ICC WWC 2017 Final: 105 year old Eileen Ash rings the famous Lord's bell

England’s oldest living former women’s cricketer Eileen Ash (nee Whelan) rang the customary bell at the Lord’s prior to the commencement of the finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. The hosts England locked horns against team India in the big final of the tournament. Ash rang the bell five minutes before the start of the game at the iconic venue. Over the years, it has been a rich custom at the Mecca of cricket to ring the bell before the start of the game.

Eileen Ash became the fourth women cricketer from England to have received the honor of ringing the Lord’s bell. The other three women cricketers from England to have received this honor are Clare Connor, Charlotte Edwards, and Claire Taylor. Eileen became the oldest cricketer to have rung the bell. She did so at the age of 105 years and 266 days. In the year 2011, she had become the first women Test player to reach her 100th birthday.

It was in the same year when she was inducted in the Honorary Life Membership by the MCC. Talking about her cricket career, she played 7 Test matches for England. She made her debut against Australia Women in June 1937. She played 3 Test matches in the English whites back then.

The second World War saw a break in her cricket career. She came back to the cricket field after a break of 12 years. She went on to play 4 more Tests and was a part of the England Women team that toured New Zealand in the year 1949. Her last Test match came on that tour. In the 7 Tests that she played, she scalped 10 wickets with an average of 23 and an economy rate off 2.32. With the bat, she aggregated 38 runs.

Commenting on the finals, team India thumped the tournament favorites Australia in the semis to set up the final date with England. Earlier in the tournament, India had stunned England in their first game of the league stages.

Watch the video here:

105-year-old Eileen Ash, the oldest living former Test international, rings the five-minute bell at the @HomeOfCricket! #WWC17 pic.twitter.com/J0KWKUKjSA

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 23, 2017