Gillian Elizabeth McConway (born 8 May 1950) is a former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played as a

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket. Bowlers using this technique bowl with their left-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery spins ...

bowler. Born in New Zealand but settled in England, she appeared in 14

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and 11

One Day Internationals One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four year ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1984 and 1987. She also played 12 matches for International XI at the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in th ...

. She played domestic cricket for

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

in New Zealand, and for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

in England.

Early life

McConway was born in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

, New Zealand. As a "tiny tot", she would watch her father, John, playing cricket in their family's backyard with other children from the neighbourhood. She would also run out, still in nappies, to have a bat. When McConway was seven years old, the family moved to

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

, and her father joined Union Cricket Club. Through him, she learned much about cricket. On one memorable occasion, when the club hosted a game against player's partners, she stood in for her mother. Despite having to wear

batting pads Pads (also called leg guards) are a type of protective equipment used in a number of sports and serve to protect the legs from the impact of a hard ball, puck, or other object of play travelling at high speed which could otherwise cause injuries t ...

that were far too big for her, she scored more than 100 runs against a team including some of

North Otago North Otago is an area in New Zealand that covers the area of the Otago region between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre f ...

's greats. At 15, McConway moved to Wellington, where she played secondary school and senior representative cricket as a left arm spin bowler and right-handed batter. At 21, she relocated to Dunedin for work. There, a colleague introduced her to Bill Boock, who helped train her and his son,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

, a future

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. McConway later credited Bill Boock for the "final shaping of my cricket". They played in a churchyard on a Sunday, and there he taught her "... to groove my action, and line and length."

Domestic career

In New Zealand, McConway played domestic cricket for

and later

. In February 1973, she moved to England. She was immediately selected for

, where she played the "equivalent of three seasons of cricket in one". Later, she played for

. In 1988, playing for East Anglia in the

Women's Area Championship The Women's Area Championship was a women's cricket competition organised by the Women's Cricket Association that ran from 1980 until 1996. It operated as a 55-over limited overs cricket competition, with teams organised into a number of groups, ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

at Cambridge, McConway bowled what she described that year as "the finest 11 overs I have bowled. Of 66 deliveries all but one went exactly where I intended it, and all were against batsmen of Test quality." She also took one wicket for eight runs in those 11 overs. In her final county match, for East Anglia the following year, she bowled 11 overs and took one wicket for one run.

International career

In 1982, McConway played 12 ODI matches for International XI at the

. By 1984, she was qualified to play for England through her grandparents, and because she had lived in England for at least seven years. Her Test debut for England that year was against the country of her birth. She appeared for England in 14

and 11 ODIs between 1984 and 1987. In an ODI against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1987, McConway played the unusual role for a spinner of opening the bowling, in what turned out to be England's only win that year against the touring team. However, she was not selected for the following year's World Cup in Australia. In Tests, McConway took 40 wickets at an average of 25.47. One of her most memorable performances was in the second Test against

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in December 1984. In an England victory by just five runs, she finished with seven wickets for the match. In July 1986, she achieved her best Test bowling figures, of 42-27-34-7, in the first innings of the

third Test Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

against

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. In 2019, she was belatedly presented with a cap as England's 91st Test cricketer and 35th ODI player.

Administration career

In the 1980s, McConway was manager of a leisure centre in

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. In the 1990s, she was an England team selector. Between 2000 and 2007, McConway served as the executive director of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

. In 2005, she was a member of the first

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) women's development committee, following the ICC's merger that year with the

International Women's Cricket Council The International Women's Cricket Council IWCC was the global governing body of Women's cricket. formed in February 1958 by the women's cricket associations of Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2005 it was merg ...

Personal life

In England, McConway enjoyed gardening, "... and home decorating my Olde Worlde Cottage, something that you can't find in New Zealand." In 2007, she moved back to New Zealand, where she settled in Ōtaki. She took up golf, always attends Wellington cricket matches, and visits Oamaru at least once a year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McConway, Gillian 1950 births Living people English women cricketers International XI women One Day International cricketers England women Test cricketers England women One Day International cricketers New Zealand expatriate cricketers in England Wellington Blaze cricketers Otago Sparks cricketers Surrey women cricketers East Anglia women cricketers Cricketers from Whanganui