Port Melbourne has been home to many nationally significant cricketers, including Peggy Antonio, who represented Australia in international tours during the 1930s. Peggy began playing for Raymonds’ Cricket Club in Collingwood in the early 1930s, and became nationally well-known in 1934 at age 17, after a notable performance playing for Australia against the visiting English women’s team. The Australian women’s cricket team enjoyed popular support during the 1930s, however players were not professionally employed and had to raise funds to play in international tours. This was potentially a source of their popularity, as the players were “all working girls… [who] have the real ideal of sport – wholesome recreation, devoid of the commercial taint, which spoils so much sport engaged in by men.” In order to fund her tour of England with the Australian team in 1937, the Port Melbourne community raised money including at a “Peggy Antonio Ball” held in the Port Melbourne Town Hall, an event with “great demand for tickets” which sold out quickly. After the tour completed, a major “welcome home” event was held to celebrate Antonio, with the mayor acknowledging her sporting achievements, stating “not only had she won honor for herself, but she had made Port Melbourne better known and appreciated abroad.” After retiring, she played a number of “comeback” matches including in 1949 against a visiting English team at South Melbourne. As late as 1952, Antonio’s successes were still well-remembered, with The Argus reported on her appearance in a YWCA match with the simple headline “Peggy is Back.”
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