Two of the game’s greatest allrounders dominated the 1950’s, Australia’s Betty Wilson and England’s Mary Duggan. The two traded blows all decade and when done with each other took it out on New Zealand.
It was a period of three day Tests, most of which were drawn and whole seasons without any international cricket at all.
Mollie Dive lead an Australian team to England in 1951 and the next five years were completely devoid of Test cricket for Australia, finally broken in 1956/57 when they played a one-off Test against New Zealand. They rounded out the decade when they hosted England in 1957/58.
It was the same for England. The Aussie tour in 1951, then nothing until 1954 when they hosted New Zealand for the very first time. It was New Zealand’s first three Test series. Then nothing for England until the Australia/New Zealand tour of 1957/58.
With such talent in all three teams it is such a pity that these champions played so little cricket.