A MUCH-LOVED cricketer who campaigned for equal opportunities for women in the sport will be remembered with the launch of a new scholarship to enable talented young girls to attend Malvern College.
The family of Rachael Heyhoe Flint has set up the annual award to enable a promising girl cricketer to attend the college from the age of 13.
The first award, worth several thousand pounds, will be made in September 2019.
By 2023 there will be one cricket scholar in each year at Malvern College where girls’ cricket is expanding rapidly, thanks to specialist coaching on its performance pathway.
Rachael’s 44-year-old son Ben, who attended Malvern College in 1987, said: “Mum would have been thrilled these awards are being set up in her name.
“None of my friends from nearby girls’ schools played cricket, so it’s fantastic to see Malvern College now has increasing numbers of girls taking up the game and enjoying the great facilities there.
“These scholarships will help talented girls to attend the college who might not have had the financial resources otherwise.
“I think mum would love to see one or two of Malvern’s new girl cricket scholars eventually winning a place in the England side.”
Rachael, who died in January last year aged 77 after a short battle with cancer, trained as a PE teacher before captaining England from 1966 to 1978.
In 1999 after years of campaigning for equal opportunities for women cricketers she became one of the first ten female members admitted to the MCC.
She became an influential businesswoman, philanthropist and director of Wolves as well as being a member of the Malvern College Council for nearly ten years.
Ben added: “My fondest memory of mum’s career was when she was among the first ten Honorary Life Members elected to the MCC.
“Earlier she’d lobbed a hand grenade into the male establishment by putting in an application form as R Flint – omitting the Mrs.
“They realised too late. We were sitting in the Lord’s Tavern as they didn’t let her into the meeting.
“When the news broke some of the media rushed out to tell her the vote to allow women to join the MCC had been passed.
“She leapt over the fence like a 20-year-old and ran to the Grace Gate where the film crews descended on her.”
Sarah Angus, senior deputy head at Malvern College, added: “Girls’ cricket at Malvern College has developed rapidly.
“It has had a momentum which has been driven by the girls’ enthusiasm for the sport and this has been fuelled by the progress they have made.
“The girls are being coached by experts and train alongside the boys in a school which has an outstanding reputation for cricket.
“We are delighted at the prospect of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Scholarship which will support the development of girls’ cricket at Malvern College.”
