{{Short description|English cricketer (1911–2021)}} {{redirect|Eileen Whelan|the journalist|Eileen Whelan (journalist)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Use British English|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Eileen Ash | female = true | image = Eileen Ash.jpg | caption = Ash in 1936 | country = England | fullname = Eileen May Ash (née Whelan) | birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|10|30|df=yes}} | birth_place = Highbury, Middlesex, England | death_date = {{death date|2021|12|3|1911|10|30|df=yes}}<br />(aged {{age in years and days|1911|10|30|2021|12|3}}) | death_place = Norwich, Norfolk, England | batting = | bowling = Right-arm medium | role = Bowler | international = true | internationalspan = 1937–1948/49 | testdebutdate = 12 June | testdebutyear = 1937 | testdebutagainst = Australia | testcap = 18 | lasttestdate = 29 March | lasttestyear = 1949 | lasttestagainst = New Zealand | club1 = Middlesex | year1 = 1949 | columns = 2 | column1 = WTest | matches1 = 7 | runs1 = 38 | bat avg1 = 4.75 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 10 | deliveries1 = 594 | wickets1 = 10 | bowl avg1 = 23.00 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 3/35 | catches/stumpings1 = 3/– | column2 = WFC | matches2 = 22 | runs2 = 180 | bat avg2 = 11.25 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 34* | deliveries2 = 2,074 | wickets2 = 32 | bowl avg2 = 20.50 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 4/41 | catches/stumpings2 = 13/– | date = 26 January 2022 | source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/17/17104/17104.html CricketArchive }}
'''Eileen May Ash''' ({{née}} '''Whelan'''; 30 October 1911 – 3 December 2021) was an English cricketer and supercentenarian who played primarily as a right-arm medium bowler.
As '''Eileen Whelan''', she appeared in seven Test matches for England between 1937 and 1948/49.<ref name="Cricprof">{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/53870.html|title=Player Profile: Eileen Whelan|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="CAprof">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/17/17104/17104.html|title=Player Profile: Eileen Whelan|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref> Ash was the longest-lived international cricketer, living to the age of 110 years and 34 days.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-59102578 |title=World's oldest international cricketer Eileen Ash turns 110 |work=BBC News |date=November 2021 |access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-norfolk-37775585 |title=104-year-old woman keeps fit with yoga |access-date=28 October 2016 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/2392824/ecb-pays-tribute-to-eileen-ash-the-worlds-oldest-ever-test-cricketer |title=Eileen Ash, 1911-2021 |work=England and Wales Cricket Board |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Eileen May Whelan was born in Highbury, Middlesex.<ref name="Cricprof"/> She attended Ursuline Convent in Ilford, east London, where she captained the First XI hockey team, and also played tennis and netball.<ref name="wc 1948-09-18">{{cite journal |title=Going to Australia: Eileen Whelan |journal=Women's Cricket |date=18 September 1948 |volume=13 |issue=10 |page=153 |url=https://womenscrickethistory.org/Magazine/1948/Vol_13_No_10/14/index.html |access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref>
==Cricket career== Ash played club cricket for the Ilford Wanderers and Wagtails teams, and top level domestic cricket for Civil Service, Middlesex, and South of England.<ref name="Cricprof" /><ref name="CAprof" /><ref name="wc 1948-09-18"/> She also played Test cricket both before and after World War II, making her debut against Australia at Northampton in June 1937,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/29420635/did-everton-weekes-once-miss-start-test-which-was-playing? |title=Did Everton Weekes once miss the start of a Test in which he was playing? |work=ESPN Cricinfo |accessdate=7 July 2020}}</ref> and playing her last Test against New Zealand in Auckland in March 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/sport/cricket/worlds-oldest-living-test-cricketer-turns-110-today/ |title=World's oldest living Test cricketer turns 110 today |work=The South African |date=30 October 2021 |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref> A specialist bowler, she took ten Test wickets at an average of 23.00.<ref name="Cricprof" /><ref name="CAprof" />
Ash's best career performance came against a Victoria Country XI in a tour match in 1949 with an all-round display scoring an unbeaten century and taking five wickets in the match which also propelled England to a comfortable 170 run win.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Obituary: Eileen Ash|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/52634481|access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref> Also in 1949, she met Australian cricketer Don Bradman at a French restaurant in Sydney, and received a bat signed by him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2393379 |title=Eileen Ash, oldest Test cricketer, passes away at 110 |work=International Cricket Council |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref>
==Working life and retirement== Ash was employed by the Civil Service from the age of 18. She was seconded to MI6 during World War II, and went on to work with that organisation for eleven years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eileen-ash-oldest-living-test-cricketer-dies-aged-110-1292241 |title=Eileen Ash, oldest living Test cricketer, dies aged 110 |work=ESPN Cricinfo |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref> Ash and her husband eventually retired to Norwich.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/norfolks-oldest-woman-eileen-ash-dies-aged-110-8539932| title=Norfolk's oldest woman dies, aged 110|work=Norwich Evening News| date=4 December 2021| accessdate=4 December 2021}}</ref> She took up golf in later life, only quitting aged 98.<ref name=talk>[http://www.letstalk24.co.uk/articles/eileen-and-the-gift-of-life/ Eileen and the gift of life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604131051/http://www.letstalk24.co.uk/articles/eileen-and-the-gift-of-life |date=4 June 2018 }}, ''Let's Talk'', 14 September 2013.</ref>
==Centenarian== In 2011, Ash became the first female Test cricketer to live to 100 years old. She was made an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to mark the occasion.<ref name=talk/> Writing for the BBC in February 2017, Heather Knight, England's captain, commented:
<blockquote>I had the absolute privilege of meeting Eileen Ash, the oldest living Test cricketer (male or female) for some filming before I left for Australia, and she is easily one of the most extraordinary ladies I've ever met. She's 105, does yoga every week and I've met teenagers who have a lot less energy than she does! It was amazing to hear some of her experiences of playing cricket for England, especially the boat trips they used to have to take to play in Australia, and she also took me through her yoga routine. My pride, and a number of my muscle groups, are still in tatters after being put to shame by a 105-year-old.<ref name="BBC Online 5 February 2017">{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38838533|title= Heather Knight column: Women's Big Bash League, Taylor Swift and the oldest living Test cricketer| last= Knight| first= Heather| authorlink= Heather Knight (cricketer)|date= 5 February 2017 |publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate= 5 February 2017 }}</ref></blockquote>
In July 2017, aged 105, Ash rang the bell at Lord's to signal the start of play at the 2017 Women's World Cup Final, which England won against India.<ref>[https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/441422 Eileen Ash to ring the bell at Lord’s], International Cricket Council, 22 July 2017.</ref> She rang the bell for five minutes at Lord's in order to commemorate the 80th anniversary of her international debut.<ref name="Telegraph">Simon Briggs, "The oldest Test player cruises on past her century", ''Daily Telegraph'', 4 November 2017, Sports Section page 24.</ref> To mark her 106th birthday, she was taken for a flight in a Tiger Moth.<ref name="Telegraph" /> In November 2018, she opened a sports hall named in her honour at The Hewett Academy in Norwich.<ref name="sportshall">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehewettacademy.org/155/enrichment-cultural-capital-1|title=Enrichment & Cultural Capital|publisher=Hewett Academy|access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref> In 2019, the MCC unveiled a portrait of her at Lord's.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1316483 |title=Eileen Ash, 107, honoured with portrait at Lord's |work=International Cricket Council |access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref>
In January 2021, aged 109, she became one of the oldest people in the UK to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.<ref>[https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/eileen-ash-109-to-receive-second-jab-6894462 Former spy, 109, may be oldest recipient of Covid-19 vaccine]</ref> Ash celebrated her 110th birthday on 30 October 2021 at the Norwich care home in which she resided.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/eileen-ash-from-norwich-turns-110-8451800|title=Red wine, yoga and smiling - Eileen's secrets for reaching incredible age of 110|first=Sophie|last=Skyring|date=30 October 2021|work=Norwich Evening News|accessdate=30 October 2021}}</ref> She died just under five weeks later, on 3 December 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=World's oldest Test cricketer Ash dies|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59533539|access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Eileen Ash obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/eileen-ash-obituary-mqfc5vr59 |access-date=6 December 2021 |work=The Times |date=4 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Eileen Ash, oldest Test cricketer, passes away at 110|url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2393379|access-date=2021-12-07|work=International Cricket Council|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Births, marriages and deaths: December 11, 2021 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/births-marriages-and-deaths-december-11-2021-fjhcrl55v |access-date=11 December 2021 |work=The Times |date=11 December 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite web |last1=Harvey |first1=Rob |title=Living Legend: Eileen Ash |url=https://www.talkinaboutwomenscricket.com/history/living-legend-eileen-ash/ |website=Talkin' About Women's Cricket |access-date=8 November 2021 |date=30 October 2020}} {{refend}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=53870}} *{{cricketarchive|id=17104}} *{{YouTube|dKji0oK1bmg|"Norwich's Eileen Ash turns 105 – and puts long life down to yoga, driving and... wine"}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash, Eileen}} Category:1911 births Category:2021 deaths Category:British supercentenarians Category:English women cricketers Category:England women Test cricketers Category:Middlesex women cricketers Category:People from Highbury Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Islington Category:MI6 personnel Category:Women supercentenarians Category:Cricketers from Norwich Category:English women centenarians