, but so that the rest of the touring party is “not troubled” for comments. Jarrett has honoured this arrangement in her latest piece for the Sporting Globe (1 December), while still painting an engaging picture of the team beyond their cricketing abilities. She writes that the squad, some of whom had not even met each other when the side was first announced, became “great friends” on their long voyage from England to Australia. It appears that the shorter journey from Western Australia to Victoria has allowed Jarrett to develop her rapport with the group. She regales her readers with tales of Betty Green’s gift for impersonation and Betty Snowball’s fondness for highland dancing and recitals of “The Lion and Albert”—“in which her Lancashire dialect is perfect.”
Despite the number of formal receptions planned for the team whilst in Australia and New Zealand, Jarrrett notes that there is an “informal” atmosphere that allows the cricketers to socialise freely and does not require them to adhere, for example, to a rigid diet. Swimming and diving are particularly popular pastimes. Jarrett also addresses curiosity about the players’ appearances and tastes in fashion, commenting on their “distinctly charming” formal wear—the colour green is most favoured—and a universal shunning of rouge and lipstick. All have a tanned appearance, “contrary to the general idea of the English complexion.”
Since arriving on Australian shores, the team has developed a fondness for collecting souvenirs, with koala toys being particularly popular. Despite the intention of “travelling lightly,” it is anticipated that before the tour is over, extra trunks will need to be purchased to transport all the souvenirs back to England.
After a brief stopover in Adelaide, the SS Balranald continues to Melbourne, where the next game, against Victoria, will begin on 7 December.
Pat Jarrett’s article can be read in full here. Trove has an extensive collection of photographs taken during the tour.
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