Patsy Fayne represented Australia in 7 Tests and 9 ODIs and was the first Australian woman to pick a wicket at the Lord’s.
She was a part of Australian team that played the first match at the Lord’s in 1976.
She began to play cricket when she was young and her older brother would make her bowl every single day. She began practising against the tree for hours daily just because she wanted to get her brother out.
During her studies in university, she began playing for university then she met former Australian cricketer Ann Mitchell. Then she represented NSW. Then Australia.
She debuted in Tests in 1968 against England and her first two wickets were Bakewell and Heyhoe-Flint. She went on to play the 1st ever World Cup. Her 2/8 against Young England and 2/3 against T&T in the WC played a major role.
Soon, she played the Tests at the Lord’s picking up the wicket Lynne Thomas.
She called it a day in August 1976 because she was broke and when she met her old schoolmates she felt she was missing out as they all had families and here She was spending all her money on tour(including travel, accommodation, outfits and everything) that paid her literally nothing. Not even a medal of appreciation from Government. In an interview, she also mentioned about how brutal the media used to be those days. She was fat-shamed, had to go through harassment as well.
She was a teacher and had to miss months of salary because of tour. She came back and continued as teacher.
40 years later, in 2018, she saw in local newspaper regarding Tewantin Noosa Cricket club, which was near her place. She wanted to mentor the women’s team, teaching them the basics of the game.
The women out there had no idea about her at first. They were totally astonished to learn about her, thanks to the internet. Even today, she takes her time to play, teach the game.
