Eileen Ash, the oldest living Test cricketer of all time, passed away on December 3. She was 110 years old, and the England and Wales Cricket Board paid tribute to her, calling her an extraordinary woman who lived a great life.
Ash, whose birth name is Eileen Whelan, played seven Test matches for England on either side of the second World War. During the war, she was also made to be a part of the the UK’s secret intelligence service. She picked up 10 wickets at an average of 23 in her Test career, and played 22 games in women’s First-class cricket.
Eileen was omnipresent in the English circuit as recently as the 2017 Women’s World Cup, where she rang the Lord’s bell for five minutes aged 106. It was also to mark 80 years since she made her Test debut back in 1937.
She had a long interaction with English skipper Heather Knight, who said that her fitness put her to shame.
The MCC President and ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket, Clare Connor expressed her grief upon the passing of this incredible woman, who touched many lives throughout her lifetime.
Connor said that the sport owes plenty to its pioneers, and Eileen was one of them.
“Heather [Knight, England captain] and I went to visit Eileen about six months before the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup – she was 105 at the time – and it was one of the most remarkable experiences.
Eileen taught Heather yoga, we played snooker, we drank cups of tea and we leafed through newspapers and scrapbooks celebrating Eileen’s time as a player in the 1930s and 1940s.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Eileen’s family as they come to terms with losing such a wonderful woman and the end of an astonishing life,”
she said.
In 2019, MCC unveiled a portrait of her as a tribute to her career at the Lord’s. She also became the oldest ever person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which she took in January this year. She turned 110 on October 31.
