The First World Cup - from a New Zealand perspective
This article was first published on the New Zealand Cricket Museum website at nzcricketmuseum.com . We thank them for allowing us to reproduce it here. In sporting circles, Sir Jack Hayward is most commonly associated with English football and the Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, in 1971, together with the English women’s cricket captain, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, he came up with an idea which would completely change international cricket. After dinner and, as Heyhoe Flint puts it, “with brandy glass in hand” the pair were discussing ways to increase the profile of women in cricket. Hayward was already known as a ardent supporter having financed two tours by the English women’s side, and the idea of a World Cup seemed natural to him, as did providing much of the financial support required. The pair agreed that, while the concept was a winner in their eyes – and beating the men to the punch would be fantastic, they needed to channel it through the Women’s Cricket Association. H