Break a leg

Cricinfo asked former and current women players for their lasting memories from each of the eight World Cups so far. Gill McConway, the former England director of women's cricket, looks back at the third edition.

1982, New Zealand
Gill McConway

I am struggling to remember stories from 27 years back, really.

An interesting feature of the 1982 World Cup was that Dickie Bird had been invited to umpire throughout the tournament.

It was so windy we had to play without bails, because even the heavy ones wouldn't stay on. Dickie's first game was a warm-up, which a lot of people had come to watch. There were lots of them pointing and saying, "That's the famous England umpire."

And then one of the big Australian girls from our International XI, Rhonda Kendall, hammered the ball to the square-leg area. She hit it so hard that Dickie, probably still jet-lagged, just dropped to the ground as it smashed into his leg. I really felt for him.

I noticed he stood a lot further back after that!