Nellie Gregory organised the first women's cricket match in Australia in March 1886.

Nellie Gregory was the sister of Syd and Charles Gregory. Syd was to captain Australia and played 58 tests and Charles, at one stage, held the record for the highest first class score on Australia of 383. They were outstanding cricketers and prolific run scorers for the Eastern Suburbs (Waverley) Cricket Club.

Nellie's father Ned Gregory played test cricket and was the first curator of the Sydney Cricket Ground. The family lived on the SCG so Nellie and her three sisters, who were also cricket pioneers, had the perfect backyard in which to hone their cricket skills. Not surprisingly that's where the game in 1886 was played.

Nellie, despite being a talented cricketer, had to withstand a great deal of criticism, bordering on ridicule, to get women's cricket established in the colony. A lesser person would have given up, but she stuck to her guns and continued her involvement with cricket for decades.

The photo of Nellie attached shows a very determined young woman, certainly not one to be messed with. Those steely eyes must have sent shivers through even her harshest critic.