The Guardian

In 1976, Heyhoe Flint became the first female player ever to step on to the Lord’s outfield, external, when she led England against Australia. 

Earlier that same summer, in 1976, Heyhoe Flint had saved a Test against Australia by batting for a day and a half at The Oval. 

She was out in the last over, trying to hit a six. When she walked off, her husband met her in the pavilion with a kiss and a glass of cold beer. This, she was told, wasn’t appropriate behaviour for an England captain, and was one of the reasons she was sacked soon after. 

Heyhoe Flint was often confronted with this sort of nonsense. 

She had been told off, too, for posing for a photo with her baby at Lord’s, because the players’ weren’t allowed to bring their children to the ground. 

This though when she had led England two months after giving birth to her son, and most Saturdays would pack the car with a play pen, potty, clothes, toys, pram, food and her baby boy in a carrycot, as well as all her cricket kit.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Rachael Heyhoe Flint was a trailblazer for women's cricket in a career which spanned two decades.

It included leading her country to victory in the 1973 World Cup - a feat never yet matched by their male counterparts.

Image source, Getty Images

When she stopped playing, she was one of the first women admitted to the MCC, and in 2004 she became the first woman elected to the full committee. 

She was President of the Lady Taverners in 2001 to 2011, is a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands and was inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.

I think she would be one of the first to admit she had taken her eyes off the ball in this picture though, as it looked like she wound up to hit it down the road.

Crowds have gathered for Wolverhampton to say its goodbyes to one of its most celebrated daughters, Rachael Heyhoe Flint.

She was born in the city on 11 June, 1939, was educated at Wolverhampton Girls High School, on Tettenhall Road, and went on to teach PE herself within the city, before her achievements in the world of sport and public life.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Ben Heyhoe Flint says his mother "didn't care about airs and graces".

Facebook

Our readers and viewers have been paying tribute to Rachael Heyhoe Flint on social media today.

Trevor Parlor posted, external she was a "lovely lady" who would always speak to you because there was "no edge on her". 

Jane Huffer posted, external she was a "great ambassador for women's sport and the Black Country."  

Ian Winter
BBC Midlands Today Sport

Wolves legend Steve Bull and fellow striker Don Goodman have paid tribute to Rachael Heyhoe Flint ahead of this afternoon's service.

Bull described her as a "big part of my life" and the woman who taught him "all his wit and humour".

Goodman, meanwhile, revealed she advised him when he first came to the club on where to look for houses and said she "touched many lives and was very giving".

John Bray
BBC Midlands Today

Former Wolves owner Steve Morgan, who sold the club to Chinese conglomerate Fosun International in July, has also returned to the city to pay his respects to the club's late vice president.

John Bray
BBC Midlands Today

Representatives from Wolverhampton Wanderers are arriving to pay their tributes to Rachael Heyhoe Flint this afternoon, including former goalkeeper Matt Murray and current manager Paul Lambert.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

If you missed it earlier, here's a great video put together by my colleague John Bray, who is covering the thanksgiving service in Wolverhampton.

A number of City of Wolverhampton Council staff have volunteered to be stewards at the thanksgiving service for Rachael Heyhoe Flint

John Bray
BBC Midlands Today

Judith Chalmers and Angela Rippon will both pay tribute to Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint at the service of thanksgiving.

Image source, Getty

Judith will give a reading, while the eulogy is to be delivered by Angela.

The service is due to begin from 14:00 at St Peter's Collegiate Church, in Wolverhampton.

John Bray
BBC Midlands Today

The service of thanksgiving for the late England women's cricket captain, Wolves' vice president and Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint is due to begin at 14:00 today. 

Marcin Dlugolecki, who had denied arson charges, was found at HMP Nottingham.

Police forces across the UK paid out at least £22m to informants over the past five years, according to figures obtained by BBC Radio 5 live.

Image source, Met Police

The Met, the largest force, topped the list, spending £5.2m from 2011-16, the data showed and West Midlands Police, the country's second largest force, was fourth on the list of spenders with just over £1m.

One critic said it did not stop the "cycle of crime".

However, the National Police Chiefs' Council said it was "a cost effective tactic".

A Home Office spokesman said it was "an operational matter for police".

Crimestoppers are offering a £5,000 reward for information about the attempted murder of a man left with severe brain injuries.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Jason Webb, aged 30, was repeatedly kicked in the head in Kings Heath, Birmingham, on New Year's Day in 2015. 

The charity is offering the cash for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

John Bray
BBC Midlands Today

Wolverhampton is cold and miserable today - not words you would ever associate with Rachael Heyhoe Flint.

The city will this afternoon pay tribute to one of its favourite daughters with a service of thanksgiving at St Peter's Collegiate Church.

Rolling road blocks will be in place as the funeral cortège leaves Molineux at 13:30 GMT.

Baroness Heyhoe Flint, Wolves vice-president and former England cricketer, died last month at the age of 77.

A man charged with arson after a fire at a Birmingham Citroën dealership has been found dead in his cell.

Image source, @PRTIZDABARBER

Marcin Dlugolecki, 33, died at HMP Nottingham on 1 February, the Prison Service confirmed.

An independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will now be carried out, the service said.

The Birmingham Mail reported, external he denied an arson charge when he appeared before magistrates.

No-one was injured in the 16 January fire but some cars were burnt out, a spokesperson for Citroën and dealer Robins and Day said at the time.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Two people have been taken to hospital after a crash between two cars and a lorry which caused one of the cars to spin around.

The driver of the car that was spun around, believed to be in his 20s, was taken to Heartlands Hospital with a suspected broken wrist and hand injury after the collision on the M42 on Tuesday night, West Midlands Ambulance Service said, external.

A passenger from the second car, a woman thought to be in her 80s, was treated for abdominal and back pain and also taken to Heartlands after the crash between J5 and J6 on the northbound carriageway near the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) at 19:30 GMT.

Birmingham Mail

A man charged with arson following a £100,000 fire at a Birmingham Citroen dealership has been found dead in his cell, external.  

Rob Mayor
Black Country Political Reporter, BBC WM

The candidates vying to be the first elected mayor for the West Midlands are debating how much they should be paid if successful.

Image source, Thinkstock

Both UKIP's man Paul Durnell and the Green Party's James Burn say their candidates would take the region's average yearly wage - about £28,000. 

The Conservative candidate Andy Street has suggested a performance-related salary, while Labour's Sion Simon says it's "not the job of politicians to decide their own pay". 

Beverley Nielsen, who is running for the Liberal Democrats, said she would accept whatever was "the recommended amount".