Women's cricket was initially considered a joke. This had changed by 1936, when the first class women players were thought to be 'reasonable' at batting. Len Hall noted in The Post, 1936 that "their fielding may not be too good; but bless me, I have seen a jolly sight worse, particularly among our Postal teams."

Tess Stacey was one of these first class women cricketers, a left hander who was a Civil Service representative player. When she first joined the Post Office, she supported the men's cricket team and took on the role of scorer.

Tess had made her cricketing debut in the annual charity match for Twickenham Cricket Club, where she was one of 15 ladies chosen to play. Tess was an SC & T, a sorting clerk and telegraphist, and was spotted playing for Twickenham by Marjorie Pollard, a leading light of female cricketers at the time. This led to Tess - as a postal worker and civil servant - playing for the Ministry of Labour (Kew) Women's Cricket Club.

She earned a place in the first team, qualifying for Civil Service 'colours', and was at this time the only Postal worker so honoured - male or female. Tess played in matches against the county teams of Lancashire, Middlesex, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Kent.

Illustration

Women's Cricket Team