Women playing cricket

The open spaces in Portsmouth have always been used for recreation and informal sporting events. In what was probably an unusual event, an unnamed diarist records that on 17 May 1813 a cricket match took place in Milton between 22 women. There was a prize fund of £5 and many thousands turned out to watch. The two teams wore white with orange and blue ribbons respectively. As the diarist notes, ‘the Orange beat’.