Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

103 The summer of 1948 country, and particularly in Wales, the most happy memories of a fine cricketer, a gentleman and a grand sportsman.” 6 Having suggested that he would play, ‘The Don’ was not however in the Australian team which at half-past eleven walked out on to a field which just two hours earlier had been partially underwater. Bradman’s decision not to appear in the match at Swansea was probably influenced by the presence yet again of Johnnie Clay in the Glamorgan line-up. ‘The Don’ still remembered his visit to Swansea in 1938, which had proved quite a humbling one for the Australian maestro and a most lucrative one for the Welsh county. Once again, the Glamorgan hierarchy had been eager in 1938 to literally cash in on the presence of the great Australian batsman, but for a while it looked as if the weather gods were conspiring against Maurice Turnbull and his team. The first two days of the game were badly affected by the weather, and it was eventually on the third morning that the large crowd got their wish as out walked Bradman in his baggy green cap. As so many times before, Maurice had an eye on the Club’s finances and, on seeing the batting maestro make his way to the middle, he gathered his bowlers around him and said “Look boys – we can’t afford to get Bradman out too quickly, as there are still a few spare places in the crowd.” 7 Dutifully, his bowlers followed these instructions, as news quickly spread around Swansea that ‘The Don’ was at the crease. Scores of people headed for St. Helen’s – some no doubt with the flimsiest of excuses for leaving work, and many were rewarded with a glimpse of seeing Bradman play himself in. With a crowd standing over a dozen deep around the boundary edge, and the enclosures almost bursting, Maurice, as before with Frank Ryan, had a quick word with Johnnie Clay and told him that he could now try to get Bradman out. It didn’t take the great off-spinner very long either as Bradman, like so many other batsmen before and after on the county circuit, was lured down the track by his subtle bowling and smartly stumped by wicket-keeper Haydn Davies for 17. As Haydn later recalled, “Johnnie valued the wicket of ‘The Don’ more highly than any other he took for Glamorgan. Johnnie was all arms and legs and quite difficult to pick up unless you were used to him. This was a key factor in his dismissal as after beating Don through the air on several occasions, in sheer desperation, he went down the wicket, and was beaten by Johnnie’s superb flight.” 8