About Gunns

To start with, a little bit of history around women's cricket...

Women have been playing cricket during adulthood since the mid-eighteenth century, taking many different forms throughout its history, depending on who was playing and why the game was organised. The oldest form of cricket was village cricket. The first recorded instance of a women’s cricket match appears to have been an inter-village game played on 26th July 1745.

During the 19th century, a paternalistic society gave out dire warnings about the participation of women in physical activity such as sport, producing conspiracy theories such as leading to the inability to have children! This was as much part of a push back against the growing movement for the emancipation of women, and the development of women’s cricket lost some of its momentum.

That changed in the early 20th century, once women were allowed to vote and, during the years between the two World Wars, interest was renewed.

The founding of Gunnersbury WCC

Gunnersbury WCC was founded on 14th May 1925, almost 100 years ago, a year before the national Women's Cricket Association was formed in 1926 (the WCA was eventually integrated with the ECB in 1998). Gunns first played at a school in Gunnersbury Lane, and continued to play in the area until World War II.

Then, and until 1955, the Gunns were based at Headstone Lane in North Pinner. Gunnersbury WCC then started to use a ground at Boston Manor, Brentford. The final move as a women-only club was to Argyle Road, Ealing, in 1972, tenants of Ealing Technical College, now part of Thames Valley University.

Achievements

2024 - Gunnersbury WCC first XI won the ECB National T20 Cup Competition for the third time, won the WCSL Premier league, and the second XI finished top of the Middlesex Sheila Hill league.

2022 - Gunnersbury WCC first XI won the ECB National T20 Cup Competition, won the WCSL Premier league, and the second XI came 4th in the Middlesex Esme Irwin league.

Gunnersbury have won the National Club Knockout competition five times – in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 2000.

In 2001 we won the South Premier Division, and went on to win the National League Title.

Past members of the club include the cricketer, administrator and journalist Netta Rheinberg, and D M Turner and M I Taylor who played in the first England Women’s tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1934-1935.

As 'Finchley Gunns' (see below) we won the WCSL Premier league 4 times - 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018 - and have been National league champions twice. We also won the Inaugural National T20 knockout cup in 2018.

Development

Gunnersbury introduced a second XI for the first time in 2003. Since then the club has gone from strength to strength with both the 1st and 2nd XIs winning promotion in 2006 and successfully building on that in 2007.

From 2017 to 2019, we also put out a 3rd (development) team, called the Roses, which twice won the Middlesex Women's Club Cricket award.

Gunnersbury has a strong policy of encouraging junior players to enjoy their cricket and realise their potential in the game. The current membership includes members of performance squads at national and county level as well as England full and academy players.

2008 saw Gunnersbury WCC become the women's section of Finchley CC, becoming the 'Finchley Gunns'. Summer 2021 saw that relationship end, as Gunnersbury WCC re-established itself as an independent self-governing club for the time-being, whilst managing a successful season based at temporary 'home' grounds.

Gunns 'stars'

Some of the Gunns players who have represented their countries:

The first England women’s international cricket tour to Australia (including matches vs S Africa and New Zealand, was in 1934/5, and included Gunnersbury players M. Taylor and D. Turner.
Netta Rheinberg MBE - England vs Australia 1948-49. 1999 awarded honorary membership of MCC.
Mary Duggan - England (capt) vs Australia 1963-66.
Beth Morgan - England 1999-2013.
Isa Guha - England 2002-12 (a member who never played for Gunns!)
Charlotte Edwards - England (capt) 1996-2016.
Danielle Wyatt - England 2010-present. Left Gunnersbury at the end of 2012.
Anne Savoury (Sanders) - England
Cathy Mowat – England
Debbie Stock – England
Anita Thorose - England
Radhi Nananal – India
Chander Kaul - India
Alex Harvey - England
Sarah Taylor – England
Jenny Gunn - England
Jodie Fields - Australia
Holly Huddleston - New Zealand 2018-.
Sophia Dunkley - England
Cath Dalton – Ireland
Esther de Lange – Holland
Priyanaz Chatterji – Scotland
Yasmin Daswani – Hong Kong
Ruchi Venkatesh - Hong Kong
Mariko Hill – Hong Kong

(Note: not a complete list!)

The future

Gunnersbury WCC will continue to offer cricket for women and girls of all abilities whilst developing young players to go on to represent Middlesex and England.

Whilst originally based in Gunnersbury, West London, our current home ground is in North London - Old Elizabethans CC, Gypsy Corner, Mays Lane, Barnet EN5 2AG.

Link to OE CC website: