It is the late 1880s. Fashionable ladies watch a match on the Sydney Cricket Ground. The moment is extraordinary. Take a close look at the pitch…two female teams bat and field. This is the earliest days of women’s cricket in Australia, and this is an all-female charity match. Proceeds will go to the Bulli Relief Fund, marked for another set of women. The Bulli women are newly widowed; a terrible mining accident has killed their husbands and sons.
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On the afternoon of March 23, 1887, a large explosion was heard at the town of Bulli south of Sydney. It was the mine. The tunnel mouth at one end had collapsed. There were no survivors inside the mine. What happened? An accident, investigators believed. Mines were notoriously dark places, lit only by oil lamps. The flames had to be covered, but the men often removed the covers to allow more light. One such open flame—or the relighting of one—ignited the natural gas in the air of the mine.
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A mine is called “gassy” when high concentrations of methane is found in its coal. Methane, when mixed with air, is highly flammable. In the Bulli mine, a ventilation system was in place to control the “gassy” mixture of its air.
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The Bulli Colliery opened in 1863. Soon, a community developed with cottages, shops, a hotel, and a church. The coal company paid for railway tracks that connected Bulli to shipyards. The mine reopened shortly after the explosion and remained open until 1987, employing people for a century.
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The names of the 81 men and boys who died in the Bulli Colliery disaster are inscribed on a monument at Bulli. They were killed either by the blast, falling rocks, or lack of air. One young man survived; 17-year-old Herbert Cope, was walking out of the mine at the time of the blast.
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Up until 1887, the Sydney Cricket Ground used a soil from Victoria’s Merri Creek to make pitches. The cost of transport forced the ground’s first curator Ned Gregory to look closer to home. The link to Bulli may have been established a result of the charity match hosted at the SCG in 1887 to raise funds for the widows and orphans of the Bulli Colliery disaster. Bulli soil, which is used to make pitches at the SCG to this day, was first purchased from the colliery.
Bulli Soil Ball (1900)Sydney Cricket & Sports Grounds
This ball is made of Bulli soil from the SCG pitch more than 100 years ago. Bulli soil is a black clay-like substance, which provides the ideal foundation for a cricket pitch.
Bulli Soil (1888) by Sydney Cricket and Sports GroundsSydney Cricket & Sports Grounds
Large shipments of Bulli soil began to make their way by boat to the SCG in 1888. The soil was stored and used throughout the season. The reputation of the ground grew with the superior soil. Bulli soil has been used to establish cricket pitches in South Africa and New Zealand, as well as Australia.
Ned Gregory And The Sydney Cricket Ground (1871)Sydney Cricket & Sports Grounds
In the 1860s Ned Gregory (pictured, far right, with his brothers) became caretaker and curator of the SCG. His wife, Ellen, was a cleaner. They lived onsite in the stone caretaker’s cottage. Gregory experimented with and laid the first Bulli soil wicket at the ground in 1888.
The Name Of "Gregory" In Cricket (1900) by UnknownSydney Cricket & Sports Grounds
Before he was caretaker, Ned Gregory was a professional cricketer. His brother, Dave, was captain of the first Australian Test team. Three other brothers, two of his sons, and his nephew all played for New South Wales. Ned’s daughters and granddaughters all played at the amateur level.
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The women’s cricket teams, the Fernleas and the Siroccos, played on the SCG grounds on April 15, 1887. They had practised regularly and were passionate about cricket—not surprising since both team captains hailed from the famous cricketing family, the Gregorys. The high level of play surprised many in the crowd of 600. The players, after all, were female, and women were not considered athletes in the 19th century.
Going To Afternoon Tea, Rear Of The Ladies Pavilion (1901) by Image: Courtesy Of The National Library AustraliaSydney Cricket & Sports Grounds
The athleticism of the Gregory women made a sharp contrast to the roles of women at a time when women were discouraged from public displays of physical activity. During a break in a cricket match, for example, most women could be found in the main tearoom at the rear of the Ladies Pavilion.
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