As the first England cricket outfit to visit Australia following the fractious Bodyline summer of 1932-33, it’s easy to understand why women’s skipper Betty Archdale was at pains to play down the rivalry when her team arrived at Perth two years later.

Archdale, goddaughter of British suffragette activist Emmeline Pankhurst and a barrister-turned educator who would later pursue her career in Australia, appreciated the value of diplomacy long before she specialised in international law at University of London.

The only player among the self-funded English touring party permitted to speak publicly while in Australia, Archdale grasped the first available opportunity to point out the inaugural women’s series would bear no resemblance to the most recent men’s.

At her team’s first formal appearance – a mayoral reception at Fremantle where they disembarked the passenger steamer ‘SS Cathay’ on 20 November, 1934 – she affirmed the women’s rivalry would be friendly and not-at-all fierce.

“It is against our policy to play for cups,” the 27-year-old said. “We play only for the love of the game.

“We will play matches against an all-Australian eleven, but we do not want the words ‘Test cricket’ to be introduced into the tour.

“The trouble with Australians as a whole is that you take the game too seriously.”

The final line was a wry throwaway, to highlight that England’s established women’s cricket competitions existed essentially to provide opportunities for players and grow the game’s appeal.

Women boasted a strong competitive cricket pedigree in England, where inter-village competitions had begun during the 1770s.

It was more than a century later that the first recorded women’s match took place in New South Wales, around the same time another English female player Christine Willes reputedly pioneered ’round-arm’ bowling (which evolved to overarm) to circumvent the under-arm obstruction provided by her wide crinoline skirt.

Therefore, the chance to spread the game’s gospel among Australia’s nascent scene – their Women’s Cricket Council had formed just three years earlier, and only expanded to include all five mainland states in 1934 – fitted neatly with the English beliefs.

The scope for success of that mission was underscored when around 3,500 paying patrons turned out for day one of the English team’s two-day tour opener against Western Australia at the WACA Ground.

Despite England’s tour manager Betty Green admitting her players knew “practically nothing of the ability of Australian women’s cricketers”, the disparity in experience and acumen became quickly obvious.

The WA team, captained by Australia hockey representative and registered psychiatric nurse Jean Cameron who listed ‘fancy dancing and swimming’ among her recreations, had spent three weeks prior to the tour game familiarising themselves with turf pitches.

However, the home team spent most of day one chasing balls across the outfield as England reached 1-100 in just 77 minutes of batting before declaring at 3-201 soon after number three batter Molly Hide had been bowled for 100.

WA had slumped to 3-37 by stumps, and bowled out for 82 the following day at which point they followed-on and were reduced to 3-59 when stumps were drawn mid-afternoon to ensure the touring team caught the steamer ‘Balranald’ for their onward journey to Melbourne.

Despite Archdale’s insistence no parallels be drawn with the men’s game, newspapers that devoted significant coverage to the women’s tour invariably likened Hide to Bradman after her century while England keeper-batter Betty Snowball was compared to Australia’s Alan Kippax.

Having broken their trip in Adelaide long enough to be feted at another mayoral ceremony, the England team arrived in Melbourne ahead of their second tour game against Victoria at the MCG.

The first day of that two-day fixture drew around 4,000 spectators to cricket’s inaugural Test venue, to the delight of the Australia Women’s Cricket Council which was relying on gate takings to help defray the cost of the venture.

It also brought to national attention 17-year-old all-rounder Peggy Antonio whose 10-wicket match haul coupled with a Victoria innings high-score of 43 in another drawn result heighted speculation she was bound for the national squad to be named later in December.

Following their MCG debut, the visitors made a road trip to Deniliquin for another hit-out before travelling to Sydney where they would play a two-day fixture against New South Wales at another Australia Test match venue, the SCG.

That match brought England’s first win, largely due to a generous declaration from NSW and Australia women’s captain Margaret Peden who set them a victory target of 57 from 13 remaining overs which Archdale’s team reached for the loss of three wickets.

The England outfit’s initial Sydney sojourn concluded with a day of relaxation at Palm Beach before flying to Newcastle for a rain-interrupted drawn game, then train trip to Brisbane where women’s cricket’s first international match was scheduled for December 28-30.

Australia had delayed formally naming their squad for the first of the three-match series against England until days before the game, even though the players on that list had already made their way to Brisbane.

The challenge awaiting the home team became dauntingly apparent when, days prior to the start of what Australia newspapers declared a ‘Test’ despite Archdale’s earlier protestations, England thumped Queensland by an innings and 41 runs.

The three-day international – with Sunday December 30 mandated a rest day as per tradition – was scheduled for the Brisbane Exhibition Ground which had hosted two men’s Tests and was also the scene of England’s women’s emphatic warm-up win.

Almost 30mm of rain fell in Brisbane on match eve, and even though the Exhibition Ground pitch had sweated under covers for that period Australia’s skipper Peden bravely batted first after winning the toss.

Around 3,000 people were in place to see England’s new-ball pair – looping off-spinner Myrtle Maclagan and pace bowler Mary ‘Peter’ Taylor (dubbed the women’s equivalent of Bodyline villain Harold Larwood by some in the Australian press) – display their mastery on a bowler-friendly track.

Within an hour Maclagan had destroyed the local heroines and hopes with an opening spell of 4-7 from her first 11 overs.

It initially appeared fortune might favour Australia when opener Hazel Pritchard was dropped at second slip by Joy Partridge off Maclagan’s second delivery of the match, but it proved merely a temporary stay of execution.

Pritchard pushed so far back in her crease to negotiate Maclagan’s slow spin she hit her own stumps having scored four, before the spinner accepted a pair of return catches as Australia’s top-order tried to break the bowlers’ stranglehold.

With England sending down 11 consecutive maidens, Australia crashed to 4-10 when Essie Shevill was bowled by Maclagan for a 26-minute duck.

Worse followed when Australia wicketkeeper Hilda Hills attempted to break the shackles with a pull shot off Maclagan which flew from the top edge of her bat and into her face, forcing her to retire hurt.

Skipper Peden contributed one before being bowled by Taylor, and Australia’s historic day was fast unravelling before Kathleen Smith – the only Queenslander in the starting XI – drew the biggest ovation after an hour’s play when she pulled Taylor for the first boundary.

Smith found the fence a second time in her innings-high knock of 25 before she also fell to Maclagan who cleaned up the lower-order to finish with an extraordinary 7-10 from 17 overs as Australia lost their four wickets for one run, bowled out for 47.

Not only had England’s bowlers totally blanketed their friendly foes – first-change seamer Mary Spears bowled eight overs of which just one delivery was scored from – their catching and ground fielding proved a revelation to onlookers.

Hopes the testing conditions might aid Australia’s bowlers dwindled as England openers Maclagan and Snowball passed the home team’s first innings total without loss.

However, teenager Antonio’s removal of Snowball for 15 sparked a flurry of wickets as off-spinner Anne Palmer snared four scalps in quick succession including Maclagan (for a match-high 72) from the day’s final delivery leaving England 5-116.

Palmer continued her hot streak on the second morning with a further three wickets to rival Maclagan’s return with 7-18 from 13.2 six-ball overs, but captain Archdale had held firm finishing unbeaten on 32 to ensure England took a 107-run lead.

Around 5,000 were in attendance for the Saturday’s play, and they were heartened to see Hills had recovered sufficiently to take the gloves although she was unable to complete a catch off Spear who helped add a valuable 23 for England’s ninth wicket.

Australia’s second innings got off to a calamitous start when Ruby Monaghan was run out for one, having taken off for a single when opening partner Pritchard’s drive was misfielded only to be stranded mid-pitch when Mollie Child recovered from her fumble.

However, another early collapse was averted as Pritchard and Shevill pushed the total to 38 before the relentless Spear reasserted England’s authority.

A sequence of six consecutive maidens from Spear and Doris Turner culminated in Pritchard (20) being caught behind off the former, who then removed Nell McLarty (8) and Lorna Kettels (0).

When Carol Valentine – older sister of incumbent England’s men’s Test batter and Kent captain Bryan Valentine – rattled local hero Smith’s stumps for 12, Australia ended the day 5-99 and still eight runs in arrears.

Hopes of the home team setting England some sort of target rested with the diminutive, bespectacled Shevill and skipper Peden – a driving force in the formation of the AWCC – who resumed on 46no and 2no respectively.

Around 600 fans turned out for the Monday resumption, and cheered heartily when Shevill steered Taylor through gully for a single that completed the first half-century by an Australia women’s batter.

Her innings had been characterised by precision drives through the off-side and deft nudges behind the wicket on the rare occasions England’s bowlers dropped short.

But the reintroduction of Spear accounted for Peden after she had scored 11 and Australia held a five-run overall lead.

Hard-hitting teenager Antonio attempted a counter-punch but played on to Spear for five, and tailenders Fernie Blade and Palmer were unable to offer lengthy support to Shevill who finished unbeaten on 63.

Archdale’s tongue-in-cheek observation about Australians’ competitiveness was echoed in the cheers accompanying every run as the home team took a lead, and exemplified by Palmer who hugged her bat in delight when dropped by Spear at mid-on during her innings of four.

Australia finished 9-138, a lead of 31, with Hills unable to bat reportedly because of influenza rather than the blow she had taken to her nose on day one.

She did not represent Australia again.

Antonio announced herself as a player of the future when she bowled star opener Maclagan for nine, but Snowball (18no) and Hide (1no) carried England to a nine-wicket win early on day three that partially helped redress the 45-run loss to Australia in the inaugural men’s international 57 years earlier.

The post-match Australia press reviews of the international encounter were overwhelmingly positive, citing the impressive skills displayed by England and noting players to watch for Australia.

Among those to have caught the eye in addition to Antonio was 18-year-old Monaghan who one commentator described as “full of dash” while wondering if her ambitious strokeplay might be better suited to a role other than opening.

Having encountered the stifling bowling of England’s spinners, Australia showed a propensity for fast learning by revising their squad for the second encounter at the SCG and third at the MCG.

They omitted pace bowlers Blade and Amy Hudson as well as left-hand batter Peggy Knight and the injured Hills, adding replacement keepers Rene Shevill and Alice Wegemund to the squad along with Barbara Peden, sister of skipper Margaret, and Nancy Clements.

While the changes made Australia more competitive, they suffered defeat by eight wickets in Sydney where the indomitable Maclagan scored the maiden women’s international century (119) while also claiming six wickets.

England seemed set to complete a clean sweep at the MCG when Australia slumped to 7-95 having been set 166 to win in just over a session late on the third and final day (a Sunday).

However, somewhat fittingly given her principal role in organising the England tour, Margaret Peden remained undefeated against England’s unerring bowlers in partnership with her sister Barbara to ensure the match finished in a draw.

The pair had honed their preparation for the England visit by setting up Sydney’s first indoor cricket coaching centre located in the city’s Salvation Army building, and Margaret would lead Australia on their first UK tour two years later.

But as was the case for the inaugural meeting between the teams nine decades ago, no trophy would be up for grabs across the three Tests to be played in England. As manager of the 1934-35 touring party Betty Green had told a welcome function upon England’s arrival in Perth: “There are no Ashes in women’s cricket.”

Nine decades later, it’s the most prized contest in the ever-increasingly popular and lucrative game for women.

Commbank Women’s Ashes 2025

First ODI: January 12: North Sydney Oval, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Second ODI: January 14: CitiPower Centre, Melbourne, 10.05am AEDT

Third ODI: January 17: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 10.05am AEDT

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.40pm AEDT

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.40pm AEDT

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 7.10pm ACDT (7.40pm AEDT)

Day-night Test: January 30 – February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT