Association of Cricket Officials Issue 32 | Page 6

Tales of a New Recruit
History in the Making – Women’s Cricket Takes on Lord’s
Tuesday 24 April 2018 was another historic day for women’s cricket as
Middlesex Women played their first-ever match at Lord’s. Lizzy Conder
explains her route into officiating and what it was like to walk out at The Home
of Cricket on such a momentous occasion.
Cricket has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Growing up, every family gathering was a reason for a scratch
cricket game, with my favourite moments being uncle, caught
Lizzy, bowled Vicky (my sister). I was the only girl at my
secondary school in North Dorset who played cricket and they
were determined to keep me as part of the team. My teacher
Mr Norman Damerell taught me how to score and, enthusiasm
undimmed, I happily spent summer afternoons scoring all the
senior games, a skill that would prove useful summer after
summer.
Heading off to university, I was delighted to find that St.
Andrews had a women’s team playing regularly whatever the
weather. Our away games were mini tours as the other teams
in our division of BUSA (now BUCS) were York, Durham and
Newcastle. One of my proudest cricket achievements was
receiving university colours and being appointed vice-captain of
the university’s team with Sarah Root as captain. Returning to
southern England in 2000, I enjoyed playing with New Forest,
Overton and lastly with Hampstead Women’s teams. It has been
fantastic to see the opportunities and the standards of women’s
cricket improve substantially over the last 20 years.
Having missed too many practices due to a demanding career
combined with training