with a victory at Bristol but Glamorgan struggled at Swansea. Massive crowds packed St Helen’s and after Glamorgan had trailed on the first innings, Tony Lewis’s declaration set Essex 190 in two hours. Nine were down with eight needed when John Lever joined Ray East. Singles were scampered but they still wanted three from the last ball, which East cut towards the third man boundary. Ossie Wheatley sprinted around the ropes and sent an arrow-like return for Eifon Jones to remove the bails with Lever well out of his ground. Glamorgan, victors by one run, went on to win the Championship. Roy Fredericks (228 not out) and Alan Jones treated the St Helen’s crowd to a feast on the 1972 August Bank Holiday Monday with a first-wicket partnership of 330, Frederick remaining unbeaten with 228. Jones had previously forged an opening association with Roger Davis, who was also a fearless and brilliant short leg. On the Saturday of the Spring holiday match at Sophia Gardens in 1971 against Warwickshire, Glamorgan were dismissed for 191. During the visitors’ reply, Davis was hit on the side of the head, just behind the ear by a ball which Neil Abberley had whipped off his toes right off the meat of the bat. The fieldsman collapsed and went into convulsions. A doctor in the members’ enclosure ran out to offer help and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as the player stopped breathing. Thankfully he started to breathe again and was carried off the field and taken to hospital. At first there were fears of brain damage but happily Davis made a full recovery and was playing again by mid-August. Warwickshire’s victory, hastened by the spin of Lance Gibbs, seemed academic. Huge scores from Javed Miandad and a debut hundred for Matthew Maynard were Glamorgan highlights and a hundred for Somerset from Viv Richards and a match analysis of 14-112 by Vic Marks added colour to the fixtures but two uncapped youngsters Terry Davies and Simon Daniels made history against Gloucestershire at Swansea on Saturday 29 May 1982. Nine Glamorgan wickets were down for 165 when Daniels, a young seam bowler, joined wicket-keeper Davies in a partnership of 143. More history was made when Glamorgan flew from Swansea airport instead of undergoing a 190-mile journey to Colwyn Bay for the 1990 Spring holiday fixture with Lancashire. With no Test matches scheduled during the old-style holidays counties were at full-strength for the fixtures. That changed when the August break was moved to the end of the month. Although the disadvantages to the counties were obvious, at least it offered a glimpse of high quality cricket over the Bank Holiday weekend. The Oval in 1967 provides an example. By Saturday’s close Pakistan, needing 224 to avoid an innings defeat, were 26 for four and on Monday morning the slump continued. Eight were down and 159 still needed to make England bat again when Asif Iqbal took charge with a superb 146, adding 190 for the ninth wicket with Intikhab Alam and although England won comfortably, the crowd could not have wished for better holiday entertainment. But the day did not end happily for England’s captain Brian Close, who had been censored for alleged delaying tactics in Yorkshire’s match at Edgbaston. After the match finished at The Oval, Doug Insole, the chairman of the selectors, told him that he would not be leading the team to the West Indies. Close said: “I had then to go to a reception, to smile at people, to accept congratulations on winning the series, to make a speech, to make polite small talk with the hierarchy. And all the time I was bleeding inside.” Changing Partners 188