Betty Snowball (1908 - 1988)
Elizabeth Alexandra Snowball was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and is best known as an English sportswoman, playing cricket, lacrosse and squash at international level. She became popularly known as Betty Snowball.
Betty's father was a keen cricketer, and at school she became a proficient wicket keeper. One of her coaches was Learie Constantine, and it was under the influence of the great West Indian player that she became a fanatical devotee of the game. She was a member of the first England women's side to tour abroad in Australia in 1934-5. Her reliable work behind the stumps earned her praise from the home press, which dubbed her the female Bert Oldfield, after the legendary Australian keeper. She stood the comparison well, and claimed 21 victims in ten test matches, including four stumpings in an innings against Australia at Sydney in 1935. She was also effective with the bat, her favourite stroke being a wristy square cut. Batting against New Zealand at Lancaster Park, Christchurch in February 1935, she set a record that was to endure for 54 years. Opening the England innings with Myrtle Maclagan (a partnership seen as the women's equivalent to Hobbs and Sutcliffe), she scored 189 runs in 222 minutes. It was New Zealand's first test match, but she and her captain, Molly Hide (who scored 110) showed no mercy in putting on 235 runs for the second wicket, another record. In total, she scored 613 runs in test matches (average 40.86). Also during this time, she represented Scotland at squash and lacrosse.
After retiring from playing, Betty came to live in Colwall ("the birthplace" of women's cricket), and taught maths and, of course, cricket at The Elms School under the Headmaster, Michael Singleton. Only just over five feet tall, and with a bright, smiling personality, Betty was fastidious about her clothes and cricket equipment. Her wicket keeping pads and gloves were made especially for her. On the field she believed that players had an obligation to assist umpires, at no stage, she believed, should emotion, still less disagreement, be shown at the decisions of overburdened officials. In her view any mistake lay with the fielding side for appealing wrongly.
Betty was present at the New Road County ground in Worcester in July 1986 when India's opener Sandya Aggarwall edged one run past her 1935 score. Ten years later the New Zealander Kirsty Flavell became the first woman to score 200. But Betty Snowball's innings remains the highest score by an England woman player. She died unmarried, at her home, Evendine House, Evendine Lane, Colwall in 1988.