The 1937 Australians
by Ankit Verma
22 May 1937.
Down the Rabbit hole, lost in Netherlands. They were Alice Wegemund and Nell McLarty, last to arrive on the field in Nijmegen
What exactly happened?
The Australian women were on their first overseas cricket tour to England in 1937. The players were accommodated in different places, including Alice and Nell.
On 22 May, they were supposed to reach Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands located near the German border. They were there for a tour match with the local team.
It was morning. Caught in a traffic jam, Alice and Nell missed their train in London.
They thought they would take a different route and still reach the venue on time, so they boarded a boat to Rotterdam. In Rotterdam, they hired a Taxi Driver to take them to the Railway Station. He spoke little English and the Australian cricketers spoke no Dutch. As a result they were driven to board a wrong train.
The agony kept piling on. They asked their co-passengers for the train to Nijmegen but the language barrier meant they boarded another wrong one.
They arrived at Nijmegen at 2 p.m. after changing three Dutch trains.
They had not eaten since the previous day when they reached the ground. Their captain Margaret Peden had arrived at the venue in the local way, on a bicycle.
On a matting wicket with no fast bowlers, the Dutch team struggled to contain the Australians. The tourists declared on 195 for 6. Peggy Antonio top-scored with 42.
The highlight was Nell McLarty down the order. Tired jumping from train to train, she hit a quick 24 to push for declaration. In the Dutch first innings, she captured a wicket as well. With Smith, Summers and Clements bagging the scalps, they skittled the hosts for just 20 in 55 minutes. Alice Wegemund all this while was sharp behind the stumps, barely letting anything past her. In the second knock, Netherlands were 43 for 7 when time ran out.
The Australians were also touched by the Dutch hospitality. The following day they played another friendly game before going down to Amsterdam for lunch. No one got lost this time.
The first leg of the first overseas tour of the Australian ladies started on this adventurous note.