Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

The venerable Kingston Cricket Club will finally open its doors to women.- File

KINGSTON CRICKET Club, the Tigers of Sabina Park, has finally, after 145 years, opened its doors to women.

The historic vote to admit women members took place at a special general meeting upstairs the clubhouse at Sabina Park on Thursday evening and, with 43 members present, the vote was 22 for and 21 against.

"It was close," said president Alva Anderson. "So close that it nearly never happened. The important thing, however, close or not, is that it has happened and Kingston Cricket Club will be better off for it."

With the other four top cricket clubs in the country - Melbourne, Kensington, Lucas and St. Catherine CC - all boasting women members with some having served or are serving on their managing committees, Kingston CC, founded in 1863 and the oldest of the five, has finally said the time has come.

'Habits die hard'

"I would have loved it if the vote was overwhelmingly in support of women," said Anderson, who vowed to open the club to women when he took over as president in January. "Tradition, habits, die hard, however, and there was a lot of lobbying against it. We were lucky."

According to Anderson, one vote or not, the move must be good for the club.

"There are some people, some businessmen, who would not touch Kingston with a long stick for the simple reason that it was an all male club. Now that that has changed, now that that shortly will be changed, we can look forward to a lot of help," said Anderson.

"It will not be easy, but the change at Kingston will make it easier than it has been - much easier to get support from the business sector. Better days are ahead for Kingston Club," he said.

Although Anderson had promised when he became president to admit women to the club, the managing committee was split over the issue and the special general meeting was called to iron out the situation once and for all.

Although the club has not yet identified a women's toilet or a changing room, according to president Anderson, application forms are available and the first woman member will be on the books of the club as soon as her application goes before the committee and, just as it is with the men, it is not followed by more than one black ball.