The England fixer

I sat on those wooden benches at The Oval as a 12-year-old, looking at the pavilion, thinking `Wouldn't it be wonderful to put a foot in there and see what it's like,' never dreaming that many years later I'd be strutting the corridors. I do feel very priviliged; I love it. People from the outside must think of it as a jammy job, they see the PR aspects of it, but it has been hard graft. You're working weekends and long hours. After 15 years in the game I've worked at every level – not too many men or women have done that and I'm grateful, it stands you in good stead.

I am in charge of all the organisational arrangements for the England team, that's management, selectors, coaches, players, and players' wives when on tour. Over and above that there is a management role. I am always out and about meeting people and negotiating things. I am going to Australia this winter which I'm looking forward to, but it's no joyride. There's a hell of a lot that needs to be done when you start breaking down tour administration: international flights, domestic flights, clothing – 25 different items for each player – coffins, visas, insurance, medical assessments, fitness tests and so on. I'm a great believer that travelling and meeting people are the two best forms of education and I've met some really nice people through the game, which is something I'll always be very appreciative of.

I think to be honest there will always be people, not just in cricket but in life, who are male chauvinists, and there will always be those who think `What does a woman know about the game?' I would never profess to tell a group of men how to play the game, my strengths lie more in administration and organisation.

There are lots of women working at the ECB. We are a happy, strong unit. Though I'm not by nature aggressive, I'm no mug and I take account of what people say. If someone over-stretches that, I would in my own particular way put them right.

There is now more of a mix of people running the game – those with cricketing expertise and those from a business background who are used to working in a mixed environment. If people still think in terms of male and female it is sad for them, they need to broaden their minds as there is room for everyone. And, if everyone is professional, there is even room for people with a twinkle in their eye.

Medha Laud:`Room for people with a twinkle in their eye'

The Photographer

I do a lot of cricket work and love watching and photographing it but the hours are extremely long in comparison to other sports and you have to be very patient. It is also an incredibly physically demanding job; there is a huge amount of heavy equipment that you have to drag around with you, and you have to get to the ground very early to get a good position.

There are only about eight or nine regular cricket photographers, all of whom are men, so I don't know what it is like to work in a female environment.

You do hear a lot of derogatory remarks about women, but that is true of male sport in general and if you hear it all the time you understand it is just the way men behave. I see myself as a professional photographer, not someone who needs special attention because she is a girl.

I first toured in 1994, to West Indies; up till then I'd done some cricket but not a lot. That was successful and since then I've been to Australia, South Africa and West Indies again.

I am really looking forward to Australia this year though touring is a funny business. We are basically a group on tour and people tend to stick with their little cliques: the photographers with their friends, the TV people with their group and the print journalists with theirs – you don't get a lot of crossover. It is hard to be a new face and not part of a group. In some ways I'm lucky being female because I have joined the print journalists one evening, or the radio guys another, but it isn't often that everybody mixes. Sometimes it would be nice for everyone to be included: that's not to say it never happens, but it is quite rare.

I think in my job gender does makes a difference and that women are generally more sensitive and thoughtful, though that's not to say that both men and women don't behave appallingly when the adrenalin starts to flow. Of course most of the time when you are shooting cricket you are taking photos of what is on the field, right in front of you, so gender doesn't come into it.

I was in a position at Trent Bridge, when England won their first Test match under Alec Stewart, to see Michael Atherton's reaction as Alec was presented with the trophy. But he was in the privacy of the South African dressing-room where he was waiting to be interviewed and I didn't think that there was any reason to photograph him in that position. I believe that the dressing-room is a private area for the players and am always very pleased when I hear that photographers are not allowed in the dressing-room, and that's nothing to do with being embarrassed to see them in the nude or that sort of thing.

I would like to actually have a better professional relationship with the players but that's not possible. I know if I see a male reporter having dinner, the assumption is that he's getting a story out of it. If I invited some players to dinner, all hell would break loose. Some photographers have a better relationship with the players than I do because they cover cricket all the time. It took until the last (my fourth) tour before some of the players knew my name. Graham Thorpe came up to me and said `Rebecca, you haven't got any suncream have you?' I was almost really chuffed that he asked me and thought `Gosh, he does actually know my name.'

Rebecca Naden:`Gender does make a difference'

The Scorer

The story of how I became a scorer is quite romantic really. I was in Pakistan in 1987 with my partner (the cricket writer Ted Corbett). Peter Baxter was desperate for a scorer because the man the local board had promised didn't arrive. So I did it, got on OK and Peter was kind enough to ask me to do the rest of the series. He has used me on and off ever since. To get the most treasured job in cricket scoring was a sort of rags to riches story. I was an auditor, so had always been able to press buttons on a calculator, but I'd never scored a complete game before. I continued to score part-time till 1990 when I went full-time.

Jo King: `I've never had open hostility'

Wendy Wimbush apart, there are not many women scorers, but what is interesting is the increasing number of women involved around the world – people like Sharda Ugra (for The Hindu), Fareshteh Gati (The Newsgroup in Pakistan) and Donna Symmonds who commentates in West Indies. There was a lovely little cameo last winter in Port-of-Spain. Donna was commentating with Vic Marks and I was sitting scoring. A photographer came up to take a picture of the three of us and it was Rebecca Naden. For women to out-number the men three-to-one was still unusual enough for Rebecca and Donna and me to go `Yes!'

I honestly don't think I've been a victim of any discrimination. It's like anywhere – you always get on better with some individuals than others in the work-place – but I've never had open hostility. Being Ted's partner has been a bit of a mixed blessing, maybe there's been an element of `Oh that's his girlfriend,' which is a bit dismissive.

In the last couple of years MCC has changed beyond belief. The gatemen were obviously taken to charm school, along with the whole set-up. One of the biggest changes was to employ Anne-Marie Ransom, who now works at Karen Earl. She sorted out the press box generally, had more powerpoints installed, and on a basic note had a ladies' toilet put in. If I wanted to go to the loo at teatime, I used to have to run down three flights of stairs and queue up with the general public.

It is such an odd job but a lovely, fascinating one. I meet interesting people on a daily basis and I've got it through a series of lucky breaks.

The reporter

Kate Laven: `A wonderful, wonderful job'

There was a bit of curiosity from the players to start with, a bit of mooning on the balcony, but you expect that I suppose. Even after all these years there are not many women in cricket, but after you've established a professional relationship with them and they know that you know a bit about the game they respond to you like anyone else.

I spend more time with the writers and it is easier to overcome any awkwardness and formalities with them. Apart from Claire Struthers and Teresa McLean there aren't any female cricket journalists. It is peculiar, I don't really know why. Perhaps it's because to write about the game you need to have a feel for it and so few women have the opportunity to get that. It helps to have played. If you're serious at writing about it you have to work hard to overcome that side of things.

Working on the website is fantastic. I can do an interview and within ten minutes can have it up on my site for someone in Australia to read. I don't get bylines, which is probably good because people have told me that if there is a woman's byline they read the piece more critically than they would if it was a man's.

I do enjoy the company and learn a lot from the bright, witty, stimulating men in the press box, but at the end of a Test what I love to do is go out with my girlfriends and just talk, have proper exchanges. Men don't talk properly. The other day I was interviewing Hansie Cronje and I was wearing a wedding ring (sometimes I wear one because there some pretty nerdy types around) and he turned round at the end and said `How come you're wearing a wedding ring today and you weren't last time?' and I was so shocked that he'd noticed. I'm so used to being part of the furniture that in some ways it's a bit sad.

I honestly find it difficult to remember a genuinely sexist comment. People always expect cricket to be a very chauvinist environment but I've not experienced it. The MCC-and-women situation is sad for the club as it really affects the image of cricket. Friends of mine who don't know much about the game know one thing and that's that the MCC don't let women in.

In some ways I'm much more comfortable in a cricket environment now than when I was just a supporter. If you're a woman watching cricket, people always think you are going out with one of the players and that can make you feel quite uncomfortable. And it used to really irritate boyfriends – knowing a bit about cricket was quite endearing but knowing a lot about it was irritating, like I was trespassing. I've had a few interesting discussions. Now people expect me to know a bit about it, so if I have an opinion I needn't feel inhibited.

The county physio

When I first came to Derby I found it much, much harder than I'd thought. Cricket is such an old, established kind of sport that it is very male-dominated, and though we have a female cricket team who are good and fit and play well, it is not highly recognised that females are part of the team.

I have no problems now and am just accepted as one of them, but it was quite hard. You almost have to work harder to prove you are as good as a man. The players try you out, see how far they can push you and it is different – for example there are things that they might say to me, like sounding me out about problems at home. But I think it all balances out.

It has become easier as the years have gone on and the problems that people foresaw haven't occurred. Generally I don't wander in and out when people are showering but sometimes I have to if we're cooped up in a little dressing-room when we're away. But I've got a job to do and so have they and we just get on with it. The Scottish coach made me laugh when we were up there for a B&H game. A player strained his ankle just before the match and the only place I could sit him to strap it was on the loo. He said `Now I've seen it all'.

I have just been offered an England `A' tour which is a huge breakthrough in cricket. It is the first time a woman will have gone away on tour with an England squad, and if I can do that job properly who knows what doors might be opened. Just having a woman's point of view adds an extra dimension.

Ann Brentnall: `I found it harder than I'd thought'

The tea ladies

Hilary We've been members at Worcester since kingdom come, and we were enthusiasts long before we were tea ladies. That came about when we saw a notice asking for tea ladies on a Sunday. It was the only day we could do as we were all working – Pat was a radiographer and we were teachers.

Pat I used to make something every morning before I went out at quarter-to-eight. It was only supposed to be tea and biscuits but it got a little out of hand.

Beryl We do all our own cooking – lots of cakes, date-and-walnut and fruit loaves, cheese scones and tray bakes. Ginger flapjacks are very popular at the moment. We know which counties love their teas – Lancashire are all so jolly and Glamorgan are very friendly. Some counties are more distant and perhaps a little bit less gracious.

Pat We only get our expenses and we use the money we make at the end of the season for specific things, we didn't want it to go into club funds. You will see notices on the back of seats saying these seats were provided by the ladies' tea committee. We bought the tractor that pulls all the covers on and off and we did the decorating of the ladies' pavilion and have done up all the loos, that sort of thing. We always give a donation to those having a benefit year.

Beryl There have been some characters in the Worcester dressing-room, like John Inchmore and Roly Jenkins. We used to mix with them quite a lot but today they play more cricket and are committed to more things. And of course we're now old ladies.

Pat In the late 1940s I worked in the Manchester Royal hospital and any players that were injured were brought in. There was one particular Australian who always tried to persuade everyone to go back to his room at night. We always dreaded X-raying him.

Hilary One or two of the committee come up for a cup of tea and a chat. We see CMJ, Tim Rice, the occasional celebrity. We do get mentioned in various cricket reports and on television and radio.

Worcester's tea team: third from left Pat Sharrock fourth left Hilary Edwards; far right Beryl Bishop

Pat We get to know what's going on from the sound of crowd – a dropped catch, fifty or hundred. At the end of May we actually closed at half-past-three because Graeme Hick was about to get his hundredth hundred and we went out and joined in the celebrations.

Beryl I think more women are knowledgable about the game now. People used to go with their husbands whereas now far more go for the cricket.

Hilary A few people treat us as paid servants but very few, one or two in the whole season, generally we've had no trouble. We now have gentlemen who help who are quite happy to be called tea ladies!

The committee woman

Amanda Spalding: `I don't feel I'm on a Woman's crusade'

Amanda Spalding (41) is on the committee at Nottinghamshire CCC. She is the only woman who has ever stood for election to the committee. She trained as a chartered accountant and is now director of development and environment for North Lincolnshire Council.

My father took me to the Ashes Test at Edgbaston in 1968 when Cowdrey and Edrich batted all day. Cowdrey was injured and had to bat with a runner. I was fascinated by the whole thing and from then on used to sneak off with my dad and watch Warwickshire play.

I continued watching at Headingley when I was at university, and have been a member at Trent Bridge since about 1984. It was and is a very friendly place but I stood up at one or two AGMs and complained about a few things that the committee had done. I don't appreciate people who just criticise, so thought it would be a good idea to stand for the committee and was elected first time in March'97.

When I was elected I got pretty fed up with some of the questions I was asked by journalists. I found them patronising actually, so one of the things I ended up saying was `I am the most senior person in local government that they've ever had on this committee and they're extremely lucky to have me'. All this publicity just because I'm a woman, I find it a bit pathetic really.

Also I am having a romance within the game with an international umpire, but before that various allegations were made because I was a single woman.

Within the committee people have tired to patronise me, but I think they've found out that's not such a great idea – that's not me being aggressive, just showing that I know what I'm talking about.

I don't often speak about cricket because I've never played the game but I do know about management, organisation, finance, public relations, marketing etc. I have been very involved in our campaign to turn the club into a limited company.

I don't feel I'm on a woman's crusade, or a figure-head, you shouldn't have to do that sort of thing these days. I think the Lottery was right to turn down MCC for funds. Their attitudes are so archaic and belong to people who seem to live in a different age. I really don't know if I'd want to be a member, I'm not hugely impressed with the men I've met in bacon-and-egg ties and I'm not convinced I'd want to watch cricket in their company.

The county president

Betty Surridge: `I'm no expert'

Betty Surridge (over 70) was president of Surrey CCC for 1997. She is the widow of Stuart Surridge, who captained Surrey to the Championship in 1952–56.

When my husband died Surrey made me an honorary life vice-president which meant I could come up to The Oval when I wished, which I loved.

Then last year they asked if I would like to be president and I said yes. It's only a year and I enjoyed it though it is quite hard work. You have to be at every game before the start of play to look after the visiting committees and dignitaries.

It really is a figurehead position. I didn't get involved in administration; I could have joined various committees but I said no. The club is run by the chairman and chief executive and even if you do know what you're talking about cricket-wise I don't know how much notice they'd take of you. I love the game and the people involved with it, but I'm no expert.

Last year I had a problem at Lord's when I wanted to go in and congratulate Surrey when they won the Benson & Hedges Cup. The stewards wouldn't allow me in. I got in eventually through a very nice man who was president of Kent at the time. Another time I went to have lunch with Middlesex and I couldn't go through the main entrance and they had to go and unlock another door. How silly!

Other than that, I haven't honestly had any problems. I know a lot of people and don't go looking for controversy. Quite frankly I don't think the Bedsers agreed that there should be a woman president but they supported me.

I love the personal side best, I'm a great chatterer and have a great memory for faces though I did forget Graham Thorpe once. I asked the players up for drinks and I said `What's your name?' Of course Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher were in hysterics.

The PR executive

I trained as a secretary and after a spell of working for the Conservative Research Department (under Michael Portillo), and at the BBC, I got a job for a company owned by Peter West. During the Centenary Test in 1980, Karen Earl's secretary was away and Karen gave me loads of statistics to process. I came back and said, `Here you are and by the way that's wrong and his name's wrong.' I went to work for her and when she set up her own company in 1984 I went with her, as did the Cornhill account.

I have been to about 85 Tests, every Test in England since 1982, and basically my job is to make the client's sponsorship work. So for Cornhill I do everything from getting the advertising boards made and placing them to making sure the hospitality is up and working, producing all the stats, dealing with press, liaising with the ground authorities, the players and of course the client to ensure they're happy with what's being done.

I remember coming back from a Test for the first time and saying to my brother `you're not going to believe who I've met today: Tom Graveney, Richie Benaud, Tony Lewis and Jim Laker.' He was speechless. You walk round the ground and Richie will say `Morning, how are you?' and friends are gobsmacked but that is just the sort of sport it is – very friendly. I was never intimidated, just a bit awestruck to start with.

Fiona Foster: `In some ways it's easier being a woman'

If you know your stuff, in some ways it is actually easier being a woman in a male-orientated sport because you're a bit different. The counties and ground authorities have always been very understanding and we have our passes to get into the pavilion at Lord's.

If you work on Tests that's 30-35 days a year, plus the evenings, and you get to know people and spend a lot of time with them. There are drawbacks and it wouldn't suit everybody, but you are working in a high-profile sport with extremely nice people in lovely surroundings. My friends say to me `You've got your ideal job,' and they're right.

The club cricketer

I found the game unbearably dull until I learnt it at charterhouse [public school]. I've been mad about cricket ever since. I love playing and I actually prefer playing for a men's side because I find the men's game more challenging and feel I learn more about the game in that environment. I don't think men tone it down when they play against me – I would hate it if they did. When I'm batting I don't think they play any differently, it's nothing big for them to say `I've bowled a girl,' but when they're batting it's another story. They are determined not to get out to me or let me dominate. They either play an immaculate forward-defensive to every ball or try and blast me out of the ground.

I've always been welcomed at Blackheath but it took me a while to find a club that I liked. I hope to captain the 2nd XI next year which should be fun.

Occasionally people mutter `what place has a woman got in cricket?', but those are usually people who don't want West Indians playing. That says it all.

The opposition sometimes look a bit surprised – it is still very rare to find a woman playing men's cricket but generally no-one is aggressive. You do come across patronising types sometimes who try and give you a spot of coaching, which is a bit annoying, but I can cope. Also, sometimes a fast bowler will say sorry when they get me out which they would never do to a man, and I just say `It was a great ball'.

I have no problems with showers or changing-rooms. At an away match I go in my whites and just go home sweaty. If I want a shower when I'm at Blackheath the village is so involved with the club I can just knock on someone's door. And if I am in the changing-room and someone walks in with not much on, well that's my fault really isn't it?

 Isabelle Duncan: `I find the men's game more challenging'

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