Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

11 Fairytale or nightmare? Coldstream Guards during the British Expeditionary Force’s early forays on European soil. When life gradually got back to normal five long and bloody years later, the dream of first-class status resurfaced amongst the cricketers of South Wales. Jack had died in August 1914, so the torchbearers of the new campaign were Norman Riches and Tom Whittington. The pair had been Glamorgan’s leading batsmen since the turn of the century whilst in 1911 Norman had become the first batsman in Minor County cricket to aggregate over 1,000 runs during a season and came close to selection for an MCC winter tour. The Cardiff-based dentist had also played for South Wales against the 1905 Australians, and was still a potent force when, fifteen years later, Glamorgan resumed their Minor County fixtures. Indeed, on many occasions during 1920 the pair opened the batting, with Tom, a solicitor in Neath, taking a semi-sabbatical from his practice to act as Glamorgan’s Honorary Secretary and helping to get the Club back on its feet. The fund-raising campaign before the War had garnered a modicum of financial support besides creating a list of potential benefactors. Whittington Tom Whittington (left) and Norman Riches walking out to open the batting for Glamorgan in their inaugural County Championship match against Sussex at Cardiff in 1921.