Glamorgan's magnificent century in the County Championship

HUW TURBERVILL looks back on the last 100 years of the Welsh club's presence in the top tier - the key moments and best XIs - and asks what the future may hold

What a year for cricket 1921 was. Not only was The Cricketer born, but Glamorgan also entered the County Championship. Oh, Glammy, Glammy!

There has to be a Welsh county as far as I’m concerned, and I have loved the club from a young age. Childhood holidays in Pembrokeshire occasionally took in a day at St Helen’s rugby and cricket ground in Swansea, and Glamorgan’s scores were always on the local news. They also played at the wonderfully exotic-sounding Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Names like Alan Butcher and Rodney Ontong stood out. They always seemed to be doing well, either 113 for 1, or 133 for 3. And I’m now sent all the news by my father’s cousin, Roger, a member of The St Helen’s Balconiers.

Glamorgan have also forged many memorable cricketers in my time – from prolific openers Hugh Morris and my friend and colleague Steve James; to the tub-thumpingly belligerent batsman Matthew Maynard; to the metronomic slow-medium off-cutters of Steve Barwick and off-spin of England’s most-capped Welshman, Robert Croft; to the blistering pace of Greg Thomas and Simon Jones; and the wily seam of Steve Watkin.

Alas not everyone in the media shares my affection. George Dobell has argued in The Cricketer that Welsh cricket would be sensible relinquishing county status and instead assuming ICC Associate membership, like Ireland and Scotland (and it has been debated in the Welsh Assembly – although the money the county receives from the ECB is a factor). Evidently, he was unswayed by the view of the club’s record run-scorer Alan Jones that “playing for Glamorgan is like playing for Wales”. 

Some journalists say that Glamorgan’s influence was too strong at times, specifically when David Morgan was ECB chairman, and Duncan Fletcher left the county to coach England, bringing in Maynard as his assistant: ‘The Tafia’; I say it was putting the ‘Wales’ in the ‘England and Wales Cricket Board’.

Others say that Glamorgan are underachievers, season-ticket holders in the Championship’s bottom tier… that they do not produce enough Welsh cricketers, especially ones for the national side – after all, they have an entire country to choose from. And that they have been lucky to host the international cricket that they have, including the opening Test of the 2009 (who can forget Monty and Jimmy’s rearguard?) and 2015 Ashes. That came at a price – the sprucing up of their ground (remember Bill Morris’ Major Match Group?) with club chairman Paul Russell, brother of the Oasis manager Marcus, personally losing a lot of money… it plunged the club into debt. Subsequent matches have struggled to sell out.

I admire Hugh Morris, now chief executive, for renegotiating the debt with Cardiff Council; others say that they were fortunate not to be punished, as Durham were (although the latter were on the brink of bankruptcy). There was also the eye-opening masterstroke of the ECB paying Glamorgan £2.5 million three years ago not to host Tests.

What the critics cannot deny, however, is that Glamorgan have had three memorable Championship triumphs: in 1948, 1969 and 1997… not bad for a country obsessed by rugby union. Northamptonshire and Somerset wait on.

At this stage I must pay credit to Glamorgan’s brilliant historian Andrew Hignell, author of 40 books about Welsh cricket, the club’s scorer since 2004, archivist, and curator of the Museum of Welsh Cricket at Sophia Gardens; and specifically the podcasts he recorded with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller for helping me add historical facts to my own romantic memories.

Genesis of Glammie

While Glamorgan entered the Championship in 1921, it’s important to remember that cricket in Wales goes back to the 18th century, and the club was actually formed in 1888. They were joint winners of the Minor County Championship in 1900 and for three years from 1907 Glamorgan finished second in the competition, with talk of entering the first-class game. Alas, financial problems curtailed that, and they had to wait until 1921. The pivotal meeting was held at Cardiff’s Angel Hotel, with Sir John Talbot Dillwyn-Llewellyn, the MP for Swansea, a pioneer. (He also had the vision to bring Test cricket to Wales, but that had to wait 88 years).

Tal Whittington, a solicitor in Neath, also led the campaign, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the patronage of Sir Sydney Byass, owner of Margam Steelworks near Port Talbot, and his £1,000 loan to the club over 10 years, acting as a guarantee to the English counties that Glamorgan would fulfil its fixtures.

On February 18 1921, MCC’s cricket committee rubber-stamped the application, proposed by Somerset and seconded by Hampshire. Thus on May 18, Glamorgan faced Sussex at Cardiff Arms Park. They won the toss and batted, with Whittington and a dentist called Norman Riches, who was captain and their leading batsman from their Minor County days, opening up (“in winter he pulled teeth, in the summer he pulled balls to the boundaries,” jokes Hignell). On the boundary, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers played Men Of Harlech. It must have inspired the hosts, as they won by 23 runs.

It wasn’t the start of a glorious run, however. That year they managed just one more win, against Worcestershire at St Helen’s, and were bottom. The year after they lost 13 in a row (although they were 16th, pipping the Pears).

^{The classy Steve James in action}

In 1923 the club was nearly wound up because of debt, but the committee vowed to carry on. One of the Glammy greats, off-spinner Johnnie Clay, became captain, and kingpin batsman Maurice Turnbull turned up (then still a schoolboy), inspiring victory over Lancashire at Swansea in 1924 on debut. The bowling performance of slow left-armer Frank Ryan was also crucial in that match – he took 10 wickets. Surplus to requirements at Hampshire, he hitchhiked from Southampton to Cardiff to try to get a contract. Officials, explained Hignell, thought he was a tramp but “they soon realised when he was bowling in the nets that he was a magician.”

Turnbull became Glamorgan’s first England player in January 1930, facing New Zealand at Christchurch. He was also a talented scrum-half. He made his Wales debut in 1932/33, helping them to their first win at Twickenham over England. He made 156 at Leicestershire in 1939 in the club’s final match before the War. Alas, he died just after D-Day in early August 1944, fighting for the Welsh Guards against an advancing column of German tanks. It was Clay and Turnbull who introduced the daffodil as the club’s emblem in 1926/27. Another key Glamorgan player was seamer Jack Mercer. He’d received shellshock in the Great War at the Somme in 1916 but joined from Sussex in 1922. He took 10 for 51 at Worcestershire in 1936 in the first innings of a draw.

The title triumphs

1948: Glamorgan struck swiftly after the First World War. At the heart of it was captain and key allrounder Wilf Wooller. He was outspoken and gruff, but that was understandable after serving on the ‘Death Railway’ in Burma (alongside my grandfather); and he always had Welsh cricket’s interests at heart, staying as the club’s overlord long after retirement. Joining Clay in a fine spin combo was offie Len Muncer; signed from Middlesex, he took 139 wickets that campaign; Willie Jones and Emrys Davies topped 1,400 runs. Glamorgan were held up in August when their match against Gloucestershire at Ebbw Vale was stopped due to mountain mist and a flock of sheep. 

A win against Hampshire clinched it, however.

1969: Two years after Glamorgan moved from the Arms Park to Sophia Gardens, another famous captain, Tony Lewis, led them to glory again. I recalled him as the genial BBC TV cricket host in the 1980s, but he was also a fine batsman and the only Glamorgan player to lead England in Tests (in eight of his nine appearances). (Cyril Walters had done so in 1934 but was at Worcestershire by then.) Also a prodigiously talented violinist, Wooller informed him in only his second match aged 18 that one day he’d be skipper.

The one-run win against Essex at Swansea meant that Glamorgan needed one more to take the title. Majid Khan – son of India fast bowler Dr Jahangir Khan, who famously killed an airborne sparrow while bowling at Lord’s in 1936 – played the innings everyone recalls from that year; his wonderful footwork helping him to 156 out of a total of 265 on an iffy pitch against Worcestershire at Sophia Gardens, live on BBC Wales. Don Shepherd took his 2,000th first-class wicket in the match and bowled the ball that clinched the title on September 5, embracing Lewis in stand-out scenes. They were the first team to be unbeaten in a season since Lancashire in 1930. The crowd congregated around the pavilion and sang the Welsh national anthem.

1997: Maynard led them to title No.3. He also had help from the calculatingly logical Zimbabwean, Duncan Fletcher, whose work as coach saw him take the England job in 1999-00. The overseas player was terrifying toe-cruncher Waqar Younis. The highlights of the final day – September 20 – at Taunton are on YouTube and great fun. Welsh fans mobbed Morris and James as they sprinted off. The latter lost his bat before being reunited with it thanks to a newspaper campaign, while Croft led the fans in a rendition of Alouette from the balcony.

There have also been a hat-trick of one-day league wins. Viv Richards, in the autumn of his career, inspired the 1993 success, the first to be played in coloured clothing (more of that later). His duel with Aussie quick Duncan Spencer of Kent in the final match at Canterbury that Glamorgan narrowly won to take the title was unforgettable. Croft was a key player, taking 28 wickets, in 2002; and they also did it in 2004, in part thanks to Australian batsman Matthew Elliott’s 686 runs.

England expects?

It feels as if Glamorgan have always had a raw deal when it comes to England selection. The two biggest victims were Alan Jones and Shepherd. When prolific, adaptable opener Jones arrived at Lord’s to face the Rest of the World XI in 1970 (after South Africa’s tour had been called off) he thought he was winning his first – and, as it turned out, only – Test cap.

The series was downgraded by the ICC, however. What one appearance proved for a man who made 34,056 first-class runs is not certain. On the 50th anniversary of the match, the ECB did at least try to make up for his disappointment by presenting him with a special cap. Shepherd took more first-class wickets – 2,218 – than any other player who never played a Test. In 1956 he claimed 177, and he topped 100 in a season 12 times.

^{Sophia Gardens has kicked off two Ashes series in 2009 and 2015}

Arguably only Croft fulfilled his international potential, winning 21 Tests caps, and playing in 50 ODIs. A fiercely patriotic Welshman who cheered for Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final (I was standing next to him in Sri Lanka), nevertheless he is proud to be Glamorgan’s most-capped cricketer with England. He bowled well too, always with control, taking 49 wickets. His highlight was operating in tandem with Ashley Giles in England’s series win in Sri Lanka in 2000/01.

Turnbull won nine Test caps and Allan Watkins 15, scoring two centuries, at Johannesburg and Delhi. There was also allrounder Peter Walker (three) and Gilbert Parkhouse (seven). Father and son Jeff and Simon Jones had a fair crack. Southpaw quick Jeff won 15 caps, and Simon would have won more than 18 if not for injury. He was a 2005 Ashes hero.

Considering Lewis captained England in eight Tests, including in India in 1972-73, making a century at Kanpur, nine caps in total was a measly haul. Maynard was a county colossus with 54 centuries for the club, but failed to curb that aggression and paid the price at Test level. In his final Test, at Jamaica, in 1993-94 – the one in which Mike Atherton was worked over by Courtney Walsh – Maynard was caught behind third ball off Kenny Benjamin in the second innings, slashing with minimal foot movement. He deserved more than four caps, though.

Morris and James were also unlucky. The former was brilliant domestically, making 53 centuries. The left-hander made 44 against West Indies at The Oval, and 42 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, in 1991. Three Tests was not enough to judge his true worth. James was also prolific at county level, scoring 47 first-class centuries, but was given just two Test caps, in 1998. Against Sri Lanka and Muttiah Muralitharan, he made 61 runs and faced 261 balls – all on the same weekend his wife gave birth. That should have earned him another chance at least.

And then there was Steve Watkin. Like Martin Bicknell, he probably suffered from playing in the same era as Angus Fraser. He played three Tests, took 11 wickets at 27, including helping England to two memorable wins (match figures of 5 for 93 against West Indies at Headingley in 1991, and 6 for 152 against Australia at The Oval in 1993). His reward? Banished to the valleys.

At least he won more than Jim McConnon (two), and Clay and seamer Austin Matthews, both one-Test wonders.

Outgrounds

As counties go Glamorgan is a bit of an anomaly. It is one of 13 Welsh counties, but as previously stated, tends to be seen as representative of the Principality as a whole (although there is also a Wales National Counties side).

Glamorgan does actually contain the cities of Cardiff and Swansea, where the county’s two major grounds are. But it has had a whopping list of outgrounds – I count 18 – with possibly only Yorkshire rivalling that (more than 20).

In 1934, Glamorgan merged with Monmouthshire and started to host Championship matches at Newport in that county. Outside of Covid-struck times, Colwyn Bay (Denbighshire) is the third ground, where James made his amazing 309 not out against Sussex in 2000.

St Helen’s is also lovely if a bit rundown. It was immortalised by John Arlott’s poem – Cricket at Swansea (Glamorgan in the Field); he was friends with Dylan Thomas. It is also where, in 1968 – Garry Sobers struck six sixes in an over off Malcolm Nash in a Championship match, fortuitously recorded for posterity on BBC Wales – with Wooller on comms!

^{Glamorgan have graced a number of picturesque outgrounds - including at Colwyn Bay}

Other Welsh counties have hosted Glamorgan, including Llanelli in Carmarthenshire; Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf; Cresselly in Pembrokeshire; and Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire in mid-Wales on the coast.

Famous tourists slayed

1939: The West Indians were vanquished at the Arms Park. Wooller scored 111 in two hours in the first innings and took 5 for 69 in the second.

1964: Ossie Wheatley was skipper against the Australians at Swansea; the Eisteddfod was being held down the road, and national fervour resulted. Shepherd took nine wickets in the match, and slow leftie Jim Pressdee 10.

1968: By this time the Aussies were sick of Swansea. Shepherd was skippering with Lewis absent, in a memorable match shown on BBC Wales; in the first innings, Jones scored 99 and Nash took 5 for 28.

Pakistani connection

Like most counties, nearly all the countries have seen representatives play for Glamorgan. There was Richards, Roy Fredericks and Ezra Moseley from West Indies; Ravi Shastri from India; Elliott, Michaels Kasprowicz and Hogan and current recruit Marnus Labuschagne from Australia; and South Africans Jacques Kallis and Colin Ingram. It is the Pakistanis who have reigned, however. There was Majid ‘Magic’ Khan; Younis Ahmed; Javed Miandad, who wasn’t even picked every match previously by Sussex (affectionally known as Dai Younis – 118 not out – and Dai Miandad – 200 not out – after they put on 306 for the fourth wicket against Australia at Neath in 1985); and Waqar Younis, who was pivotal in the 1997 win. 

Telly power

That Glamorgan are backed by a national broadcaster has been a boon for fans over the decades (less so now, sadly). Thanks to BBC Wales, surely they have enjoyed the most tailored coverage for any county, again with the possible exception of Yorkshire. Glamorgan – or Morgannwg – have also featured on S4C, and on ball-by-ball local radio.

Looking good

Glamorgan have always had a lovely kit. The 1993 National League was the first to feature coloured uniforms and I still have the shirt – navy with lemon piping (although I don’t wear it as well as King Viv did). The daffodil badge, yellow flower and green stalk, is a thing of beauty.

Threat from Welsh Fire

What does the future hold? Many fear that The Hundred franchise Welsh Fire is a threat – but will they sell out Sophia Gardens, especially now Steve Smith is not coming? They could do with a few more Welshmen. At the moment only David Lloyd is in it! Meg Lanning threatens to give the women’s team tremendous star power – but are the Australian women going to make it over?

Conference systems probably offer Glamorgan the best chance of red-ball success in the foreseeable future, rather than a reversion to two divisions, although on their day they can beat the big boys with the white ball.

How sad would it be if Glamorgan were not with us in a decade’s time? Although I worry about quite a few counties once the current TV deal ends, frankly.

P.S… Glamorgan were close to Basil D’Oliveira’s heart as he scored his first ton in Wales, at Milford Haven, where my gran lived. Hwyl fawr!  

BEST XIS

Steve James

1. Alan Jones. The greatest Glamorgan batsman ever, end of.

2. Gilbert Parkhouse. The only Glamorgan batsman to score centuries against every other county, a record a few of us fell short of by one (not that I’m still cursing that drive at Phil DeFreitas on 96 against Derbyshire!)

3. Hugh Morris. As his opening partner I was always surprised when he got out.

4. Matthew Maynard. What a talent. Would have been interesting to see him captaining this side.

5. Sir Vivian Richards. I’m only going for one overseas player and it has to be the man who taught us how to win.

6. Allan Watkins. Often forgotten in these lists and with due apologies to Tony Lewis, but Watkins averaged 40 with the bat, including a couple of centuries, in Test cricket.

7. Mark Wallace. Colin Metson was the best keeper in the country for a couple of seasons in the early 1990s but Wallace’s batting was on a different level.

8. Robert Croft. Top-quality spinner. England would love to have him now.

9. Simon Jones. Facing him off two paces in the nets was bad enough.

10. Steve Watkin. In my opinion the unluckiest of all Glamorgan players of my era to have so few England caps.

11. Don Shepherd. Surely the unluckiest player of all time to go uncapped.

Matt Maynard

Alan Jones, Hugh Morris, Steve James, Tony Lewis (c), Sir Vivian Richards, Allan Watkins, Mark Wallace (Eifion Jones came close – an unbelievable keeper, and Chris Cooke), Robert Croft, Simon Jones, Steve Watkin, Don Shepherd, 12th man: Wilf Wooller

Hugh Morris

Alan Jones, Steve James, Tony Lewis, Matthew Maynard, Sir Vivian Richards, Allan Watkins, Mark Wallace, Robert Croft, Waqar Younis, Steve Watkin, Don Shepherd

Steve Watkin

Hugh Morris, Alan Jones, Steve James, Matthew Maynard, Tony Lewis, Allan Watkins, Mark Wallace (Chris Cooke very close), Robert Croft, Jeff Jones (left-arm just pipping Simon), Michael Hogan, Don Shepherd