Netta Rheinberg MBE (24 October 1911 – 18 June 2006) was an English cricketer, journalist and administrator. She appeared in one Test match for England in 1949, against Australia. She played domestic cricket for Middlesex.[1][2]

Netta Rheinberg
Personal information
Full name
Netta Rheinberg
Born(1911-10-24)24 October 1911
Willesden, Middlesex, England
Died18 June 2006(2006-06-18) (aged 94)
Hertfordshire, England
RoleBatter
International information
National side
Only Test (cap 25)15 January 1949 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1937–1951Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition WTest WFC
Matches 1 4
Runs scored 0 80
Batting average 0.00 13.33
100s/50s 0/0 0/1
Top score 0 51
Catches/stumpings 0/– 1/–
Source: CricketArchive, 10 March 2021

Her single Test match came on England's tour of Australia in 1948/49. She was the team's manager, and had to play in the match because of injuries to other players.[3] She made a "pair", becoming the first woman to do so on Test debut.[4][5]

Rheinberg was most notable in the women's game as an administrator and journalist. Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, the former England captain, said of her work as an administrator, "Netta was an action girl. We had very few people then, and she galvanised activity, partly just by having a great personality and a sense of humour."

"For a north London Jew, playing cricket for England and being one of the game’s most important administrators is about as well-trodden a career path as prime minister or bacon-buttie salesman," wrote Rob Steen shortly after her death aged 94 in 2006. "That Rheinberg happened to be a woman made her accomplishments all the more admirable."[6]

She was secretary of the Women's Cricket Association in 1945 and from 1948 to 1958. She was also membership secretary and vice-chairman of the Cricket Society. She edited the magazine Women's Cricket, reported on women's cricket for Wisden for more than thirty years, and wrote a regular column for The Cricketer.

With Heyhoe-Flint as co-author, Rheinberg wrote a history of the women's game.[3][7]

In 1999 she was one of the first ten women to be awarded honorary membership of MCC.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Player Profile: Netta Rheinberg". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Netta Rheinberg". CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Netta Rheinberg dies aged 94". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  4. ^ 1st Test, England Women tour of Australia 1948/49 Scorecard
  5. ^ "Records | Women's Test matches | Batting records | Pair on debut | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Passing — and failing — the cricket test" (Jewish Chronicle, 15 July 2013)
  7. ^ Fair Play - the story of women's cricket, Angus & Robertson, 1976, ISBN 978-0-207-95698-0.
  8. ^ MCC delivers first 10 maidens (BBC News, 16 March 1999)
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