A BURNLEY and England international Cricket woman who made a name for herself despite being less than five feet tall has died aged 83.

Accomplished batswoman Joan "Wilkie" Wilkinson, who was born in Foulridge, played for the national team for 10 years between 1948 and 1958 and travelled the world gaining a reputation as one of the country's most consistent players.

Born on April 5, 1919, Joan was the eldest of three children whose father worked as a weaver in the cotton mills. She attended the village school until the age of 14 when she left to join her father in the factory.

As a youngster she had always been keen on both cricket and football, honing her skills in the streets near her home and at 16 she joined a women's team in Burnley after watching a cricket match with her father at Turf Moor.

Her first match for Burnley was against Littleborough, a match Burnley won by one run after Joan scored 14.

When the second world war broke out, Joan volunteered to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as a means of escaping the drudgery of factory work, but she was turned down because of her height -- she was just 4ft 11ins.

However when the WAAF heard of her sporting ability she was called up in 1941 as a PT instructor.

Her career blossomed and she was chosen to play for the England Women's Cricket Federation.

After the war she stayed with the WAAF and toured to Australia and New Zealand with the England team.

Her final appearance for her country was on the 1957/8 tour of Australia and New Zealand where she scored 90, the highest of her international career.

In all she played 24 innings in 24 matches and scored 436 runs.

She stayed in the WAAF until 1965 when she joined Johnson and Johnson in Earby. She retired when she was 60.

Joan was unmarried.