CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket Podcast (Museum of Welsh Cricket)

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This is taken from the back cover of the recently published book about Paul Crump entitled 'One Armed and Dangerous':

'This is the totally true, though almost incredible, story of a very proud Welshman.  A son of Merthyr Tydfil, once the industrial capital of the world but always a hotbed of Welsh sporting excellence.  They don't do it by halves in this toen you know, and Crumpy is no exception in that.  A quite remarkable man.  That man is Paul Crump.'

Born without a forearm after the difficulties of a twin pregnancy Paul grew up with little or no sense that he was any less of a person than anyone else.  A keen sportsman he wanted, first, to play professional football.  On trial at Wolverhampton Wanderers he turned out for the Pennydarren XI Cricket Club.  Paul tells us how his performances got him referred to Glamorgan for trials and into the press for his exploits.

In a hectic few years Paul was contracted to play for the Grounds staff at the Home of Cricket, Lords.  As well as talking about his experiences here and the people he met including England players Ian Botham and Goeffrey Boycott, Paul tell sus about his boyhood friends who have turned into lifeling ones.

Paul's story is not without regret as he failed to get the professional career in cricket he wanted and by his own admission done some things that were not great.  In telling his story, you become aware of his prodigious talent and his strong will to succeed.

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We talk to Glamorgan and Criced Cymru / Cricket Wales' Mark Frost.  Recipient of a BEM in the 2022 New Years Honours List, Mark tells us about growing up in the West Midlands where his first taste of club cricket came at Dudley Cricket Club who were, at that time, captained by the recently retired Worcestershire and West Indies opener Ron Headley.

After University and some excellent performances in the Minor County's Championship for Staffordshire he first signed professional terms with Surrery in 1988 and played in a team that included Alec Stewart, Ian Greig and Graham Thorpe.

Mark moved to Wales to play for Glamorgan in 1990 and spent 4 seasons with the county.  He remembers playing alongside Alan Butcher, Hugh Morris, Mathew Maynard and the great Sir Vivian Richards as well as a tumultuous over facing the great Curtley Ambrose.

After leaving cricket he took up an administrative role with Sport Wales and thus began a career in managing community and professional sport that has lasted almost 30 years.  Mark has had three spells working with the body representing recreational cricket in Wales.  He has been in his current role since 2014 which combines development work in the recreational sector with a role for Glamorgan CCC bringing together the professional and recreational games.

He talks enthusiastically about his own professuional career and the development of cricket in Wales emphasising the inclusivity and diversity of cricket at a time when these qualities are being looked at sceptically by some outside the game.  He talks about his optimism for the future of the sport and the joy he gets from regularly volunteering as a coach at his local club, Penarth.

Mark has written and published 5 books for children, details of which you can find here:

https://httpthefour.weebly.com/

You may wish to contact Mark directly if it is not possible to order these books from this site (contact details below)

He has been a longstanding member of Christians in Sport and he explains how important his faith is to him in his work and life generally.

Anyone wishing to contact Mark can do so here :

mark.frost@glamorgancricket.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @MarkFrostsport

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In this episode of the podcast we meet and talk to several members of the Wales Seniors Cricket Squads.

Our first interview is with Robin Jones who will be this seasons Over 70s captain.  He talks about his cricket with Machen Cricket Club as well as his involvement with the Wales Seniors Squad.  A left arm spinner he also enjoys his batting and has taken around 2,000 league wickets in his 40 years of playing club cricket.

His involvement with Wales Seniors dates back to 2015 when he got involved with the over 60s.  He talks about winning the County Championship in 2016.  He talks about the skillset of these older players, their enduring competitiveness and the camaraderie that exists around the team.

We talk about some of the grounds where the Wales Seniors play and the mechanics of organising their fixtures.  The team plays other English Counties but has also played international matches.  It is due to play the full England Over 70s side this Summer.  Robin talks about his pride of playing with the Wales Seniors side and his proudest moment in a Wales shirt.

Richard Harris, captain of the Wales Over 60s First XI played his club cricket for  Burton and Cresselly Cricket Club’s in Pembrokeshire.  He has toured as a member of the England Over 60s team in Australia but is very proud of his involvement in the Wales Seniors set up.  He sketches out the history of seniors cricket in Wales and talks about the ever improving standards of the cricket.  He talks about his experiences as a tourist with the England Over 60s team and how important it was for him to maintain his welsh identity throughout that experience.

Peter Docherty is the current President of Penarth Cricket Club but has been in and around Wales Seniors Cricket for around 15 years.  Opening the batting, Peter was saved from a retirement into playing golf and now loves his senior cricket as it keeps him fit and has taken him around the World.

Anthony O’Sullivan will be the captain of the Over 60s Second XI this coming season.  His club cricket was with the Pennydarren Country XI in Merthyr.  He mentions a fantastic claim to fame alongside his career with Wales Seniors cricket.

They all talk with great pride of the cricket they play and the successes they have had as seniors cricketers.  There are more players beginning to be involved in this form of cricket and there is an increasing competitiveness about the cricket.  All the boys show a great level of enthusiasm for the set up and through that the game of cricket.

We chat about the County Championship set up that the Wales teams participate in and Richard tells us about the inaugural Over 60s Cricket World Cup which takes place in Australia later this year.

The Over 60s World Cup Squad is looking for sponsors for its visit to the tournament in Australia.  The chair of their sponsorship group is Stuart Carpenter.  His contact details are:

stuartcarpenter@adm.com or 07789402400

You can find Wales Seniors Cricket on Facebook or on Twitter @SeniorsWales

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In this week’s episode we talk to new Chair of Criced Cymru Jennifer Owen Adams as well as it’s CEO Leshia Hawkins. 

Jennifer begins the chat by talking about herself and her interests in sport in general and cricket in particular. 

Leshia brings us up to date with the development of the recreational game under the shadow of coronavirus and the successes that Criced Cymru has had in reaching new people, in particular girls and women. 

After a brief discussion of how Leshia and Jennifer are developing their relationship we talk about how the organisation has responded along with Glamorgan to the issues raised by the experiences of Azeem Rafiq in the professional game.  They both underline the ongoing work that is taking place around issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in Wales and the importance of changing behaviours through an open and honest conversation around these matters. 

Jennifer talks about the need to be aware of the cricket that takes place in the rural areas of Wales and trying to improve the access to the game in the rural parts of Wales.  Leshia reinforced the unique challenges that Criced Cymru faces with the contrasts between urban and rural experiences and the need to incorporate into their work issues around poverty and the welsh language. 

The ability of Criced Cymru to achieve its goals depends crucially on the ongoing engagement of an army of volunteers.  Jennifer talks passionately about this being a central focus for her in the coming months and years. 

Leshia outlines the plan for a women’s cup competition in the 2022 season and how important this is to encouraging young girls to take an interest in the game. 

Both our guests talk about being a woman in their role and whether that is important or relevant in what they do and they both talk about their cricketing highlights of the last 18 months or so. 

Both talk about what they enjoy doing outside of administrating the game and they finish by saying a little bit in the welsh language !! 

Do check out their website here: 

https://cricketwales.org.uk/ 

To see the equity, diversity and inclusion plan drawn up Criced Cymru and Glamorgan CCC go here: 

bit.ly/3J61rY2 bit.ly/3q2rUOW 

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This week’s episode is a tribute to the late great Australian cricketer Shane Warne

There are contributions from the following:

Alan Wilkins, sports broadcaster

Andrew Hignell, Curator of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket

Darren Thomas, ex Glamorgan cricketer and Wales National County Head Coach

Adam Rosser, ex player with St Fagans Cricket Club

Aimee Rees, Head of Glamorgan’s Women and Girls Elite Pathway

Phil Steele, ex professional rugby player, broadcaster and after dinner speaker

Mark Wallace, Glamorgan Director of Cricket

Dean Cosker, ex Glamorgan cricketer and ECB match referee

Steve Watkin, Glamorgan Second XI and bowling coach and ex Glamorgan and England cricketer

David Morgan OBE, former chair of Glamorgan CCC, ECB and former President of ICC

Richard Thomas, cricket author

The music at the end of the episode has been provided by the Morriston Orpheus Choir.  The details of the recording are as follows:

Musical Director and Accompanist/Cyfeilydd a Chyfarwyddwr Cerdd

Joy Amman Davies 

Organist/Organydd

Ieuan Jones

Gwahoddiad:  Words by/Geiriau gan   Ieuan Gwyllt

 Arranged by/Trefnwyd gan   John Tudor Davies

 Sound and video mixing/Cymysgu Sain a Fideo

C.O.B.R.A. Music Studios, Newport

Their website where you can contact them is:  www.morristonOrpheus.com

They can be found on Twitter @welshorpheus  and their other social media is here:

Facebook.com/MorristonOrpheusChoir

instagram.com/MorristonOrpheus

The wonderful portrait that we have used to publicise the episode was produced by a gentleman who describes himself on his Twitter profile as:

Shouty amateur cricket artist, number 11 batsman who doesn’t bowl. Can’t catch. I do my paintings on an IPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

To follow him and to see more of his wonderful cricketing portraits go to @WG_RumblePants

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In this week’s episode we talk to Tony Dell,  veteran of the Vietnam War,  Australian Test cricketer and one time resident of Cardiff and pupil at the Hawardian School for Boys.

Tony was born in Hampshire but moved to Wales in 1956 when his father was seconded to the Hoover Company based in Cardiff.  He attended the Hawardian school where he had his first sporting experiences.

The Hoover Company again called on the Dell family to move to Australia.  On arrival here, Tony’s sporting career really took off with him playing rugby and cricket.  In the early 1960s he played club cricket and then Sheffield Shield.  He remembers vividly being given bowling advice in these early years by Alan Davidson.

Just as his cricket career was beginning to take off the Australian government called on Tony to join up and go to Vietnam.  He was called up via a lottery system, trained and then sent to Vietnam.

Tony talks about his return from Vietnam, his successes on the cricket field and his eventual call up for Australia against England in the Ashes Series of 1971.  He remembers some of the players he played with and against including Alan Knott, Basil D’Olivera, Ian and Greg Chappel, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson.  Tony gives us his view of both these fantastic fast bowlers.

We talk about the decline that took place in Tony’s life and his discovery of the fact that he had been suffering from undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for many years.  He lost his house, business and ended up living in his mother’s garage.  Even in the darkest of times he found that cricket helped him get through as he coached his son.  He talks about meeting other veterans who helped him to get back on his feet and his decision to launch charity dedicated to spreading awareness of Post Traumatic Stress in the armed forces and first responders.

The charity he formed is called Stand Tall for PTS and can be found here:

http://www.standtall4pts.org/

The song that is played at the end of the episode was written by Tony and the video accompanying it can be seen on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xah52LzLMDg

For anyone interested in learning more about Post Traumatic Stress and those who campaign around the issue in the UK you could try checking out Combat Stress here:

https://combatstress.org.uk/

The Once Upon a Time in the Ashes Podcast is a marvellous celebration of Test cricket and its episodes can be found here:

https://onceuponatimeintheashes.com/

Many thanks to those at the Roath Local History Group who published the article about Tony that drew our attention to his story.  You can read the article here:

https://roathlocalhistorysociety.org/2022/01/16/tony-dell-howardian-pupil-who-played-in-the-ashes-for-australia/

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Aimee Rees is the current Head of the Women and Girls Elite Pathway at Glamorgan Cricket.

In this episode she talks about her father and watching him play for Swansea Civil Service and then one day being asked to make up the numbers on the field.  Her father also took her to watch her first professional cricket games and it was at Neath in 1993 when Glamorgan were hosting the touring Australians that Aimee fell in love with the game.  The interview took place shortly after the news of Shane Warne’s death had broken and Aimee recalls getting his autograph and shares her sadness at his passing.

She talks about how she started playing in boys and club cricket and the responses she got from male cricketers and then her first games in girls and women’s cricket.

Aimee’s father was her first coach and she takes a lot of her coaching philosophy from her father.  Aimee recalls her playing days and her transformation from a bowler to a batsman.  She describes how she developed as a left arm spin bowler and recalls watching video footage of Bishan Bedi.

Aimee was 16 before she played any women’s cricket.  She remembers Hannah Lloyd and her father Barry who were involved in the women’s game in Wales.  Aimee ended up playing cricket for West of England, Somerset and Bath and she remembers the costs in time and money for her parents in helping her to play.  In women’s cricket travelling is part of the deal.

Aimee talks about some of the famous players she played against who have gone on to have careers in cricket broadcasting and administration.  

The development of Welsh women’s cricket came at the same time as Aimee’s playing career.  She mentions extending her range of shots as a batter and how her technique improved with lots of practice.  Her fondest memories of her playing career were the grounds she played at.  She remembers batting in a charity game with Sir Richard Hadlee and playing at Eton and Roadean schools.

Aimee talks about the transformation in women’s cricket, how it is played and how it is viewed.  From wearing skirts to play to watching elite players playing in The Hundred Aimee is incredibly enthusiastic about the changes that have taken place and her hopes for its future.

Anyone wishing to contact Aimee about her work and the girls and women’s elite pathway can do so at the following email:

aimee.rees@glamorgancricket.co.uk

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This week’s episode is all about Ynystawe Cricket Club.  We met with the following members of the club to chat about its past as well as its present:

Phil Rowe

Lewis Rowe

Ian Evans

Ceri Evans

Steve Beasley

Jason Kiley

Paul Crane

The club has its origins back in the 1950s when the then club officials bought the freehold of the ground.  Its initial clubhouse was a couple of changing rooms and a lean to shed as the tea room.  The replacement facilities (a set of portacabins) suffered a fire in the late 1990s when they planned and built the current fantastic clubhouse with support from various organisations including the Lottery as well as fundraising by players and locals in the village.

The highpoint for the senior team was a winning appearance in the National Village Cup in 2001.  The gents talk about this as well as the other achievements of the various senior teams.  The club’s success in the early 2000s and after was put down to a very successful emphasis on junior cricket and the club had a ‘golden’ period of junior cricket in the 1990s.

We hear about the village of Ynystawe, characters who have played for the club and the overwhelming pride that these players have for their club.

Anyone wanting to learn more about the club or to book its wonderful facilities can contact them via their Facebook Page or their Twitter feed (ynystawe_ycc)

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In this week’s episode we talk to Linton Lewis and his clubmates from Ammanford Cricket Club.  Linton, born in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, came to Ammanford in 1981 as an unknown young cricketer from the West Indies.  When he left the club in 1989 he had transformed the club’s fortunes and left behind a series of exploits that were legendary throughout South Wales and beyond.

Those interested in learning more about Linton’s experiences at Ammanford can do no better than read this wonderful article on the Dai Sport website which we used in the research for our podcast:

https://www.dai-sport.com/linton-lewis-lawyer-politician-multi-millionaire-and-welsh-club-cricket-legend/

Listen in as we talk to Linton, Ammanford club captain Jeff Roach and past players Colin Mathews, Phil Fisher and Richard Evans as they recall those tumultuous years when the club was catapulted from Division 3 of the South Wales Cricket Association to Division 1, winning 3 Welsh cups along the way and completing the double of Division 1 Champions and Welsh Cup Winners in 1986.

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This week we talk to Newport born Adam Millichip.  A welsh schoolboy cricketer, Adam was man of the match in the Welsh Cup Final in 2008 when Newport defeated Northop Hall CC.

He talks about growing up, being part of a succesful age group cricket team and playing for Newport.

He also tells us about his career as a special needs teacher, his work in Shrewsbury and more recently Wolverhampton and his recent work on the TWS Sports Podcast.  The podcast was born out of the lockdown when the school was searching for something that could encourage school pupils to develop new skills.  From its early days when Adam held each episode together, school pupils now plan questions and undertake all the interviews for the podcast themselves.

The list of those wioth a connection to sport that the podcast has interviewed is very impressive.  On the cricket front they interviewed Nasser Hussain,  David Lloyd,  Rob Key, Mathew Hoggard,  Mathew Hayden, Monty Panesar, Steve waugh, Michael Atherton and Marnus Labuschagne.

If you want to have a look at all the podcasts they have recorded, go to:

https://www.podpage.com/tws-sports-podcast

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In this episode we chat to John Prickett about his life in cricket.  He talks about his early experiences going to watch Glamorgan play with his father and grandfather and his early development as a cricketer.

John studied to be a teacher and took up his first teaching post at the Royal Grammar School in Worcester.  As well as playing with the staff team (which at one point included a very young Imran Khan!) he played local club cricket and became a lynch pin in local schools cricket.

When he returned to Wales he continued his involvement with schools cricket, becoming the manager of Welsh Schools Cricket and latterly the manager of the National Wales U15s side where he witnessed the early development of players like David Hemp, Simon Jones, Tom Maynard and many others.

John shares with us his love for the game and his thoughts on the importance of schools cricket to the overall health of the game.

He fondly remembers his time involved with the game and as he looks forward to his 80th birthday the friends he has made playing and being involved with it.

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This week’s episode features Tony Cordle.  Featured below is Tony’s profile on the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket website (https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/)

We would like to place on record our thanks to Michael Cann of Cardiff Cricket Club for enabling us to contact Tony for this interview

CORDLE, Anthony Elton. 

(birth registered as Elton Anthony Cordle)  Born - Bridgetown, Barbados, 21 September 1940. 

Professional.   1st XI: 1963-1982.   2nd XI: 1962-1980.   Club and Ground:1972-1976. 

Cap: 1967. 

Clubs: Cardiff, Pontyberem. 

Career-bests 

First-class - 81 v Cambridge University at Margam, 1972. 

9/49 v Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay, 1969. 

List A - 87 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, 1971. 

5/24 v Hampshire at Portsmouth, 1979. 

Glamorgan have always been known as a good social team, with many fine singers in their ranks. During the 1930s George Lavis (Vol.2, p155-158) had led the team after they had been invited to sing on stage at several seaside resorts. Their repertoire before the Second World War always featured a number of traditional Welsh melodies, but by the 1960s and 1970s the sing-songs included a series of West Indian calypsos, thanks to the input of Tony Cordle, the Club’s first overseas fast bowler with the Bajan long after retiring from playing, continuing to delight with his lilting voice – albeit in Canada! 

Tony was brought up in the Deacon’s Housing Area, just outside Bridgetown and played a decent standard of club cricket in Barbados. His half-brother Frank King had been a Test fast bowler, whilst his father had captained a strong team in the Barbados Cricket League competition. However, Tony was still a novice as far as cricket was concerned when, shortly after his 21st birthday, he decided to follow the example of his older brother Steve and move to the United Kingdom. 

He initially worked for London Transport, but after ten days – “the most frightening ten days of my life” he later admitted – he decided to move to Cardiff where his brother and sister were now based. A few days later, he went to the Labour Exchange in Westgate Street ostensibly to secure a job with British Railways. Whilst t walking up the stairs he looked out on the Arms Park cricket ground. “I saw the green turf and the scoreboard – the first friendly sights I had seen in Britain.” 

Having fond memories of playing cricket in Barbados, Tony contacted Cardiff CC, little realising that his decision in February 1962 would dramatically transform his life. 

Wyndham Lewis, the Cardiff secretary, was soon impressed – so were Wilf Wooller and Phil Clift, the captain and coach respectively of Glamorgan’s 2nd XI and later that summer Tony made his debut for Glamorgan’s second string, claiming four wickets against Warwickshire at Ebbw Vale. 

After a clutch of wickets in club cricket, besides frightening opponents with his sheer pace and fast arm, Tony received further coaching from the Glamorgan staff, plus captain Ossie Wheatley who taught him important lessons about variations of pace and swing. “I could spray it around at first, “ he admitted. “Direction and getting things right against the professionals used to worry me, but I cut down a bit on pace and learnt how to move the ball around both ways. I worked at it endlessly until it all came right. It was then I realized that bowling quick was not everything and that made me a more effective bowler. “ He could still however produce an express delivery and one of his happiest recollections in a Glamorgan sweater had been clean bowling Hampshire’s Barry Richards almost before the great South African batsman could pick his bat up! 

He agreed professional terms with Glamorgan for 1963, although he contin

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This week we chat to ex club cricketer and longstanding umpire in the South Wales leagues Bob Szpadt.

We talk about his early cricketing experiences as well as his club cricket with Ebbw Vale.  There were six sixes and a 9 for along the way but Bob's abiding memories of his playing days are the friendships he made and the experiences he had.

We talk about his transition to being an umpire and his work not only as an umpire but as appountments officer for the Association of Cricket Officials in South Wales.

Bob's dedication to the game of cricket and officiating in particular was recently rewarded with the opportunity to officiate at the Home of Cricket, Lords, when the MCC played a Wales XI.

As well as talking about that, Bob talks about other highlights including the Wales v Australia Seniors game at which he umpired and the Welsh Cup and Village Cup games he has been involved in.

Bob is another of the great unsung heroes of the game of cricket in Wales.  His love of the game shines through in the chat and there are a few laughs along the way !

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,Dean has over 30 years of experience working in elite sport working as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

He was Head Physiotherapist at England Cricket for over ten years during the period when the national team saw some fantastic success including the iconic Ashes victory of 2005.  He was also Head of Medical Services at Surrey County Cricket Club for over four years. 

He began his career with Glamorgan County Cricket Club and his career with them stretches from 1989 to 2019.  He has seen hundreds of professional cricketers, including world renowned players such as Ravi Shastri, Viv Richards,  Waqar Younis and Jacques Kallis stretched out on his treatment table but insists that, to him, each person is just another collection of muscle and bone to be analysed and treated.

A Mountain Ash boy brought up in a miner's pub Dean still watches the local rugby team most Saturdays and is very proud of his valley's roots.  We talk about his early years and his rugby career that first opened his eyes to the skills and abilities of the physiotherapist.  He talks about University, his early clinical experiences and the connections that brought him to Glamorgan.

Dean tells us a little of the life of the cricket physio ( the days are long !) and some of the places and people he has met.  Mike Fatkin was part of the management team  at Glamorgan when he started there in 1989 (uhm !!) and has turned into a long life friend.  He talks about how he approached the task of keeping all the players in the team as fit as possible, the importance of dealing in percentages of fitness and the need for players to rest.

Outside of the successful teams he has been associated with Dean remains a Valleys boy, proud of where he has come from and keen to see the game of cricket grow through programmes like the All Stars and the Dynamoes.

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Sean is a TV Rugby Analyst for BBC Wales Scrum V.  He provides commentary and match analysis.  He also works for BT Sport, Sky Sports, S4C and hosts the Sony Award winning ‘Rugby Nation’ weekly show on Nation Radio.  Sean was Head Coach for Ospreys Rugby where he spent nine Seasons.

He played cricket in his home town of Cwmafan near Port Talbot and developed into a good junior player who played representative cricket in his teenage years.

He talks about his early cricketing experiences and how he developed as a batsman and young off spin bowler.  He played a lot of football as a youngster but he describes how rugby became his all-consuming passion which squeezed out his cricketing development.  Sean spent a year in Australia before going to University and had some experience of cricket there.

As his coaching in rugby developed, Sean's playing for British Steel / Tata Steel declined a little but he has always retained a connection with the club and he has been Club President for many years.

Sean has a family connection with Alan Rees, ex Glamorgan cricketer and Welsh rugby international and he talks fondly about his contact with him and how important he is in the sporting history of the town of Port Talbot.

Sean talks about the players he followed and learnt from and he recalls watching a video about John Emburey.  Glamorgan players he watched were Alan Lewis Jones, Mathew Maynard and John Hopkins.  He recalls fondly the deal he struck with Gray Nicholls for sponsorship and the bats he used.

Tata Steel Cricket Club has been the only club that Sean has played for and he talks with great feeling about how he grew up from a boy to a man with the help of the men at the cricket club.  Older men help sustain the club as they grow older, the turning of the seasons see players change their relationship with it.  Sean does a lot of work raising money for the club and giving back a lot to it.  He talks about being a S.C.O.W, (Steel Company of Wales) boy and how proud he is of this.

Sean talks passionately about his own analytical approach to the game and the impact individual coaches had on his game as a young boy.

We talk about the transferable skills that make good rugby players also good cricketers and / or footballers and Sean talks about dealing with pressure and the importance of team sport's and leaving a legacy for future players.  'Its incumbent on us to recognise and live up to history.'

Sean finishes the podcast with his thoughts about the strength of cricket in Port Talbot and his concerns about the social pressures taking young people away from the game.  He finishes with some final thoughts about Alan Rees and the impact that sporting figures can have on those that come behind them.

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Ashley has been involved in publishing for most of his adult life and is the owner of both Welsh Academic Press and St. David's Press.  The former specialises in a range of titles, some with a Welsh connection but that cover subjects as far apart as education and welsh medieval literature.  This was Ashley's first foray into the publishing business which was foloowed by St. David's Press in the late 1990s.

As a boy, publishing books was always part of the household as his father worked for book publisher Blackwells.  His father also gave him his love of sport, taking him to watch live sport and watch it on the TV.  Ashley worked for Blackwells as a student and later for the business his father set up which was a sales and marketing business for academic publishers.

He loved football but also played rugby and cricket.  He carried these passions into his work as a publisher.  After forming his own company selling academic books he read an article about the Welsh football team that attended the 1958 World Cup and was so taken with the story that he contacted the journalist who had wrote it and suggested publishing a book about it.  This was his first sporting publication and was titled 'When Pele Broke Our Hearts - Wales and the 1958 World Cup'.

He has followed this with a number of books across a range of sports.  In our chat we talked to Ashley about the cricketing books he has published, the first of which was a history of Blaina Cricket Club and which has been followed by books about Glamorgan players from the past, Jim Pleass, Bernard Hedges, Malcolm Nash and Alan Wilkins.

Ashley is currently in the latter stages of preparing a huge book on the 100 year history of Glamorgan as a first class county.

He talks about some of the issues involved in publishing and the joy he has taken in meeting some of his boyhood sporting heroes including ex Chelsea footballer Alan Hudson and welsh rugby player Steve Fenwick.  He is particularly proud of the series of seven books he has published about boxers from wales.

At the end of our chat Ashley remembers both his father and mother and how memories of them still shape his work in the publishing industry today.

You can find St David's Press and Welsh Academic Press at the following places:

https://welsh-academic-press.shopfactory.com

@StDavidsPress on Twitter

@StDavidsPress on Facebook

The book celebrating the Centenary of Glamorgan CCC as a first class county will be published some time this year.  Do keep an eye on both St David's Press and Glamorgan CCC websites for more details.  

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The  Cricket West Indies Masters Association (CWIMA)  recently visited Wales for a couple of pre tournament warm-up games against a Wales Over 50s side.  They played at Pontarddullais Cricket Club and Ynystawe Cricket Club.

We caught up with them at the Pontarddulais match where we spoke to two of the tourists, Roy Singh and Azad Mohammed about playing for the Masters Team, the importance of representing the West Indies and how they have enjoyed engaging with Masters cricket.

The Association has a website:

www.windiesmasters.org/

but they can also be found on Twitter at @West50s and on Facebook under Cricket West Indies Masters Association.

The Team came to the UK to participate in the Marlborough Cup, a Quadrangular Tournament hosted by the England Over 50s Cricket Team.

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Kevin has had almost 60 years involvement in the game of cricket in Wales that has ranged across playing in the first class game, coaching and umpiring.

Born in Cardiff, his first taste of cricket was at school and then later at St. Fagans Cricket Club.  He describes how he followed Glamorgan and talks about some of the players he remembers watching including, Gilbert Parkhouse, Bernard Hedges, Don Shepherd, Alan Watkins, Peter Walker and Ossie Wheatley.

Phil Clift was the coach of Glamorgan at the time and Kevin was invited to go to nets in Cardiff and Neath.  Kevin talks about his experiences in the Glamorgan 'Club and Ground Team'.  He also mentions his experiences on the Lords Grounds staff.  He talks fondly of his experiences as a young cricketer on the fringes of the Glamorgan side and reflects on almost making it as a professional.

Kevin talks about his time as a coach, first with Glamorgan and in South Africa and then, later with Cardiff MCCU and his umpiring.

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 In this episode we talk to Gwilym Balinger and Keith Davies, longstanding members of the club and Val Whiteley,  proud recipient of the Clubperson of the Year Award.

Gwilym talks about the early days of his cricketing career that included a brief contact with Wilf Wooller.

Keith sets out the history of the club as a gift from the Rhys-Williams family.  What was originally a peppercorn rent is now a more commercial arrangement.

The ground was named after the son of Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams family who died during the war.  The ground was named Glyn Park in his honour.

Gwilym remembers some of the characters that have helped build the club in the past and his emergence as a cricketer for the club.  

Val Whiteley talks about her trail blazing work as a member of the committee at Miskin Manor and the changing atmosphere at the club with more women getting involved and taking up officer positions on the committee.

She talks about how she began to understand the game and slowly fall in love with it and encourages other women to come down and get involved.  She also sets out the plans for the development of the club.

Gwilym, Keith and Val remain as committed as ever to cricket and the club. 

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Sohail has been one of the most important figures  developing cricket in the Cardiff community he was born and brought up in for the last twenty years.

As a player then as an administrator he has championed the cause of south asian cricket in Wales and been at the heart of discussions about how to develop it both in the community and in the first class game.

In this interview he chats about his childhood, growing up, his first experiences of cricket and his quickly developing career as a cricket administrator.

At the heart of his contribution is his, and Llandaff Cricket Club's, plea for assistance with providing better facilities at their home, Llandaff Fields, in Cardiff.

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This week has seen the return of first class cricket to Neath.  Glamorgan County Cricket Club have hosted two of their Royal London One Day Cup games against Lancashire CCC and Hampshire CCC at the ground.

In this episode we hear from Museum of Welsh Cricket volunteer David Battersby who gives us a brief outline of List A and other games played at the ground.  We also hear from Life Member of the club Kevin Grant with his memories of his involvement as player and administrator with Neath CC.  We also hear briefly from Darren Davies of Neath Round Table who have assisted the club in preparing hospitality for these, the first Glamorgan games to be held at the ground for 27 years.

For those wanting a little more history find below a more detailed piece written by Dr Andrew Hignell and reproduced on the Cricker Archive website:

 Like many of Glamorgan's grounds' The Gnoll is the home to both Neath Rugby and Cricket Club. The name of the ground is likely to have been a derivation from the word 'knoll', meaning a small round hill, as the first building in the area was situated on the circular mound at the western end of the hill known as Cefn Morfydd to the north of the town. 

By the 17th century a castle and country house had been built on the hillside, and from 1710 onwards it became the home of the Mackworth family, who were wealthy industrialists and owned the town's copper works. In 1811 the Gnoll Estate was bought by Henry Grant, who later became the first mayor of the town. Grant sold off some of the land for building purposes, and allowed ball games to be played on the fields below Gnoll House. 

 The first record of cricket being played in Neath dates back to the mid 1840's, and in 1848 a cricket club was formed, with The Gnoll being its base. During the middle of the 19th century, more housebuilding took place on Grant's land, but he refused to sell the cricket field, and the club went from strength to strength. A number of quite prestigious fixtures were held over the next few years as Alex Cuthbertson, a local solicitor, helped to arrange three-day fixtures in 1855 and 1856 between an Eleven of All-England and a XXII of Neath and District. 

 However, the Neath club encountered money problems, and in the early 1860's looked like going out of existence. They were thrown a lifeline in 1863 as J.T.D.Llewelyn, the cricket-loving industrialist and landowner of Penllegaer House, paid off their debts, agreed to personally pay for the use of the Gnoll and reformed the club under the name of Cadoxton Cricket Club. The 'new' side took its name from a small hamlet to the north of the town, yet there was nothing small about Llewelyn's ambitions, as Cadoxton C.C. became the M.C.C. of South Wales. 

 Indeed, in September 1864 he was instrumnetal in arranging a cricket week which had as its highlight a challenge match between a Glamorganshire XI and a side representing Carmarthenshire. However, perhaps the most famous of these early games took place in May 1868 when a XXII of Cadoxton challenged the United South of England. W.G. Grace was in the English side, yet for once in his career, he bagged a pair, dismissed in both innings by George Howitt, Cadoxton's guest professional. 

 In 1871 Neath RFC was formed and the south-western part of the sports field was devoted to rugby, with cricket being played in the north-eastern half. A rugby grandstand was built and seating was also provided alongside the cricket pavilion as the Cadoxton club continued to be the premier gentleman's side in South Wales, and played with success in the newly-formed South Wales Challenge Cup. 

 In 1897 the Neath Football Club and Athletic Association took over the affairs of CadoxtonC.C., but this proved to be a short-lived organisation, as in 1904 the cricket

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This episode  features the college and the Old Llandoverians Cricket Society and there are interviews with current Chair of the Society, David Stevens, as well as college archivist Harrison Roberts and Old Llandoverian cricketers Russell Hughes - Pickering, Carwyn Williams and Robert Coles.  There is also input from Museum of Welsh Cricket curator and historian of welsh cricket Dr Andrew HIgnell.

Harrison gives us a very brief history of the college dating back to 1848 and its connections with welsh culture.  Dr Hignell details some of the Old Llandoverians who have played or were close to playing for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

Russell, Carwyn and Robert share their experiences of playing old boys cricket and their hopes for the current season.

More details about the college can be found at their website:

https://www.llandoverycollege.com/

The Old Llandoverian Cricket Society has a Facebook Page as well as a presence on Twitter:

Old Lls Cricket and OldLls_cricket

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The latest episode is a voyage of discovery.  Eleri Phillips and Martyn Griffiths are members of St Cadwg’s Church in Cadoxton near Neath.  Eleri, a recent volunteer with the graveyard restoration scheme, discovered a gravestone with simply a name on it.  That name was Joseph Lovering.  After some research of her own, the details were placed on the Church’s social media.  

Martyn, who is a local historian, was intrigued by this man who appeared to be a professional cricketer.  He discovered more details of Joe’s story, his early life which must have been very difficult, his coming to prominence as a cricketer and his life as he combined playing as a paid cricketer and his other job as a painter.

Martyn and Eleri have revealed the story of a welsh cricketer who was encouraged by the support of one of the most important men to develop high class cricket in Wales, JTD Llewellyn of Penllergaer.

Joe also found at some point in his career on the opposite side to the greatest sportsman of the Victorian era, WG Grace.  Martyn has tracked down these occasions and tells us a little bit about them as well as perhaps his most successful performance at the Home of Cricket.

As Martyn tells us, ‘History is never complete’ so there may be further for this story to go . . . we will follow it too.

Those interested in learning a little bit more about Sporting Heritage can go here:

https://www.sportingheritage.org.uk/content/events/national-sporting-heritage-day/welcome-to-national-sporting-heritage-day

Sporting Heritage can be found on www.sportingheritage.org

This week’s episode has made mention of mental health difficulties.  Those wishing to find out where they might get help for themselves or someone they know about can go here:

https://www.callhelpline.org.uk/

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This year was the 50th Anniversary of the South Wales Junior Cricket League.  As part of their celebrations they held a match between a Wales Over 50 XI and a representative U17 League XI at Pontarddulais Cricket Club.

We spoke to the following officers of the club about their memories of junior cricket and the league past and present:

Russell Davies, President
Ian Murphy, Chairman
Ben Roberts, Vice Chairman
John Davies, Secretary and Treasurer

There was a lot of reminiscing but also a repeated refrain of how important it was that leagues like this one exist, giving children the chance to participate in the sport of cricket and to be introduced to the competitive form of the game.

The South Wales League is possibly the largest of its kind in the UK with over 30 clubs participating in its competitions that begin at Under 9 age group and go up to U17s.

Anyone wishing to contact the League can do so by contacting John Davies:

 John Davies, Secretary
8 Llethri Road
Felinfoel, LLANELLI, Carmarthenshire
Wales
SA14 8HT
Telephone: 01554-778951

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In this episode we hear from Glamorgan bowler Michael Hogan who has been with the welsh county since 2013 but has a first class career going back to 2009 with Western Australia.

In this the first of three episodes chatting to Michael he talks about his hometown of Newcastle in Eastern Australia, his family and his earliest sporting experiences.  Michael was very late coming to the first class game ( he was 28 when he made his debut for Western Australia) and he explains the reasons for this.

One big love he had was surfing and the sport dominated his teenage years.  He loved watching cricket and his childhood cricketing heroes were Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

He talks about his early experiences of grade cricket in Sydney and the early difficulties he had convincing himself that he was good enough to play more competitively.  Part of this process was accepting that his bowling action was right for him.  He confirms that this is an important message from him for youngsters to stick with what works for them as long as its safe to do so.

Michael lost his mother to cancer during his teenage years and also lost his younger brother in a car accident whilst playing grade cricket.  Both experiences had a big impact on him.  He describes this and talks about how tragedy made him more determined to succeed or, as he puts it, 'taking something good out of a bad situation'.

He describes how a phone call from Tom Moody changed his expectations about where he could make it to the first class game.  At the drop of  a hat he flies to Perth for a trial with Western Australia, did well and was offered a contract for the 2009-10 season.  The first game of the season was a 50 over game against Queensland. Michael describes this as well as his first Sheffield Shield game.

For those interested in Michael's career you can check the following museum page and the ESPN Cricinfo page:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/michael-hogan/

https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/michael-hogan-275658

Michael talks about playing in the Big Bash as well as how he developed his own particular approach to batting.  He was Player of the Year for Western Australia in in 2009/10 and he talks about how he played better when the people around him put trust in him and expected him to play a leadership role.

Finally, Michael reflects on his chances of playing Test cricket for Australia.

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In this episode, Michael talks about his reason for coming to England.  He talks about Justin Langer as a coach and responds to what Justin thought of him.

He explains the circumstances that allowed him to play in English cricket as a domestic player and how he was able to play in both England and Australia for a period of time.

Michael talks about the first year of his stay in Wales and the difficulties for his family settling in to life in a different country.  He also talks about the issues for a professional cricketer trying to manage their career alongside their family life.

There is a discussion about the conditions in English cricket and the small changes Michael made to his bowling when he came.  There were early difficulties and Michael remembers some of the social media responses to his early form.  The game against Gloucestershire where he took his career best to date of 7 for 92 was where he really arrived as a player for Glamorgan.

Michael explains what a good performance feels like for a bowler as well as his best batting performance and his attitude towards and performances in white ball cricket.

Michael was appointed as captain of Glamorgan in 2018.  He explains what the club was trying to do and the difficulties this imposed on him as a captain.

There is a discussion about Marnus Labushagne and Michael Nesser, their qualities and what it is like to play with them.

Finally, Michael talks about the 2021 triumph in the Royal London Cup Victory.

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In this, the final part of our trilogy of podcast episodes Michael Hogan finishes with some reflections on his time playing for the welsh county.

We run through some of his achievements as a Glamorgan player and he responds to all of these successes.  He talks very personably about being inducted into the Glamorgan County Cricket Club Hall of Fame.

He talks about his record of never having been given out lbw in first class cricket and when it broke as a 'news' item.

Michael talks about Glamorgan and their prospects for the 2023 season.

There are some quick fire questions from colleagues at the Museum of Welsh Cricket including what Michael thinks about starting his career later, who he thinks his worth watching on the County circuit and what he makes of the issues around the ECBs High Performance Review.

He remembers his first class career (to date) and what he takes from the experience.  He talks about what he will remember from being in Wales and makes particular mention of John Williams of the St Helens Balconiers as a person who does so much for the club without any expectation of getting anything back.

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This episode marks the opening of a new exhibit at the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket entitled 'Doug and the Don'.

Doug and The Don is a special exhibition that was launched by the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket on National Sporting Heritage Day, 30 September 2022 which celebrates the friendship between two men at the opposite ends of the cricketing spectrum – Doug Davies, a genial club cricketer in South Wales and Sir Don Bradman, the world’s finest-ever batter and an Australian sporting icon.

“The Don was Doug’s cricketing hero, “explains Dr. Andrew Hignell, the Curator of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket at Glamorgan Cricket’s headquarters at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. “For nigh on thirty years, the pair exchanged letters, with their friendship starting when Doug did a sketch of the Australian cricketer and sent it to him for The Don to sign.”

“Doug, like his father before him, was a talented artist, and to Doug’s delight he had several opportunities to meet up with The Don and personally handover these sketches to the world’s greatest-ever batter. They also shared a love of music so their letters were about more things than just cricket.”

In this episode as well as talking to Douglas we talk to his nephew Noel and friends, rugby play Peter Bolland, ex-Glamorgan cricketer Roger Davis and Cardiff born cricketer Ian Holmes.  There is also an interview with museum volunteer conservationist Alice Moor who was one of the transcribers of the Bradman letters.

We would like to thank BBC Wales for supplying us with archive soundtrack of Bradman's message to Glamorgan CCC members and supporters and Bradman playing piano on a recording made in 1930 and replayed on BBC Radio.

For those interested in seeing the exhibition they can contact the museum at :

 museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk or tel:  02920 419383 

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In this episode we speak to three Englishmen who have made their home in Wales and have played most if not all of their adult cricket here, representing Wales in their Seniors Teams at Over 50s, Over 60s and Over 70s levels.

Mick Staddon was born in Battersea and played most of his early cricket on Clapham Common, playing for Belleville Junior Boys and later attending Battersea Grammar School.  The school can boast two England players amongst their old boys, Mike Selvey and David Smith.  

Mick’s time at the school was sandwiched between them both.  He attended Swansea University from 1968 to 1972, training as a teacher and stayed on in Wales after completing his studies.  After some persuasion from the legendary Bill Edwards, he turned out for Swansea under the captaincy of Hywel Lewis.

The club returned to the South Wales Cricket Association First Division in 1976 when Rodney Ontong was the club professional.  Mick captained Swansea for two seasons between 1980 and 1982 and vividly remembers the 1981 Welsh Cup Final when Swansea played Ammanford Cricket Club and were beaten by the third division side who were inspired by the phenomenon that was Linton Lewis.

Mick finally finished Saturday cricket aged 60 and has loved his Seniors cricket, giving him the chance to extend his career and loving the camaraderie between the players.

Mike Turner learnt his cricket first at Dorchester Grammar School and a minor public school in the West Country.  He then played at University and in Oxfordshire before moving to Wales in 1972.  He first played village cricket before being recruited by Lampeter Town Cricket Club for whom he played for over 20 years.

After an invitation to play for Llandysul Cricket Club he played for them for 17 seasons, playing his final league game against Maesteg in 2019.  Mike believes he is, currently, the oldest player to play in the South Wales Premier League at 73, although this may be a record that will be broken by Ron Walton who may return to top flight cricket with Merthyr Tydfil Cricket Club.  He is now the first team manager at Llandysul.

Peter Bettelly spent his formative years in the East Midlands and although he loved the game he did not play his first proper game of cricket until he started a working life in South Africa where he spent 4 years in and around Cape Town.

He moved to West Wales in the 1980s where he played for Cardigan Cricket Club in the West Wales Cricket Conference for 20 years.  He started his seniors cricket career aged 40 and has played for all the Seniors age grades from Over 50s to, currently, the Over 70s.

He remembers playing a charity game in his native South Notts and bowling to Brian Clough and sharing a dressing room with Derek Randall.

All three guests talk about their cricketing lives and the joy they have experienced playing the game at all levels.

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Last year, 5 cricket clubs in and around Cardiff got together for a fundraising walk for the junior sections of their clubs.  The brainchild of Cardiff Cricket Club President Michael Cann Walking in the Valleys for Young Cricketers was a great success.

This season there are 11 participating clubs plus the umpires / scorers representative organisation.  The clubs / organisations involved are as follows:

Cardiff Cricket Club
Pontypridd Cricket Club
Radyr Cricket Club
Machen Cricket Club
Porth Cricket Club
Hopkinstown Cricket Club
Ebbw Vale Cricket Club
Blackwood Town Cricket Club
Upper Rhondda Cricket Club
Mountain Ash Cricket Club
Merthyr Tydfil Cricket Club
SEWACO (South East Wales Association of Cricket Officials)

Anyone wishing to donate to any individual club can do so by following the links provided here:

https://www.facebook.com/cardiffvalleyscricket/posts/pfbid02QaDeG8j2TdPohbMSM3J6UzcbT9uiUUPs8dyEKdW4VaVjwvRt3onUS4rugdmpJSRbl

This episode is a series of interviews recorded on the first of 4 days of walking which have taken participants from Cardiff up to Merthyr (40 miles in total) stopping off at some of the participating clubs along the way.

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In this episode we interview broadcaster and author Alun Wyn Bevan about the non cricketing history of the ground covering some stories from his 2007 book 'St Helen's Stories'.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book you can follow this link to the Amazon site.  It is well worth considering purchasing a 'used' copy as the quality is often pretty good.  It is a fantastic read and cram packed full of cricketing, rugby and other history not all of which was captured in the episode:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Helens-Stories-Alun-Wyn-Bevan/dp/1843238276

Find below an extract from Owen Morgan's article for Dai Sport written in 2019.  We will publish some more of it when the cricketing episode is published but if you want to read the full article now you can do so by clicking on the link at the end of the notes:

Whether sitting on the sun-drenched boundary watching first class cricket, or standing on the rain lashed terrace enjoying three codes of international football, sports lovers have flocked to St Helen's for over 140 years.

And it's not just its vast array of sporting entertainment and longevity that sets the blue plaque venue apart from the rest. 

The truly historic moments it has witnessed over the years make it an integral part of not just Swansea's but Wales' sporting landscape.

The first ever home Welsh rugby international was played at St Helen's back in 1882 when England were the visitors.

The ground regularly hosted Wales 15-a-side internationals, attracting crowds of up to 50,000 up until 1954 when it was decided to abandon St Helen's for Cardiff. 

But perhaps the most notable rugby union matches played  at St Helen's came at club level with Swansea RFC as the hosts.

When the All Whites beat New Zealand in 1935, it wasn't just the first win by a Welsh club over All Blacks, but the 11-3 success still stands as the biggest winning margin by any Welsh team against the illustrious tourists at club or international level.

The historic win was inspired by a pair of Gowerton Grammar School sixth formers - Haydn Tanner and Willie Davies. Afterwards, the visitors' captain Jack Manchester pleaded with the press: "Tell them we have been beaten, but don't tell them it was by a pair of schoolboys."

The victory was also notable for the fact that Swansea became the first Welsh club to complete the Southern Hemisphere hat-trick having beaten Australia in 1908 and South Africa in 1912.

And, of course, the All Whiles repeated the dose against Australia in 1992, when the Wallabies arrived in Swansea as the reigning World Champions.

But it's not only rugby union the ground has hosted. A number of rugby league internationals have been played there . . . the first of which was a 26-10 win over England in 1945.

Two World Cup matches were also hosted in 1975 when Wales lost to Australia 18-6 and beat New Zealand 25-24.

The latter match saw one of the most notorious incidents in the ground's history when Welsh union and league legend Jim Mills was sent off for stamping on the head of New Zealand prop John Greengrass as the Kiwi prop went over for a try.

And it's not just league and union codes of football that have been played at St Helen's. Association football has also featured at the seaside ground.

Back in 1894, the Welsh football team, which had previously played the majority of its matches in Wrexham, decided to head down south to play Ireland in the British Home International Championships and ran out 4-1 winners.

https://www.dai

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Neath Cricket Club was founded in 1848 and is this year celebrating it’s 175th Anniversary.  As part of it’s celebrations it hosted an MCC XI at the Gnoll on Wednesday 14th June.

We went along and recorded a series of interviews with those who were in attendance.  They included life members, committee members, supporters, the match manager and captain of the MCC on the day and the professional caterer that was there.

Those wanting to know a little more about the history of the Gnoll and, in particular, it’s association with Glamorgan cricket can click on the link here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/neath-1/

Here are some Glamorgan based records at the ground:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/neath.pdf

And hre is an article from the Glamorgan CCC website from last year when the club returned to the Gnoll for two matches as part of the Royal London Cup competition:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/glamorgan-return-to-neath

Glamorgan return there again for two matches in August.  For those interested in purchasing tickets you can go to the Glamorgan CCC website:

https://glamorgancricket.com/

The Neath Cricket Club Facebook Page is available from this link:

https://www.facebook.com/NeathCC/?locale=en_GB

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In this week’s episode we return to discuss the history of St Helen’s as a venue for first class cricket.  Our guest is Richard Bentley who is the co-author, with Malcolm Nash, of Malcom’s cricketing biography ‘Not Only But Also’, published by St David’s Press in 2018.  To purchase a copy of the book you can go here:

https://welsh-academic-press.shopfactory.com/contents/en-uk/p73_Not-Only-But-Also.html

First, Richard tells us about his own early encounters with the ground before starting to tell us about the scores of cricketing records and feats that have been performed at St Helen’s.

He outlines the five world cricketing records that were set there.  These were:

The six sixes hit by Gary Sobers.  For more on this follow the link below:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/nash-and-sobers/

The fastest fifty hit by Don Shepherd

The only time in County Championship history that different bowlers (Don Shepherd and Jim Pressdee) have taken nine wickets in each innings of the game.  For more go here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/2021/05/11/the-game-when-two-glamorgan-bowlers-each-took-nine-wickets-in-an-innings/

Clive Lloyd  -  the fastest double hundred in 1976.  For more go here:

https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/the-clive-lloyd-carnage-at-swansea-that-saw-him-equal-the-then-fastest-double-hundred-in-first-class-cricket-29774

1977 – Glenn Turner carries his bat and scores the highest proportion of his team’s runs in a first class innings.  For more go here:

https://wccc.co.uk/glenn-turners-never-to-be-forgotten-one-man-show/

Richard then outlines some of the Championship records held at the ground starting with a game in Glamorgan’s inaugural year in the competition and carrying on with Matthew Maynard’s maiden first class century on debut.

Other players mentioned are Gilbert Parkhouse, Eifion Jones, Peter Walker, Robert Croft and Usman Khawaja.

Richard then talks about a number of interesting games and feats including Glamorgan denying Nottinghamshire their County Championship victory, the Championship winning years of 1948, 1969 and 1997, victories over the South Africans and Australians as well as renowned ex Glamorgan greats Maurice Turnbull, Dai Davies and Johnnie Clay.

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In this the final episode in tribute to the St Helen's ground Richard Bentley talks us through some of the great names who have played at the ground.  We discuss the number of steps from the pavilion to the playing surface which is mentioned regularly by players who played there and Richard recites the poem written about the ground by one of cricket's greatest commentators John Arlott.

He finishes with his thoughts about and hopes for the ground and some stories about previous Glamorgan players Tony Cottee, Steve Watkin and Lawrence Williams.

We hope you have enjoyed these three episodes we have dedicated to this wonderful ground.  If you want further information about the ground's history you can check out the following two links, the first of which is the St Helen's Balconiers website and the second being the Glamorgan cricket archive web pages:

http://www.thebalconiers.co.uk/

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/swansea-1948/

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This book, written and published to coincide with the centenary of Colwyn Bay Cricket Club, looks at the history of cricket in Denbigshire besides tracing how the club based in Rhos-on-Sea has become the venue for top class cricket in North Wales, as well as Glamorgan's northern outpost for first class cricket.

For a brief review of the book you can go here:

https://www.cricketweb.net/books/colwyn-bay/

In this first of two episodes we talk to co authors David Parry and Andrew Hignell covering the first third of the book which deals with cricket in the area in the 19th century, the arrival of the Wooller family in North Wales and the formation of Colwyn Bay Cricket Club in 1923.

Along the way we talk about Victorian Prime Minister William Gladstone.  More about his links with cricket in the area can be found here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/2021/04/20/the-prime-minister-who-played-club-cricket-in-flintshire/

Copies of the book are available form the Museum of Welsh Cricket which can be contacted by email:

higgers@glamorgancricket.co.uk

It's website with much more about the history of the game in Wales is available here:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales

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Lucy is the first ever female chair of any recreational cricket league in Wales.   She is one of two women who have been appointed as chairs of ECB accredited premier leagues. Helen Ross has taken the helm of the Surrey Championship, while Lucy leads the North Wales Cricket League. 

She talks about her initial contact with the game through her father and her initial involvement with Buckley Cricket Club supporting both her sons in their cricketing development.

As part of the committee at Buckley she was responsible for improving the club adding new facilities and creating new interest around the game in the town.  Following on from this, Lucy got involved in the local Junior cricket league before becoming vice chair of the North Wales Cricket League and progressing to become the chair of the organisation in late 2022.

Lucy tells us a little about the league and outlines some of the issues that the league and the game of cricket face in North Wales.  She also outlines the issues for cricketers, in particular those making their way in the game, who live in the North Wales area.

We talk about the success of girls and women coming into the game and she reinforces the need to have diverse opinions at all levels of the game.

She finished by outlining her hopes for the game of cricket, the North Wales League and herself.

Details of the league can be found here:

https://nwcl.play-cricket.com/home

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In this second episode authors David Parry and Andrew Hignell outline some more of the history of cricket in North Wales focussing on the Colwyn Bay Cricket Club which was formed in 1923.

The episode opens with a discussion about Sydney Barnes, one of the most famous English cricketers of the Twentieth Century and his links to this part of Wales.  See here for a brief outline:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/sydney-barnes-a-great-welsh-bowler/

There is some talk of the welsh cricket union and Gwilym Evans Rowland and his involvement with a team known as the Welsh Cygnets.  See here for more details:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/the-welsh-cygnets-part-one/

David Parry outlines the emergence of Colwyn Bay Cricket Club as a source of great fundraising income in the years immediately after the Second World War.  He also talks us through some of the first class cricket records which have been set at the Colwyn Bay ground during the time Glamorgan have played there.  You can find more details here:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/colwyn-bay-cc-by-david-parry/

Copies of the book are available from Andrew at the Museum of Welsh Cricket.  To make a request, please send an email to:

museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk

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In this episode we talk to Russell Penrhyn Jones, the founder and driving force behind the Wales National County (North) Representative Teams.

Founded in 2022, the Senior and U19 representative teams aim to give cricketers in the North Wales region opportunities to play representative cricket, develop their skills and further their cricket career aims.  You can read a brief article on their development here:

https://cricketwales.org.uk/news/walesnc-north

Russell talks about his involvement as a player and then a coach in both rugby and cricket.  He also talks about his son, Dewi and his experiences as a aspiring first class cricketer.  You can read a little bit about Dewi's career here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/dewi-penrhyn-jones/

Russell talks about his experiences at Ruthin Cricket Club and Brymbo Cricket Club and his development as a coach before talking about Dewi's development as a schoolboy and academy cricketer as well as his time with Glamorgan CCC

You can follow Russell and the Wales National County (North) on Twitter @WalesNCNorth

If you want to be put in touch with Russell why not email us at:

mwcpod1921@gmail.com

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Ron Walton has spent a lifetime playing professional and amateur sport.  A footballer with Merthyr Town he went on to play professionally in Australia before starting a coaching career that saw him spend 18 seasons at Swansea City coaching the youth team as well as spells as caretaker manager.

He has played for a number of different cricket clubs in and around Merthyr but has spent the past few years playing for his home town club as well as clocking up over a 100 caps for the Wales Senior Cricket side.

At 79 years old he is the oldest cricketer ever to play in Division 1 of the South Wales Cricket Association.

This article was written nearly 10 years ago:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/pensioner-just-bowled-seven-maiden-7683549

Ron talks to us about his sporting memories mentioning many of the great sportspeople he played alongside.

Ron is mentioned in this Cricket Wales article on seniors cricket in Wales:

https://cricketwales.org.uk/news/cricket-wales-criced-cymru-seniors-60s-and-70s-2009-21

Here is Ron in campaigning mode back in 2004 trying to keep the ground where he played so much of his cricket.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3878233.stm

Ron has been an incredible servant to sport in Wales and deserves every bit of recognition that he has got for his selfless service as player, coach and administrator.  We hope this episode will allow others who know him better to share their thoughts on this evergreen cricketer.

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Paul Rees is a popular club cricketer who has played most of his cricket in and around Swansea as well as a number of representative teams at age group and league level.

He talks to us about his early cricketing experiences and how he developed as a cricketer.  In passing we talk about his rugby career and how that impacted on his cricket.

Paul explains how he developed his strengths as a batsman but also how his bowling was what he was noted for early on in his career.

He is rightly very proud of his involvement with the MCC, first as a player member and latterly as the organisation's representative for Wales.  He has played over 100 times for them and explains his pride at being able to attend Test Matches at Lords and be present in the Long Room getting close to cricket's world superstars.

Here are the details of how to become a member of the MCC:

https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-club/how-to-join

Here are the MCC's results for their fixtures played so far this season:

https://www.lords.org/mcc/mcc-cricket/mcc-fixtures?region=Wales&display=results

If you are part of a club that may be interested in having a fixture against MCC you can contact Paul via his Twitter feed @PaulRees10 OR send us an email here at the podcast and we will ensure it gets to Paul

Our email is mwcpod1921@gmail.com

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In this episode we remember long time treasurer with the St Helen's Balconiers Clive Hemp.

We talk to his children, David, Tim and Charlotte as well as his colleagues from the Balconiers Committee Allan Gray and Roger Skyrme, Swansea solicitor and main sponsor of the Swansea and West Wales cricket Festival Peter Lynne.

Our final guest who remembers Clive is Balconiers President Alan Jones.  Ex-Glamorgan cricketer and coach Alan has been President of Glamorgan County Cricket Club as well as the St Helen's Balconiers.

They talk about his time as a cricketer and the support he gave his two cricketing sons.  His personal qualities; a generosity of spirit, an egalitarian outlook and a people centered approach influenced not only his career as a cricketer but also his business life as a successful accountant.

Encouraged by his contact with Balconiers Chairman John Williams, Clive became an integral part of the organisation, using his business contacts to build sponsorship for the annual Swansea and West Wales Cricket Festival which was the jewel in the Balconiers crown.

All our guests paint a picture of a man who loved his sport, loved Glamorgan and made a great many friends through the world of cricket. 

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In this episode we talk to those involved in the 51st Final of this competition.  They are, in order that they appear in the episode:

Steve Davies, workforce administrator, South West Wales
 Zack Gidlow , Chair of cricket at Colwyn Bay Cricket Club and first team player
Mike Haydn, Chair of Swansea Cricket Club
Neil Perrett, Chair, Usk Cricket Club
Brad Wadlan, Captain, Swansea Cricket Club
Sion Morris, Colwyn Bay Cricket Club

You can find a written report on the final here:

https://cricketwales.org.uk/news/senior-open-welsh-cup-final-2023-colwyn-bay-cc-v-swansea-cc

You can find some great stats about the Welsh Cup here:

https://nwsport.co.uk/2023/09/03/all-hail-colwyn-bay-2023-cricket-welsh-cup-winners/

We would like to add our congratulations to the Colwyn Bay Cricket Club

2023 Welsh Cup Winners !

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This week's episode is an interview with the Head of Performance Science and Medicine at the ECB, Rob Ahmun.

Originally from Cardiff Rob was a strength and conditioning coach with Glamorgan before his move to the England Team in 2014.  He talks to us about his sporting journey and career to date.

Here is a page from the ECB website detailing the work of Rob's Department:

https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/2104536/scie

Here is an article from the University of Essex detailing some of the research that Rob mentions in his interview:

https://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2022/07/12/england-cricket-team-is-fitter-than-ever

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This week’s episode is a chat with members of the Hook Cricket Club that, this year has celebrated its centenary.  We talk to:

Dave Petrie who outlines the history of the village as well as charting the history of the cricket club.

Jamie Phelps shares with us the state of the club today and how they have gone about their centenary celebrations.

President Evan Martin shares his memories and his love of the game of cricket as well as his beloved Hook Cricket Club.

You can read a little bit about one of the events they held over the summer here:

https://www.herald.wales/west-wales/pembrokeshire/special-match-to-mark-hook-cricket-clubs-centenary-year/

http://www.pembrokeshiresport.co.uk/cricket/former-england-players-to-celebrate-hook-centenary

You can follow the club’s exploits on X at @HookCricketClub and on Facebook

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In this episode we look at two County Championship match second innings' separated by 25 years.

The first took place during the 1998 season between Northants and Glamorgan at Wantage Road.  In their second innings, Mal Loye hit an incredible 322 not out as Northants saved the game with a second innings 712.  For the details of the game, you can go here:

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998/ENG_LOCAL/CC/R04/NORTHANTS_GLAM_CC_21-24MAY1998.html

The second took place in May 2023 at Hove where Sussex hosted Glamorgan.  After conceding a huge lead in their first innings Glamorgan amassed 737 runs in their second, breaking several records on the way to securing a draw.  For Wisden's record of the match you can go here:

https://wisden.com/matches/live/214135/sussex-v-glamorgan-at-hove-lv=-insurance-county-championship-18-21-may-2023

Northants had held the record for the highest second innings in a first class match before Glamorgan came along and snatched it from them.

On this podcast we talk to Mal Loye and Tony Cottee, the Glamorgan captain in that game in 1998 as well as club archivists and historians of Northamptonshire and Glamorgan, Andrew Radd and Andrew Hignell about that game at Wantage Road.  We also catch up with Glamorgan batter Kiran Carlson and talk to him about his career best to date of 192 in the match at Hove as well as the other Glamorgan players who contributed to the record breaking innings.

For a full list of all the records achieved at Hove you can go here:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/stat-attack-glamorgan-set-a-new-world-record-at-hove

Take a look at this list, compiled by Andrew Radd, of the top ten first class innings for Northants:

https://nccc.co.uk/news/northamptonshires-10-best-first-class-innings/

And finally, for more Glamorgan batting records you can go here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/batting-records/

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Jean Silvan Evans had a successful career as a journalist and lecturer.  Her husband, also a journalist, was a keen supporter of Glamorgan County Cricket Club.  To keep him company, Jean would sometimes attend a day at the cricket with no intention of watching and little interest in what happened the other side of that boundary rope.

Slowly, with the help of Glamorgan's travelling supporters group the St Helen's Balconiers, Jean began not only to watch more of the play but also fell in love with what she calls 'the slow drama of county cricket'.

When Jean's husband  Dennis passed away, her trips away with the Balconiers became not only a way of remembering him but also a source of comfort and friendship for her.

She talks about her growing interest in and affection for the game of cricket as well as commenting on the future for Glamorgan and the importance of county cricket to the future of Test cricket.

For those interested in the work of the St Helen's Balconiers, in particular their regular trips to other county grounds, you can go here:

http://www.thebalconiers.co.uk/

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This weeks episode is an interview with two cricketers who have turned their love of the game into a fledgling business.

Rich describes how his pastime of making things with wood turned to repairing bats for friends and other club members and persuaded him to set up a business to deliver bat refurbishment to the wider cricketing community.

The boys describe how the business has grown organically, turning first to providing new bats and then to offer a small selection of cricket gear.

Anyone interested in contacting Rich or Hedd to discuss what they can offer, their mobile numbers are as follows:

Rich 07970 498350  Hedd 07950200211

You can follow them on X and instagram here:

X  -  @bats_bear
Intagram  -  @bear_bats

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In this episode we look back at some of the podcasts from last year.

The episodes covered are:

Three Englishmen of Wales
Special Episode: Walking in the Valleys for Young Cricketers
St. Helen's: A Tribute (Part 1)
Heroes and Headlines: St Helen's: A Tribute (Part 2)
Special Episode: Walking in the Valleys for Young Cricketers
Lucy Norman - Taking the Game Forward in North Wales
Wales National County (North): An Interview with Russell Penrhyn Jones
The Welsh Cup
100th Episode: The Appliance of Science: An Interview with Rob Ahmun
First-Class Batting: Glamorgan and Northamptonshire
Neath Cricket Club - 175th Anniversary
Hook Cricket Club: Happy 100th Year
Paul Rees: Our man with the MCC
Last Man Bowling: An Interview with Ron Walton

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In this episode we interview three stalwarts of the Pirates cricket team, Port Talbot Town Cricket Club.  They are, in no particular order:

Mark Jones
Ian Rees 
Ray Cox

We talk about their early years, discovering cricket and joining the club as well as a little bit of the history of the club which dates from around 1963.  We hear about some of their exploits as players including Ray playing First Division cricket with both his sons.

The gents then answered a series of questions aimed at getting them to talk about their cricketing pasts.  The questions, again, in no particular order, were:

Your most memorable match you were involved in.
Best individual performance.
Favourite ground.
Favourite players to play with.
Favourite players to play against.
A favourite cricketing story

We talked about the honour that the club had bestowed upon the three of them last year when they were given caps commemmorating their 50 years or more service to the club as players and administrators.

We finish the gent's hopes for the future of the club.  There are some great, funny stories in here.  We hope you enjoyed the listen.

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By way of a trailer for our episodes interviewing Matt about his cricket and sporting life, this mini episode features him talking about his latest charity fundraising walk from John O Groats to Lands End.

Matt is walking in aid of the Professional Cricketers' Trust and Help for Heroes  and is hoping to raise £10,000 for each charity.

To read about the challenge and to donate you can visit Matt's Just Giving Page here:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/mattwellymanwalk

The episodes featuring Matt will begin on Friday March 8th

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Joe begins by introducing himself, talking about his early life in Bangor and Llandudno where his parents ran a little bed and breakfast business.

He describes his early sporting experiences, including his memories of the 1970 football World Cup.  He 'stumbled' upon the Llandudno Oval, the club's cricket ground and was hooked by the idea of playing the game.

He was a mischievous child and got into a little trouble with other members of the club but fell in love with cricket and that love has stayed with him.  He remembers the 1976 Test Series with the great West Indies side and how practicing in the back lane forced him to play straight.

Joe outlines the sporting traditions of Llandudno including rugby, hockey and football as well as cricket and recalls some of his memories of playing at the club.

He talks passionately about his work as a coach and cricket development officer with Cricket Wales in and around Llandudno with some powerful stories of connecting with young people and promoting the game in North Wales.

Joe has used his lifelong intoxication with the game of cricket to enthuse countless youngsters, some of whom will form the bedrock of the recreational game in the years to come.  He is a fabulous ambassador and advocate for the game of cricket.

Everyone at the Museum of Welsh Cricket wishes him well with his ongoing work.

Thanks Joe !!

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Matthew Maynard established, with his first class career, a place in the all-time record books of Glamorgan County Cricket Club.  But it is not just the quantity of runs that he scored that made Matt stand out amongst Glamorgan players of the modern age but the way in which he scored them.  

It would have come as no surprise to Glamorgan fans that Matt chose to call the book about his cricketing career 'On the Attack'.  They will have spent many seasons marveling at the glittering stroke-play and immaculate timing that brought him 59 first class hundreds, 131 first class 50s, 16 List A centuries and 81 50s.

In this episode Matt shares with us his early life in Oldham and then on Anglesey, his boyhood cricketing heroes, his first steps in the professional game and the influences on his batting from childhood through to his years at Glamorgan.

Matt is due to complete his Wellyman Walk from John O'Groats to Lands End in the next two weeks.  He is walking to raise money for the Professional Cricketers Trust and Help for Heroes.  You can find more details about his walk and you can donate here:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/mattwellymanwalk

It would be a great way to show our thanks to Matt for the service he has given both as a player and coach to ensure he reaches his £20,000 target.

Join us next week for the next installment of the chat with Matt. 

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In this episode, Matt talks about captaincy, the dilemmas of selection, the 1997 Championship Winning Season, his trip to Lords for the Benson and Hedges Cup Final and the first steps in his coaching career.

Matt is still completing his Wellyman Walk for the Professional Cricketers Trust and Help for Heroes.

The following is taken from his JustGiving Page:

Former England Test cricketer Matt Maynard is to walk the length of the country in wellington boots all in aid of two charities close to his heart. 

In October this year, the Glamorgan coach will take on the epic challenge from Lands End to John OGroats (LEJOG), a total of 1,189 miles, to raise much-needed funds for the Professional Cricketers Trust and Help For Heroes. 

Although Maynard may have spent a career trying to avoid being dismissed LBW, this time he is embracing it: By completing LEJOG By Wellies or LBW. 

This will be Maynards second Wellyman walk, having previously travelled from Cardiff to Colwyn Bay for the Tom Maynard Trust, set up following the tragic death of his son in 2012. 

Maynard hopes to be joined by cricketing figures along the route and would also welcome the company of other walkers who are simply keen to offer their support and encouragement. 

The Professional Cricketers' Trust is a registered charity created to support the health and well-being of PCA members and their immediate families for the whole of their lives. The assistance we provide includes: medical advice, provision of specialist equipment, funding operations and providing support for health and wellbeing issues. 

Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps them live well after service. The charity helps them, and their families, to recover and get on with their lives. It has already supported more than 27,000 people and wont stop until every veteran gets the support they deserve.

To donate to the Walk, go here:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/mattwellymanwalk

Please try to ensure that Matt reaches his target of £20,000

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This is the last of 3 episodes of the podcast devoted to one of Glamorgan’s greatest ever players, Matthew Maynard.

He begins by talking about coaching, both young players as well as elite cricketers and praises the philosophy of the current England coach and captain, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

He mentions one instance with Marcus Trescothick which was the exception to his experiences when coaching with England.  This, for him, is the essence of coaching elite players, finding solutions to puzzles.  It is, when all is said and done, about finding ways to score.

Matt talks about the limits to video analysis and statistics and the importance of encouraging players to trust their instincts.  Getting your own performance right is what he emphasises.  Stick to your own strengths.

Matt’s England career started as a bit of a surprise to him.  He describes the experience of turning up for his debut and being given a cap with someone else’s name in it.  He never felt that he was wanted in the England set up and felt that this was indicative of the England Team in the 80s and 90s.  Reflecting on the experience he felt he just needed more time to acclimatise to the Test and One Day International arena and, for whatever reason, never got that time.

He tells the story of how he decided to learn to drive the Team coach whilst being Director of Cricket at Somerset!

We talk about the opportunities available to young cricketers in Wales and his plans for the future and we finish with his thoughts on being an umpire,  being on a committee and whether he feels 100% welsh!

If you want to donate to Matt’s Wellyman Walk, go here:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/mattwellymanwalk

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In this episode we meet six cricketers from in and around Swansea who play in the relatively new mid-week cricket league, the Tawe League.  The players are:

Ataur Rahman Jaber  (Swansea Warriors)
Abdul Mustak  (Swansea Rising Stars)
Amit Shivani  (Swansea Strikers)
Raj Tilak  (Deccan Chargers)
Krishna Prasanth  (Master Blasters)
Gigi George  (Swansea Spartans)

They tell us a little bit about their own personal histories, where they first played cricket, and how they fell in love with the game.

The talk then moves on to talking about how they found a place to play cricket when they came to Wales.  Some of them talk about their links with local clubs and they talk about the difficulty of finding equipment and the desperate need to have a local sports shop dedicated to cricket.

The Tawe League has its origins in a lot of friendly cricket that took place between different groups of, predominantly, south asian cricketers up to and around 2020.  Jaber talks about meeting Keri Chahal from cricket wales and Paul  from Ynystawe Cricket Club and how the league became more organised and, in his view, more spicy !

Finding proper pitches and places to practice has been hard but it has also meant that players meet, train and mix socially.  They now talk about the eight clubs that comprise the league.

Raj talks about how competitive the league is and how the competition makes the experience much more interesting.  Amit adds that the League can and does act as a 'feeder' system for local league clubs.

We talk a little bit about the names of the teams and their origins and how their approach to cricket affects all these things.

Mustak explains the 'Finals Day' that comes at the end of the season and how important it is to the development of the league.  It is hoped that it will continue to grow as an event and Amit was very thankful to Ynystawe Cricket Club for hosting this event.

The Tawe league has used Ynystawe Park, Briton Ferry CC, Baglan CC pitches and this year there will be games at Felinfoel  as well.

The gentlemen finish by talking about their hopes for the season and for the league.

Anyone interested in the Tawe League either as a player, supporter or, indeed, a sponsor should contact Keri Chahal on:

keri.chahal@cricketwales.org.uk

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In this episode we talk to Sue Wells, Area Manager for Cricket Wales North.

Her Cricket Wales biography can be found here:

https://cricketwales.org.uk/our-team/sue-wells

Sue tells us about her early life in Shropshire and the farming family she was born into.  She remembers never being without sport in her life and her first love was kicking  a ball.  She joined her first team aged 7 or 8 and joined her first organised club, Wem Town.  Sue talks about her football career, winning a national football competition with Shropshire Girls football, even though she missed a penalty in the final!  She had an England trial at aged under 16 and has played for a couple of welsh clubs.  Her biggest regret, other than being injured early in her career, wa snever having the opportunity to play for Wrexham.

Sports development came on top of Sue's commitment as a coach and referee.  It was at University that she discovered Sports Science and then that sports development was an option.  She completed a Masters Degree in sports development researching women and girls football and through that she got offered her first opportunity working as a Girls and Womens development officer for Suffolk Football Association.

Sue tells us a little bit about her work in Suffolk and her achievements which includesd re-organising a league and raising the profile of the womens game in that part of the UK.  She also talks about her links with the University of Chester and the lecturing role she performed there.

Sue came to Cricket Wales in 2016 but she has always loved watching the game.  She mentions the 2005 Ashes as a major influence on her love of the game.   She outlines the patch she covers in her job and the team that she leads.  She then outlines the roles that she has responsibility for you as a Cricket Wales Area Manager:

• Coach Education,
• Women & Girls’ Cricket 
• Chance to Shine 
• All Stars & Dynamos 
• Supporting the club, league and volunteer network

Sue confesses that she might be taking the plunge and participating in a softball cricket team this summer and then talks a little bit about funding, the partners that cricket wales has and how she works with them to deliver as many opportunities as possible to a wide range of young people.

We get Sue to reflect on the similarities between different sports when it comes to sports development as well as some of the unique things about cricket and her 'patch' in North / mid wales.

The growth of the women's and girls game is something that Sue is very proud of  in her role as well as the growth and development in the mid wales junior cricket league which was reformed in the last couple of years.  She mentions the young Ukrainian cricketer that was mention in the Chance to Shine impact report.  This video captures the story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zc2NK8YmP4

Rewarding volunteers is very important to Sue and she talks about some of the ways she tries to reward them.  We then talk about some of the challenges she has had in her role.  Sue mentions one or two individuals who have helped her in her role.

We finish with Sue talking about her hopes for the future of the game and the area she works in and a few reflections on her own role and where she might be in a few years time.

To contact Sue, you can follow her on X at @suecricketwales or email her:

sue.wells@cricketwales.org.uk

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Anna Harris has only been an umpire for 9 years but she has had a meteoric rise through the ranks to become an international umpire on the women's circuit and operating at just under first class level in the men's game.

We begin by talking about Anna's early life in High Wycombe and Brighton and how she started by picking up a plastic cricket bat at school aged 5.  She talks about her development as a cricketer through Buckinghamshire's junior ranks.  She was an England player in her late teens and kept up her playing when she came to University in Cardiff.  Anna talks a little bit about her playing as a batter and a leg spin bowler.

She recounts her highest score of 124 at the Malvern Festival and turning the ball to take a wicket.

Her umpiring began as a way of making a little bit of pocket money but she took it up more seriously when she went on a gap year to Australia.  She played cricket for Melbourne Cricket Club and umpired in the local Melbourne men's league.

Anna outlines the pathway that currently exists for men's and women's cricket umpiring and how she progressed as an umpire and how this has all changed even in the short time she has been umpiring.  She now umpires in National Counties cricket and is on the panel for professional women's cricket in the UK.  She is also on the panel of umpires for the ICC and can umpire in international women's matches.

We talk about some of the people that have inspired her development as an umpire and then some of the important moments in her career to date including being part of the first all female team to umpire in an ECB accredited men's premier league match and her international debut aged 22 years old.

Anna talks about her views on umpiring, where it sits in the game and what are the most important aspects of it for her.  She confronts the fear that all umpires must have of making a mistake and also about the nature of the umpire's role, the way she turns her levels of concentration on and off.  We talk about giving lbw decisions and how Anna prepares herself for these.  She talks about the 42 laws of the game and the unwritten one, 43, that deals with the unexpected.

Anna talks about the controversial decision made at the England v India ODI and what it was like to be part of that as an umpire:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/24/england-women-india-third-one-day-international-cricket

We then talk about a few od Anna's special memries so far as an umpire including the 2023 Ashes Series:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/26/england-australia-womens-ashes-test-match-ash-gardner-cricket-report

We talk about the things that Anna takes with her onto the field of play, the image of umpiring and then talk about how she came to Wales and how she has enjoyed her time here.

Finally, we talk about the future and what Anna wants to do with her life and her umpiring.

For those who want to hear Anna talk a a little bit more you can try these videos:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=656508298940893

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpMhmMeT6sk

And you can read this article from the ECB about the women's T20 World Cup in which Anna officiated.

You can follow Anna on X at a_y_harris

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In this week's episode we meet the Head of Heritage and Collections at the MCC, Neil Robinson.

We begin by talking about how, where and when Neil began his affiliation with the game of cricket.  Specifically, it was the 1981 Ashes and Bob Willis' phenomenal last day performance in the Headingley Test.

Yorkshire was the nearest first class county to him in the North East so he became a fan of the club.  He has followed Durham's progression as a first class county.

Neil then tells us a little bit about his journey to the position that he currently holds.  From an initial period as a library student in 2004 he managed to get a permanent job in 2006.  He became the Head of Heritage and Collections in 2019.

The Museum is not as old as the Lords cricket ground.  In fact, it was officially opened in 1953 but the collections do go back much further.  Neil outlines the details of how the museum and collections have grown over the past 150 years.

Neil outlines what has happened to the museum in the time he has been there.  Principally, this has been the development of a proper cataloguing system so that museum staff and those researching aspects of the game can search and find material they can use to tell the story of the game of cricket through the work of this hugely influential institution.  He then gives us a brief 'virtual' guide to the museum itself.

Recent developments in cricket have led some to question the equality and diversity in the history of the game.  Neil describes the way in which the museum's approach to telling cricket history has thrown a light on some of the issues raised in the ICEC Report of 2023.

To finish the episode, Neil talks about some of the items in the collection that he regards as significant and important finishing with the story of the Ashes urn.

The museum website, where you can find details of how you can visit the museum and / or use it for research:

https://www.lords.org/lords/conferences-and-events/museum

For those who are interested in learning a little more about Neil and his work, you can read a transcribed interview with him here:

https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/interview-neil-robinson-the-library-and-research-manager-at-lords-293870/

Back in 2020 during lock-down, Neil was a guest on the wonderful Oborne and Heller on Cricket Podcast.  To listen, go here:

https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-22-talking-with-mccs-head-of-heritage-and-collections-neil-robinson/

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Neil begins by outlining the story of the stuffed sparrow that is one of the more unusual items in the MCC Museum and one that has a link to Glamorgan as the ball that was bowled immediately before the sparrow was discovered was bowled by Jahangir Khan, father of Majid Khan, Glamorgan’s first overseas player.

The discussion then moves on to books and, in particular, the books that have been written, wholly or in the main, after research at the MCC library and archive.  The following books are outlined by Neil:

John Major’s ‘More Than a Game’:

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/more-than-a-game-the-story-of-crickets-early-years-john-major?variant=39571071696974

Peter Oborne’s  ‘Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan’

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Wounded-Tiger/Peter-Oborne/9781849832489

Peter Obourne ‘Basil D’Oliveira, Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story’

https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/peter-oborne/basil-doliveira/9780751534887/+/

David Woodehouse ‘Who Only Cricket Know:  Hutton’s Men in the West Indies 53/54’:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/who-only-cricket-know/david-woodhouse/9781909811591

Prashant Kadambi  ‘Cricket Country:  An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire’:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/cricket-country/prashant-kidambi/9780198843146

Future publications that are upcoming are:

David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts  ‘Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic’:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/richie-benauds-blue-suede-shoes-9781526670274/

this is published on 23rd May 2024

Leo McKinstry  ‘Bill Edrich:  The Many Lives of Englands Cricket Great’:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bill-edrich-9781399407823/

this is published on 18th July 2024

Jeremy Lonsdale  ‘An Unusual Celebrity:  The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowed’:

https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/unusual-celebrity

this is published on 10th June 2024 

Neil also talks about his book, The Long Shot Summer: The Year of Four England Cricket Captains.  You can read more about it here:

https://www.amberley-books.com/long-shot-summer-the-year-of-four-england-cricket-captains-1988.html

After this literary excursion, Neil outlines the staff group at the Museum.  They are:

Alan Rees

Charlotte Goodhew

Heather Lomas

Matthew Howe

Neil talks about an item in the collection that has a specific relationship with Glamorgan.  It is a poster advertising a gala week to raise money for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

We talk about the oral history project undertaken at the Museum of Welsh Cricket called Tale-Enders and how it influenced Neil’s approach to the work of the MCC Museum in general and specifically the project they launched called Taking the Field.

Finally, Neil touches on what he sees as the importance of sports museums in telling the history of people in a particular place and at a particular time and he finishes with the details of how people can get in touch with and / or visit the museum.

For details of the tours of Lords or contacting the museum you can go here:

https://www.lords.org/mcc/heritage-collections/what-we-do

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This is the first of two episodes celebrating Christchurch Cricket Clun and their centenary year.

In this first episode we hear from local historian of Ferndale and District, Alun Clement who sets the scene for a discussion with current players and administrators of the club which will come next week.

Alun very kindly provided us with some pre-recorded statements outlining the history of the area, the development of sport with an emphasis on cricket and the Christchurch Club and some notable local sportspeople.

This is followed on the episode by excerpts from an online chat we had with Alun about his book 'Passages of Life:  Ferndale and District'.

If you enjoy the episode and are interested in Alun's book please get in touch with us and we can forward your details to him.

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In this week's episode we meet with four stalwarts of Christchurch Cricket Club who take us through their involvement with the club,  the players that they remember from its past and the battles that they face in keeping the club going in this, its 100th year of existence.

For this interested in the club you can check out their Facebook Page here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/151870402830

Their Twitter (X) handle is @CCCCFerndale

Thank you to all the gentlemen for giving their time to be interviewed.  Everyone at the Museum of Welsh Cricket would like to wish everyone at Christchurch Cricket Club a wonderful centenary season.

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We talk to Ossie Wheatley of Cambridge University, Warwickshire and Glamorgan.  He won a Blue for cricket at Cambridge University in 1957 and in 1958 when he amassed a record 80 wickets for the University.  After coming down he had a brief but succesful career with Warwickshire for whom he took 110 wickets in 1960.   In 1961 he was appointed captain of Glamorgan CCC as a replacement for the retiring Wilf Wooller and over the next few years he developed a wonderful bowling partnership with Jeff Jones.

His fast medium bowling added a new dimension to the Glamorgan attack and in 1968 he took 82 wickets at just 12 a piece.  He was named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in 1969.

In this episode he talks about his early life, his cricketing development at school and then University, his move to Glamorgan in 1961, the club's development in the early years of his captaincy and the wonderful victory over the touring Australians in 1964.

You can read the text of a wonderful interview between Ossie and Richard Bentley of the St Helen's Balconiers about that game here:

http://www.thebalconiers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/%E2%80%98Ossie%E2%80%99s-Tamed-the-Aussies%E2%80%99-Balconiers-Ossie-Wheatley-article.pdf

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We begin this episode of the podcast by talking about Ossie's best first class bowling figures, quickly moving on to his nickname.

We talk about the nature of County cricket in the era that Ossie played including the extensive travelling that players had to undertake during a first class season.

Tony Lewis was heir apparent to the captaincy.  Ossie talks about him before we launch into his memories of the 1969 Championship winning season.  As well as his exploits Ossie provides us with a pen picture of the 13 man squad that brought the trophy back to Wales for the second time.

Ossie felt the record he held at Cambridge University, taking 80 wickets in a season was one of his outstanding achievements.  He then talks about some of his memories of the period in which he played including PeterMay, Fred Trueman, Brian Statham and Frank Tyson.  Ossie talks with pride about his economy rate in first class cricket and how, for him, putting pressure on batsmen is a key element to bowling which he feels has been taken out of the modern game.

We talk about what he regards as his best performance on a cricket field and the performances of others that made an impact on him.  Ossie talks about the changes in cricket equipment that have impacted on the game.

He finishes with his final reflections on his playing career and the nature of the professional game.

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In this episode we speak to Professor Mike Wilson of Loughborough University about his work in the area of oral history and the two cricketing projects with which he was associated, Tale-Enders and Taking the field.  Mike is currently Professor of Drama and Head of Creative Arts at Loughborough.

Tale-Enders was a project he was involved with alongside Andrew Hignell of the Museum of Welsh Cricket and coincided with plans for the new stadium at Sophia Gardens in the run up to the Ashes series of 2009.  At that time, Mike was  Head of Research at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Glamorgan which is now the University of South Wales in Pontypridd.  Mike describes the origins of the project, his memories of working on it and some of the stories about welsh cricket clubs it uncovered.

Taking the Field was a project inspired by the Tale Enders Project and was organised under the auspices of the MCC.  It expanded on the concepts explored by Tale Enders and, as it happened, assisted members of Blaina Cricket Club tell the story of their club.

In addition to talking about these projects, Mike tells us about his academic journey, his discovery of oral history and one or two of the key figures that have informed his development as someone interested in the power of stories for exploring history.

For those interested in Tale Enders, you can find the Flickr page which was used by the project by clicking on the link below.  Be prepared to see some famous English cricketers as well as members of the Glamorgan CCC Team from days gone by.  In addition, there are many photos taken of club grounds and club and country cricket in Wales from the early 20th century.  Unfortunately, the photos are not labelled but the experience of looking at them is no less enjoyable for that:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tale-enders/

For those interested in the Taking the Field project there will be a follow up episode of the podcast featuring original audio recordings from the project with members of Blaina Cricket Club as well as an interview with Project Worker Emma Peplow and member of Blaina CC, Alan Williams.

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 In this episode we bring together the biographer of Maurice Turbull, the museum's own Andrew Hignell and sports writer Bill Williams who's recent article about Maurice gave us the title of this episode.

Andrew's book can be purchased here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turnbull-Welsh-Sporting-Andrew-Hignell/dp/0752421840

Bill's article can be read here:

https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/maurice-turnbull-was-he-britains-most-complete-all-round-sportsman/

After Bill telling us a little bit about the newly discovered photo of Maurice, Andrew gives us a comprehensive outline of Maurice's sporting life, focusing on his first class cricket career with Glamorgan.

We talk about his sporting achievements, what he was like as a player in cricket, rugby and hockey as well as his prowess as a leader of the Glamorgan County Club.

We discuss the possibility of Maurice being Britain's greatest ever all round sportsman and the episode finishes with Andrew very poignantly telling the story of Maurice Turnbull's death after the D Day Landings. 

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In this episode we visit Hay-On-Wye Cricket Club which hosted a game against an All Stars XI from the Hay Literary Festival at the end of May.

We hear from club members and officials as they talk about their club as well as their preparations for this historic game.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Authors XI you can do so here:

https://www.authorscc.co.uk/

Their book and other publications associated with the authors can be purchased here:

https://www.authorscc.co.uk/cricket-publications

Anyone interested in playing cricket for the Hay Club or interested in what they do can contact the current secretary Tim Davies in the following ways:

timdhaycc@gmail.com

07964625755 (mobile)

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In this episode we return to our chat with Ossie Wheatley.  He finished as a player in 1969 but before that he was already becoming involved in the administration of the game.

To begin, he gives us an outline of his career, noting his involvement with English cricket form 1963 onwards.  He tells us the various committees on which he served and the roles he undertook including being a Test selector.  Latterly, he took up positions with the Sports Council of Wales.  Along the way he gives a bit of background to his career including his recollections of the development of junior cricket in Wales.  Most importantly, he intervened during the development of the ECB to ensure that the organisation would be known as the England and Wales Cricket Board, an insertion that became crucial, amongst other things, to attracting Test cricket to Wales in 2009.

He asserts his belief in the importance of successful elite sports teams in the development of cricket in any particular place.

We talk a little about Leslie Deakins, ex secretary of Warwickshire County Cricket Club and his impact on the club and creating Edgbaston as a Test ground.

We talk about the Clarke Report in 1965, what it set out to do, who was part of the committee and what it achieved.  Along the way he talks about the nature of professional cricketers and the way they ensure they control the developments in the game and what might be the best way for cricket to develop.  He airs his concern that developments today may mean the success of a few ‘super’ clubs at the expense of the others.

He talks about the experience of being a Test selector which he was for two years from 1972 to 1974.

We finish this episode by talking about how Ossie became Chairman of Glamorgan County Cricket Club in 1976.  The team was experiencing a crisis with player sackings, Majid Khan leaving the club and a challenge to the committees running of the club.  He talks about his deep concerns over the involvement of overseas players in the game and how it brought him to the point of standing down from the chairman’s role.  He also talks about the poor facilities that existed in Wales for elite cricket and how that impacted on Glamorgan’s fortunes.

We talk briefly about Glamorgan’s visit to Lords in 1977 for the Gillette Cup Final and end with Ossie’s reflections on Glamorgan as a club and where it was in the late 70s and early 80s.

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Ossie begins by talking about his experiences as Chairman of Glamorgan CCC and the difficulties cricket and Glamorgan faced in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

We move swiftly talking about the Kerry Packer Circus and it’s impact on the game.  Ossie mentions the Tony Grieg affair which arose out of this and then talks about the Gatting affair in 1988 when England captain Mike Gatting was caught on camera pointing his finger at Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana.  For more on that you can go here

https://www.wisden.com/cricket-news/the-gatting-rana-fall-out-when-a-whole-day-of-test-cricket-was-lost-to-a-player-umpire-argument

We then move to talking about the idea of a UK Board of Cricket.  By the way Ossie gives us a little bit of history about the role of the MCC.  

Ossie tells the story of the England AND WALES Cricket Board and how it came to be called that and the implications of that for the development of the first class game and it’s various academies and pathway organisations.

After finishing his work as an administrator with the first class game, Ossie talks about his involved with the founding and development of what was called the Cricket Foundation but what became the Chance to Shine Charity.  In particular, we hear the story of how the ex Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, got involved and managed to get a huge investment form the government of the day to take cricket into primary schools.

We talk about Ossie’s involvement with the Sports Council of Wales and he talks at length about Tom Cartwright’s involvement as a coach in welsh cricket.

Ossie reflects on the game today with particularly interesting comments about the County Championship and Test cricket, including ‘Baz Ball’.

We end with Ossie’s thoughts on welsh cricket and the need to produce some more of our homegrown talent.

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In this episode we make use of the MCC Sound Archive to bring you the story of Blaina Cricket Club.

The MCC project, Taking the Field was aimed at recording the oral history of cricket clubs throughout the breadth of the UK.  Members of the Blaina Cricket Club had already started recording their history for a published book.

The book can be bought here:

https://welsh-academic-press.shopfactory.com/contents/en-uk/p12_Blaenau-Cricket-Club.html

The Facebook page of the project still exists and can be found here:

facebook.com/takingthefield

We talked to Emma Peplow, who was the full time officer with Taking the Field and Alan Williams, long time member and Chairperson of Blaina Cricket Club.  Interspersed with our interview with Emma and Alan are excerpts from the MCC Sound Archive.  We have interviews with the following:

Diane Williams
Alan Williams
David Jones
Alan Lewis
and Ernie Barber

We hear about the history of the club going back to its earliest beginnings in the 19th Century and it's high point in the early 20th Century.

Emma and Alan talk about one of the highlights of the project which was being interviewed on the Test Match Special lunchtime slot during the Test Match against Sri Lanka.

Alan tells us about the early sponsorship of the club and one of the outstanding individuals who helped keep the club going in the 1920s, Evan Watkins.  His wikipaedia page is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Watkins

Emma tells us about the international dimension of Taking the Field

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This episode features the first installment of my chat with cricket umpire Martin Wale.

We begin with a bit of onomatology!  Quite a departure for us.  We then get on to more familiar territory, talking about Martin’s growing up in Coventry and getting to watch Warwickshire CCC at the Corthaulds Ground in the city.

Martin talks about his love of the detail of what goes on on a cricket field, stumpings v run outs, the lbw rule and so on.  Martin can thank his wife for getting him involved in umpiring, prompting him to approach the South Wales Cricket Association in 2004.  He used to watch games at the Mumbles Cricket Club as well as visiting St Helens.

Martin talks about his mentor Huw Rees who stood with him for the whole of his first season of umpiring.  Huw sadly passed away in recent times, but Martin remembers him fondly.  Leighton James was playing in his first game as an umpire and Martin gave him out first ball lbw.  He talks about how conflicted he felt about making that decision.

Martin goes on to talk about what he feels about umpiring.  In particular, he focuses on the ‘man management’ involved in umpiring and the team working involved in umpiring.

Before talking about the Over 60s World Cup, Martin relates the story of his involvement in the Over 50s World Cup in South Africa in 2020.  The Tournament was abandoned half way through the first round of games as the Soth African Government declared their lock down.  Martin and some members of his family were amongst the last few people to leave the country and returned back to a country that was 10 days into its first national lockdown.  An incredible part of his story.

Martin talks about the setting up of the International Masters Cricket organization and the ‘regularizing’ of international seniors cricket.  This included the setting up of IMCUP (International Masters Cricket Umpires Panel).  It was as a member of this panel that Martin found out about the Over 60s World Cup in Chennai earlier this year.

Those interested in finding out about Masters Cricket can link to the ICM website here:

https://masterscricket.org/o60swc-2024/

Much of the preparation for going to India took place through a WhatsApp group.  Martin talked us through some of the things that were discussed here.  He relates his excitement about what lay ahead.

We then talk about the tournament organisation and the surprising revelation that the umpires did not know which game they were going to officiate in until the evening before the game.  Martin talked about some of the travel arrangements to and from the grounds.

We hear about Martin’s impressions of Chennai which was, in his words, ‘chaotic, noisy, and dusty’:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai 

He then describes getting around in the ubiquitous Tuk Tuk’s:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw

He’s overall impressions of the people were that they were very welcoming and friendly.  Martin discovered Dosa’s.  See here for more details:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosa_(food)

We finish this part of our chat with Martin running through some of the details of the umpiring organisation at the tournament including the arrangements for coping with the heat and humidity prevailing across the City.

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In this, the second part of our chat with Martin, umpire with the South West Wales Association of Cricket Association, we talk in more detail about his experiences in Chennai, India at the International Masters Cricket Over 60s World Cup earlier this year.

He begins by telling us about the celebrations at the British Consulate in Chennai for the King's Birthday which he attended whilst at the tournament and which was one of the great highlights of the trip for him.

We talk about the first round robin round of the tournament and Martin's memories of that.  England and Australia were the standout teams.  Although Martin did not watch them, the Welsh side did really well (finishing 5th overall in the competition).

Martin talks about reflecting on his performance and how important that is for umpires generally.  He regretted not being able to stand with one of the local Indian umpires.

After the round robin phase there were group positions so then the top of Group A played the second in Group B.  Effectively, these were semi finals but there were also games involving all the nations involved to give final placings. Martin was chosen to umpire the semi final between Australia and New Zealand.  He describes the game and Australia's comfortable victory.

No one knew who would be umpiring the Final although it would have to be a neutral umpire.  As it would be played between England and Australia, Martin, as the sole umpire from Wales, was in with a shout.  All the international umpires thought the final would go to the Indian umpires.  However, after some delay on the evening before the final, at about 9pm, Martin discovered he was one of the three umpires chosen to officiate at the final.  A further wait happened until it was confirmed that he would be one of the on-field umpires.

Martin describes his feelings of nerves and excitement at the prospect of officiating at such an important game.

Martin describes the unusual feeling of participating in such a big occasion but that it was happening without much of a focus on it.  It was still one of six games that were taking place on the same day.

We talk about a serious incident which took place at the tournament, with a player experiencing a 'mild' heart attack.  All the umpires stressed this to all the players before the final.  He then talks to us about the ground where the final took place as well as all the grounds and the wickets in general.

England got a below par score, for them, in the 160s.  Australia were a fantastic bowling team and pinned England back with them losing wickets regularly.  Australia won with 4 or 5 overs and 8 wickets to spare.  The celebrations were rather muted but Martin felt that this was rather inevitable given the way the tournament had been organised.

Martin described the closing ceremony which took place two days after the final and what he received as a participating official.  He concludes with some final reflections on the experience.

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The collected group of ex-players and committee post holders started by telling us who they are and what they were like as cricketers.

We get a picture of the way into cricket which was different for different players, some moving from juniors into seniors and others coming onto the scene as a senior.  There were four senior sides in the past and some present played for all four sides.

We talk about a little bit of the older history of the club with contributions from Stuart who outlined the contested question of exactly when the cricket club was formed.  Cricket was brought to the area by English gentlemen who played mainly ‘away’ fixtures from 1824 but finally came to the Racecourse Ground in 1839.

Stuart tells the story of why the ground is called ‘The Racecourse’ and also outlines the history of the building of the current Pavillion.  

Like in other areas of Wales, english educated gentlemen first brought the game of cricket to the town when returning to their homes.

The first reported game involving members of the Haverfordwest Club took place on 12th August 1835 when a combined Haverfordwest and Pembroke team played members of the Tenby club.

The club is reputed to be the oldest in Wales.  A quote from 1839 noted, ‘It is ordered that John Higgon Esquire, and other gentlemen of the cricket club, be allowed to level a spot of ground within the ring of the Racecourse for the purpose of forming a Cricket Ground.’  English educated gentlemen first brought the game of cricket to this part of Wales

One character from the early years of the club was John Henry Philipss.  You can read about him here:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/the-pembrokeshire-cricketer-who-became-president-of-the-mcc/

 In the late 1960s and early 70s discussions got under way regarding the building of a clubhouse.  In 1977 the new clubhouse was opened by Wilfred Wooller of Glamorgan CCC and in 1982 the extension was officially opened by Alan Jones esq, Wales pre-eminent first class cricketer and Glamorgan opening bat for many years.

For more detail on the history of the club you can approach them for a copy of the 200th Anniversary Handbook which also contains some great articles on the modern day achievements of the club as well as pieces on its Ladies and Junior Sections.

Simon and Chris outline their favourite performances for Haverfordwest and then the ex-players share their memories of playing for the club.

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In this, the second part of our chat with current and ex players and officials we meet Henderson Springer.  You can read a little bit about Hendy and his connections with Haverfordwest and the cricket club here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/hendy-springer-53004

http://www.pembrokeshiresport.co.uk/home/henderson-says-hello-to-his-pembrokeshire-cricketing-friends

You can hear an interview with him on this Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=192877061657624

And an article in Barbados today about Hendy's return to the island and its cricket community:

https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/06/19/springer-returns-as-crickets-coaching-boss/

First, we hear my questions to Hendy.  He talks about his first impressions of the club and the town, his estimation of the team and what made it successful in the period he was with it.  He talks about how he felt coming to the club as a paid professional and a little bit about his approach to coaching.

He tells the story about a lady called Mary Field who's conversation with him is something that has stayed with him throughout his coaching career.

He also gives a message to the club and its members about everyone pitching in to keep the club going for another two hundred years !

The second part of the episode is club members talking about Henderson arriving at the club and their memories of him, both on and off the field!

The final part of the episode is the club members talking about their favourite grounds, both within and outside Pembrokeshire, their connections with the wider game in Wales, including the relationship with Glamorgan and Welsh Fire and the impact of women and girls cricket on the club.

Finally, we hear some favourite stories about the club and its players and memories of a loved ex member of the club, Steve James.

Very sadly, Henderson's mother was taken into hospital on the day of our conversation.  She has, since, passed away.

This episode of the podcast is dedicated to her memory and to the memory of Steve James.

Anyone interested in attending one of the remaining functions celebrating the club's bicentenary can find the details via the club's Facebook Page.

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In this episode we talk to ex Glamorgan seam bowler Steve 'Basil' Barwick.

You can read about Steve's first class career here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/steve-barwick/

We begin by talking about his early years playing for Briton Ferry Town and Alan Lewis Jones who introduced him to Glamorgan and the then coach Tom Cartwright.  He talks about Tom and how he built his strength up as a bowler.

He talks about his debut for Glamorgan against Sussex at Hove and his first season in 1981.

We talk about some of the international players who played county cricket at the time and some of the bowlers he remembers playing with.

Steve mentions Garth Le Roux as the most difficult batsman he had to bowl against.  We also talk about his career best figures of 8 for 42 which he took against Worcester at New Road.  You can see the scorecard here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/schweppes-county-championship-1983-468579/worcestershire-vs-glamorgan-470263/full-scorecard

Steve talks about how proud he was to receive his County Cap.

Basil then tells me how he got the nickname!

Steve then describes his experiences as a sufferer of sarcoidosis.  He describes the symptoms and the impact the illness has had on his life.  You can read more about it here:

https://www.sarcoidosisuk.org/

Steve talks about how he changed his bowling to predominantly off cutters and how he went about his craft.  He then goes on to how Glamorgan planned to win matches in the period in the early 90s.  We talk about the impact Viv Richards' arrival at the club and the Axa Equity and Law victory in 1993.  Steve recalls the final game at Canterbury and what a fantastic day it was.

Steve tells the story of how Ian Botham turned up at this mother and fathers wedding anniversary party.

We finish by talking about Steve's love for the game, how he continued to play cricket after his first class career and what the game has meant to him.

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In this episode we hear from Newport Cricket Club's Michael Clayden who, this season, became the first player in the history of the South wales Premier League to reach 200 appearances and to score over 6,000 runs in the league.

He has played all his junior and senior cricket for the Newport Club and this loyalty shines through in his inetrview that talks about his batting development, his cricketing heroes, memorable innings and, more recently, his coaching and his captaincy.

The epitome of the one club man, Michael has played at the top end of recreational cricket in Wales for 25 years.  His memories and his thoughts tell us a lot about him as a person but also provide some great insights on the game for all cricketers.

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This episode is a chat with Adge John of Saundersfoot Cricket Club.

Adge made the local newpaper headlines in the summer when he finished being scorer for the club.  Nothing unusual in that you might think but when you learn that he has been suffering with a debilitating eye disease all his life and is slowly losing his sight, his efforts appear nothing short of amazing.

To read Adge's story you can go here:

https://www.connectpembrokeshire.co.uk/news/2024/september/no-barrier-too-great-for-cricket-scorer-adge-john/

We talk to Adge about his sporting life, his struggles with his deteriorating eyesight and his final game as scorer, The Harrison-Allen Bowl Final 2024.

For those interested in an account of Adge's final game as scorer, you can go here:

http://www.pembrokeshiresport.co.uk/cricket/lawrenny-beat-saundersfoot-in-a-tense-final-thriller

For those interested in learning a little more about the work of the welsh Guide Dog Charity, go here:

https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/guide-dogs-cymru/

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In this episode we meet the cricketing Smale Family from Newport.  Mum, Ann-Marie is Deputy Chair at Glamorgan CCC and formed part of the team charged with winning a Tier 1 franchise for the women's game in Wales earlier this year.  Sophia and Will are both professional cricketers, making their way in the game after having both been young cricketers at the Newport club.

For more on Ann-Marie you can go here:

https://glamorgancricket.com/board-leadership

And you can read about Glamorgan's bid to bring Tier 1 Women's Cricket to the club here:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/glamorgan-bid-for-tier-1-professional-women%E2%80%99s-cricket-team

You can read about Sophia Smale's career to date here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66473326

And see her in action here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOGXJOET0to

We talk about her caught and bowled in last season's The Hundred.  You can see that here:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W2t8FjZs4zE

You can read a little more about Will here:

https://glamorgancricket.com/squad-profile/will-smale

And see him batting in the One-Day Cup Final at Trent Bridge here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkszYmNfE6s

The Smale Family is quite unique with mum, son and daughter all involved in the professional game.  They talk about their background, the way they play and their top tips for aspiring professional cricketers AND their parents.

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In this episode we talk to Jo Pockett of the ECB and Ahmed Khan and Adnan Haddidi of Llandaff Cricket Club about the Taste of Cricket cookbook, which was produced as part of the wider Raising the Game initiative aimed at improving the diversity of those playing the game and making it a more inclusive and equally accessed sport.

You can read about the cookbook here:

https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4167334/taste-of-cricket-a-new-cookbook-celebrating-diversity-in-the-game-launches-with-a-host-of-star-contributors

If you would like to buy a copy of the book you can do so here:

https://shop.ecb.co.uk/collections/accessories-1

As part of the campaign,  Phil Salt and TV chef Chris Bavin visited Llandaff in the summer.  The video capturing that day can be accessed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuVtq6EBXs4

In the episode we talk first to Jo Pockett who outlines the campaign of which Taste of Cricket is a part as well as the details of how the book was planned and made.  Then Ahmed and Adnan talk about the Llandaff club and the recipe, 'Leek Bhaji' which they contributed to the cookbook.

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In this episode we look back at the year of podcasts, picking out a few highlights, as we go.

There are a few comments at the beginning of the episode about Glamorgan's record breakers of the 2024 season.

In the episode, you will find clips featuring the following:

Mathew Maynard
Ossie Wheatley
Steve Barwick
Alun Clement and Gareth Edwards of Christchurch Cricket Club
Stuart Williams of Haverfordwest Cricket Club
Ernie Barber of Blaina Cricket Club (with thanks to Alan Rees at the Lords Museum for providing this audio)
Umpire Anna Harris
Amit Shivani  (Swansea Strikers) and  Ataur Rahman Jaber  (Swansea Warriors)
Tim Davies of Hay-On-Wye Cricket Club
Adam Rutherford of The Authors XI
Ray Cox and Mark Jones of Port Talbot Town Cricket Club 
Joe Lambe of Cricket Wales and Llandudno Cricket Club
Professor Michael Wilson of Loughborough University
and finally, Henderson Springer once of Haverfordwest Cricket Club.

A big thank you to all those who have been guests on the podcast in the last year and to all those who have listened to it.  I look forward to bringing you more stories about the great game of cricket from Wales in 2025.

Don't forget, if you have a story to tell, please get in touch via Facebook, X or by email: mwcpod1921@gmail.com

Very Best wishes to all those who play, watch or participate in the game of cricket in Wales.  We will see you in 2025!

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In this episode we talk to long time club professional and coach Brad Wadlan.

We talk about his early cricketing experiences and his time playing for Cardiff Met.  Brad talks about his time in Australia and how that impacted his life as well as his cricket.

We talk about his experience with the Unicorns cricket club and his time playing for the Mid West Rhinos in Zimbabwe.

Brad talks about he has always been a 'leader' and how that influenced his development as a coach.  He mentions how all his experiences have made him grow as a player and as a coach and how he feels his approach to coaching has brought success to the clubs he has coached at.

Brad came to Swansea Cricket Club in 2019 and has achieved incredible success with them.  He talks about these achievements and the individuals who have helped Swansea with that success.

Brad shares his thoughts on the state of club cricket in south wales and offers some of his suggestions on how to raise the level of performance across the Premier League and beyond.

Finally, we talk about him taking on a course to become a Level 4 cricket coach and he finishes with a few names he feels we might hear more of in the future.

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In this episode we talk to ex Gloucestershire CCC wicketkeeper Andy Brassington about his social inclusion initiative, Walkers and Talkers.  We are joined by Glamorgan's Mark Frost as we discuss the county's involvement with this.

What started out as a way to keep Andy and his friends going through the pandemic has turned into a rapidly growing idea that has hundreds of people meeting regularly to talk sport, engage in some gentle exercise and enjoy the experience of sharing memories and stories together.

With well established groups in Bristol, Taunton and Worcester, Andy is very excited about bringing the Walkers and Talkers idea to Cardiff, with a new group that will have its first meeting at Sophia Gardens in February.  Mark tells us about how excited Glamorgan CCC about bringing the Walkers and Talkers to Cardiff and shares the details with us.

For those interested in learning more about Walkers and Talkers you can go here:

https://www.walkersandtalkers.org/

You can read and watch a video about Andy's Outstanding Contribution Award from the PCA here:

https://www.thepca.co.uk/press-release/brassy-wins-outstanding-contribution-award/

The first Walkers and Talkers Group Meeting in Cardiff takes place on Thursday 13th February at 10:00am with Matt Maynard as the first speaker.  You can read about it here:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/walkers-talkers-arrives-at-glamorgan

AND YOU CAN REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN ATTENDING HERE:

https://bit.ly/4g4IcxA

And finally, if you are interested in supporting the work of the Walkers and Talkers initiative you can donate via their Just Giving Page:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/walkersandtalkers

I hope you enjoy the listen and hope you have a great time if you go to the inaugural event at Sophia Gardens.

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In this episode we talk to Steven Reingold who, in a brief short term pro career managed to be part of the Glamorgan One Day Cup winning side in 2021.

Steven's cricketing journey started in the north London club of Stanmore where his father still manages the first XI captained by his brother whilst mum gets involved with making the teas and lots more besides.  Via a gap year in his South African homeland he ended up in Cardiff at Cardiff Met where he came to the attention of Glamorgan's 2nd XI set up.

Alongside his attempts to get a foothold in the professional game, Steven has pursued his interst in sports psychology and will, this year, complete a masters in the subject.  Along with Glamorgan's Kiran Carlson he set up a small business dedicated to, in the words of the organisation,  'sharing experiences and knowledge, educating people on mental skills and challenging others on the mental side of sport. We aim to spread awareness on mental skills in sport and help everyone develop from young athletes and beginner coaches to elite athletes and elite coaches'.

Steven talks to us about his love of the game, playing with his Dad and his brother, playing for Glamorgan and where his ideas about mental skills and sport came from and how he sees them in the game of cricket.

You can visit his podcast platform here:

https://shows.acast.com/talking-mental-skills

And here you can read Kiran Carlson's blog inspired by his work with Steven:

https://kirancarlson15.wordpress.com/ 

Here you can read an article in the Jewish Chronicle about Steven and the GB Team's exploits at the 2022 Maccabi Games:

https://www.thejc.com/life/sport/team-maccabi-gb-make-medal-history-at-21st-maccabiah-games-nqsfd5ga

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This episode contains interviews with attenders to the first ever Walkers and Talkers Event held in Wales on February 13th 2025.

Around 80 people turned up to the Museum of Welsh Cricket for a cup of coffee, a gentle stroll around the environs of Sophia Gardens and to listen to ex Glamorgan player and coach Matthew Maynard talk about his cricketing life.

This was the first of what will be a number of Walkers and Talkers Events that will be held in Cardiff in the coming months.

For the next dates and to register for the event YOU CAN GO HERE:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/walkers-talkers-new-dates

You can learn more about the Walkers and Talkers Organization by going here:

https://www.walkersandtalkers.org/

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This season represents an historic departure for Glamorgan CCC as they play both a men's and women's professional team for the first time in their history.

But the path to this point has been a long and arduous journey for women's cricket.

In this episode we talk to Jill Matthews who, as a young Jill Ayres, played a significant role in women's cricket in South Wales during the 1950s and 1960s.

She gives us an insight into what it was like being a woman interested and keen to play cricket at that time,  the difficulties faced by the players in maintaining their organizations and the enjoyment she got from playing the game.

For those of you who would like to learn a little more about the development of the women's game in Wales, you can go here:

https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/the-evolution-of-womens-and-girls-cricket-in-wales-1/

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In this episode we talk to Wales Over 50s cricket coach and player Mark Davies.  Mark had a very brief career with Glamorgan CCC before being offered the opportunity to play for Gloucestershire, which he did for 4 seasons in the early 1990s.

For his first-class careers statistics you can go here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/mark-davies-11829

You can also read his profile on the Glamorgan Archives website here:

https://glamorgancricketarchives.com/mark-davies/

For those interested in the Wales Over 50s Cricket Team you can follow their exploits via their Facebook page 'Wales Over 50s Cricket'.

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In this episode we talk to Glamorgan CCC top order batter Sam Northeast who, in the first game of last years County Championship went to Lords and managed to compile the highest ever first class innings recorded at the Home of Cricket.

He scored 335 not out in a Glamorgan first innings total of 620 for 3.

You can take a look at the scorecard here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-two-2024-1410192/middlesex-vs-glamorgan-2nd-match-1410264/full-scorecard

This is how reporter Nick Webb covered the story for the BBC:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/68749184

If you would like to watch some of Sam's shots during that innings you can go here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7tmEsD27FA

Here is the article carried on the Glamorgan website with the details of the records Sam broke and set during those two days at Lords:

https://glamorgancricket.com/news/stat-attack-sam-northeast-has-a-day-to-remember-at-lords

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The inaugaral Podcast of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket Podcast presented by Alun Rhys Chivers and Stephen Hedges.

Albert talks about his memories of being a groundsman at both Cardiff Arms Park and Sophia Gardens as well as his thoughts on rugby and cricket.

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Y gohebydd criced Edward Bevan sy'n cofio'n ôl i'w ddyddiau'n chwarae i dîm Tre-gŵyr i Lord's, nid unwaith ond dwy, yng nghanol y 1970au.
Enillodd y clwb dlws Cwpan y Pentrefi ar eu hail gynnig.
Crynodeb Saesneg i ddilyn.


In a welsh language interview, journalist Edward Bevan re-counts his experiences as a player with Gowerton Cricket Club when they went to Lords not once but twice in the mid 1970s.  The club won the Village Cup Trophy on their second attempt.
The interview is followed by a brief English language discussion.

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Pontypridd Crcicket Club is in its 150th year.  Local Librarian Edwina Smart guides us through a potted look at its history.  Ex players Roy Hope and Tony Hallett talk about their experiences of playing for the club and their thoughts on cricket from the 1950s right up to today.  Some noteworthy ex sportsmen make guest appearances wishing the club all the best in their anniversary year.

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Prem talks with museum volunteer Jan Gray about his childhood, getting into cricket and being a role model for other aspiring young Asian cricketers.

We discuss the impact of three world class Pakistani cricketers on the Glamorgan scene: Majid Khan, Javed Miandad and Waqar Younis.

In our 'My club, Our story' feature, three of the Gowerton Cricket Club team that won the Village Cup at Lords in 1975 join us to talk about their memories of the day.

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We hear Richard Hill of the ECB outline the history of disability cricket and its current set up.  

Leshia Hawkins and Les Randall of Cricket Wales talk about the past achievements and present goals of those organising the game in the principality. 

We hear from two of the Wales Disability Cricket Team Squad who visited Sri Lanka last year.  Cian Davies and Chris Margetts talk openly about their disability and their reasons for enjoying cricket as a sport.

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Hear Asian club cricketers Riaz Anwar and Mohammed Rafhan talk about their involvement in club cricket in Cardiff in the 1970s and also hear the story of Imran Hassan, a  talented schoolboy cricketer who was denied a first contract with Glamorgan because he did not have British nationality and who ended up giving up on his dream of becoming a professional cricketer.

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Tony Peters and Tony Davies are two of the volunteers who help out at the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket.  Under the watchful eye of Chief Archivist Andrew Hignell they have busied themselves with cataloguing items for the museum as well as assisting with its journey towards accrditation as a museum. 

Thay talk about their experiences and some of the great cricketing stories they have discovered along the way including a lovely one about Tony Davies' father, Haydn, Glamorgan wicketkeeping star of the 1948 Championship winning side and his 500th victim in first class cricket . . . oh, and chocolate cake at Lords gets a mention as well!

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Current First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, his predecessor, Carwyn Jones and Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething share their memories and thoughts about the game of cricket.  

There is talk of great players, great matches and what is it about cricket that is so special.

There are also stories of Glamorgan cricketers staying over at the Gething's house in Zambia,  Mark Drakefords grandfather falling asleep at Lords and Carwyn's love for King Viv.

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The Podcast interviews Robin Varley, cricketer, club official and administrator about his book,  'All That Could Be Desired - The History of Cricket in Aberystwyth 1830 to 1997'.  Robin talks about famous local cricketers, famous families and names of the past who were significant in the development of the game there AND about his own not insignificant contribution to cricket in Aberystwyth.

This is followed by an interview with Dr Andrew Hignell of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket who outlines the contributory factors in the development of cricket in different parts of Wales.

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The Podcasts Jan Gray talks to Zak Crawley of Kent and England and Kiran Carlson of Glamorgan about how they found their way to being a professional cricketer and gets their advice for all those aspiring to play in the first class game.

He also examines the Welsh process of talent development with Glamorgan's Head of Talent Development Richard Almond and Cricket Wales' Head of the Talent Pathway Matt Thompson.

This is a comprehensive view of how young cricketing talent develops and is nurtured.  It will be a valuable listen for all young players and club coaches but will also be of interest to all those with an interest in the development of cricket in Wales.

It will be followed with a future episode on coaching and development as it used to be.

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Jan Gray interviews Jayne Cole who has been a scorer with Haverfordwest Cricket Club for nearly 40 years.

She talks about how she started, some amaazing games that she has witnessed and the enjoyment she gets from scoring.  

Along the way she reflects on what she likes about being a scorer and ecourages others to join her in one way to get involved with the local cricket club.

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Jeff Evans, y dyfarnwr o Drefach yn Sir Gaerfyrddin, fydd y gwestai arbennig yr wythnos hon. Mae’r Cymro Cymraeg newydd ymddeol o ddyfarnu ar lefel dosbarth cyntaf y siroedd ar ôl gyrfa sydd wedi para ugain mlynedd ac sydd wedi mynd â fe o'i filltir sgwâr i bedwar ban byd.

Cawn glywed sut y dechreuodd ei ddiddordeb mewn criced, ei atgofion o’i gyfnod yn dyfarnu yn y gêm broffesiynol, ei gynlluniau ar gyfer y dyfodol wrth ddychwelyd i griced ar lawr gwlad, a’i gyngor i unrhyw un sydd am ddilyn gyrfa fel dyfarnwr.

(A Welsh language interview with retired first-class umpire Jeff Evans about his career, his native Carmarthenshire and a recent charity walk).

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We interview Sam Rossiter and Megan Arthur, both players in the league and hear a little bit about its history and development, how they got into playing cricket and their hopes for the future of the league.

An added bonus this week is another in our feature Curator's Corner.  This week, Dr Andrew Hignell gives us a potted history of scoring and talks about previous Glamorgan scorers Jack Mercer and Byron Denning.  This is the first part of this interview.  The second will come in our next episode.

For more information about the Pembrokeshire Ladies Cricket League you can find them on Facebook at Pembrokeshire Ladies Cricket, on Twitter @pembcrickladies and via the Pembroke County Cricket Club website (http://www.pembrokecountycc.co.uk).

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Jan Gray talks to Fraser Watson of Llanrhian Cricket Club and learns about the trials and tribulations of the most westerly cricket club on the UK mainland.

Also, hear the second part of Dr Andrew Hignell's interview about cricket scoring.