Myrtle Craddock was a versatile player, bowling both left arm medium pace and left arm Chinaman. She also represented Australia in 10 netball Tests. She shone in an era of standout spin bowlers.
Born on this day, 1st May 1920 in Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Myrtle made her debut for Victoria in 1945/46. Squeezing into that Victoria team was no mean feat as it boasted a near Test quality line-up of players including Betty Wilson, Una Paisley, Lorna Larter, Myrtle Edwards, Joan Schmidt.
1948 was a big year for Myrtle, making her Test cricket debut along with her Netball Test debut. She made two trips to New Zealand to accomplish both.
Myrtle was a goal attack for the Australian team and went on the first ever international tour when the team visited New Zealand in 1948. Her debut was in Dunedin which was only the second Trans-Tasman Test to be played. Myrtle also captained Australia in 1953 and in 2012 was inducted into Netball Australia’s Hall of Fame.
Returning to cricket…
At the Basin Reserve in Wellington in March 1948 Test cricket resumed after the interruption of World War Two and it was the first Test match played between New Zealand and Australia. Myrtle had a quiet match in her debut, not batting at all but taking two second innings wickets.
Myrtle played against the touring England team in 1948/49 and went on the tour to England in 1951. In all she played six Tests, taking 16 wickets at 19.62 with a best of 2-20. She played in a team with the above mentioned players, captained by Mollie Dive, an Australian team of high quality players. According to the Netball Australia website, Myrtle is the first woman to represent Australia in two sports. She passed away in 2014 aged 94.