Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

122 enjoyed a jolly time in West Wales. The celebrations continued into September with back-to- back three-day matches at St. Helen’s and the Arms Park, with the great and the good of Welsh cricket joining Wilf and his – quite literally - merry team as they met a South of England XI at Swansea, followed by an All-England XI at Cardiff. In the first game, a fine 111 by Allan Watkins – now happily recovered from his shoulder injury and ready to join the party – led Glamorgan to a two-wicket victory. Once again, Dai Davies joined in with the celebrations, although in the match at St. Helen’s he stood as one of the umpires and it was probably the thought of his daily duties out in the middle – rather than the remains of a hangover from the jollities in Pembrokeshire – that led him to go a little bit more easy after play each evening when mixing with his former colleagues. The second game saw Jack Hobbs, the great Surrey and England batsman, stand as umpire, alongside Norman Riches as the champion county drewwith an All England XI captained by Norman Yardley, and including Len Hutton, Bill Edrich and Douglas Jardine of Bodyline fame. Initially, the Glamorgan officials had drawn up a plan for a game against a side called The Rest of the World, with invites going out to several other Test players from other nations. One went to Don Bradman who after playing with the Australians at the Festival weeks at Hastings and Scarborough was en route to Scotland to close the Invincibles’ tour with two-day games against Scotland in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Perhaps the thought of once again having to face Johnnie Clay persuaded ‘The Don’ to head North rather than journey to South Wales. 1 Even though the leaves had fallen and autumnal mists shrouded the region’s cricket grounds, the celebrations continued for several months. It seemed that every sporting institution and club in Wales wanted to have their own share in the triumph of Wilf and his team, and even in the early months of 1949 the events continued as, in the words of Haydn Davies, “the longest honeymoon saw champagne glasses and pints of beer being raised to The Skipper and his team.” 2 As the sound of the first cuckoos were heard during the Spring of 1949, minds turned to the new season and focused on the question of whether Glamorgan could do it again and emulate the feats of Yorkshire and Lancashire during the inter-war era by retaining the title. They failed to do so as Middlesex and Yorkshire shared the honours. Wilf had hoped for a place in the top six, but Glamorgan Epilogue – The legacy of 1948