Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

112 the compartments for the onward journey to Paddington, where they discussed the team’s strategy for the remaining five games of the season: the visit to Middlesex, followed by matches against Northamptonshire and Surrey at the Arms Park, before away games in Hampshire and Leicestershire. Given Surrey’s decent form and the presence of the wily Australian spinner Jack Walsh in the Leicestershire side, the team agreed with Wooller’s assertion that they would have to make the most of the other three contests. It reflected the team spirit and self-belief as the dozen players crowded together, leaving their scorer, plus journalist J.B.G. Thomas and his young son, perched up on the luggage rack, guarding the bags in the adjoining compartment. But their plans met an immediate hitch as rain fell yet again in London, allowing play to only take place on the second day. To make matters worse, Surrey enjoyed fine weather at Weston-super-Mare and routed Somerset by eight wickets with Laurie Fishlock making a match- winning century. Another series of rain-bearing fronts was heading towards the South Wales coast as Glamorgan returned to Cardiff to play Northamptonshire and, after delays on the first and third days, there was insufficient time to manufacture a result with the game ending in yet another soggy draw. Only eight balls could be bowled on the final day against the weak Northants side, but Glamorgan were not alone in being frustrated by the weather as Surrey were also blighted by low pressure systems at Cheltenham where they were playing Gloucestershire, with the rain preventing Surrey from sneaking another victory. But there was plenty of sunshine up north where Yorkshire defeated Worcestershire with less than ten minutes remaining at Bradford Park Avenue, and this narrow victory also put the Tykes into the race for the Championship title. Wilf and his team sat in the changing rooms at Cardiff, listening to the rain pelting down on the tin roof of the North Stand, and realised that the next match with Surrey was likely to decide the destiny of the title. To add to the conundrum, Phil Clift picked up an injury in the draw with Northants, and with Allan on England duty, there was plenty of chatter about who might be the replacement for what might be the title-decider. As Wilf recalled: “I still had an ace up my sleeve, as I decided to fill this vacancy, not with a specialist batsman, but by recalling the veteran Johnnie Clay. The fifty-year old had spent much of the summer Clinching the title