Australia's oldest Test cricketer dies aged 95

Norma Johnston, who was Australia's oldest living Test cricketer, has died aged 95.

Known at the time as Norma Whiteman, the fast-bowling allrounder played seven Tests for Australia's women's team between 1948 and 1951.

The 27th player to represent Australia in women's Test cricket, Johnston scored 151 runs at an average of 25.16 and took 22 wickets at 20.54.

"Always indebted to those before us for the foundations and showing us the joy in the game. A mountain of thanks to Norma," Australian champion Mel Jones tweeted.

Fellow Aussie great and Australian Cricketers Association Board member Lisa Sthalekar added: "I loved listening to her recall touring with the pioneers of the women's game, and it was an interest she carried all the way through to her love of the WBBL and the thrill she got from just how far the game had progressed."

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley also labelled Johnston a pioneer of the sport, as did several other players.

"She was passionate about cricket, her home town of Bathurst and the many women who would follow in her footsteps representing their state and country," men's captain Pat Cummins said.

"Her contribution to Australian cricket and the friendships she made with so many within the game will live on forever."

Hockley added: "Norma not only made a wonderful contribution as a player but helped set the platform for the many thousands of women and girls now playing the game."

Johnston's potential was first recognised in the annual NSW Country Week tournament and her selection for NSW and then Australia helped inspire more female participation in her region.

"Her inspiration and influence extended across generations – including Ellyse Perry, who Norma fondly recalled meeting when the Australian star was just 15 years old," the ACA said in a statement.

She returned to Bathurst upon her retirement in 1951 where she became an integral part of her local sporting community for the next 50 years.