Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

CRICKET WITNESS The Daffodil Blooms The glorious rise of Glamorgan CCC to County Champions in 1948 BRIAN HALFORD & ANDREW HIGNELL ACS PUBLICATIONS This book, the third in the highly acclaimed Cricket Witness series, is a celebration of Glamorgan winning the 1948 County Championship. Not only was it their first-ever title, it was achieved just four years after the heartbreak of losing their inspirational captain, Maurice Turnbull, who was killed shortly after the Normandy Invasion whilst serving King and Country. Maurice had steered the county through a series of difficult seasons when defeats were more common than success, and the committee were regularly contemplating a return to Minor County status. Elevated into first- class cricket in 1921, Glamorgan CCC was the Cinderella of the county game, with opponents travelling to South Wales only booking two nights accommodation instead of the normal three, given the Welsh county’s dreadful form. As defeat followed defeat during their first two decades, Glamorgan’s selection committee often found it difficult to raise a strong team, as talented amateurs declined invitations to play, and in one game a fifteen year-old schoolboy made his county debut. Others were chosen on a whim or hunch, rather than good form, whilst one owed his place in the side at home games because his wife was an excellent cook and oversaw the feeding arrangements for visiting teams as the Welsh county tried to save money by not hiring professional caterers. To the delight of their loyal band of supporters, all this changed in 1948 as Wilf Wooller, the former Welsh rugby international led the county, to the disbelief of the London Press, to the Championship title. Like other volumes in the series, this rags to riches tale is recounted with the use of contemporary quotes and extracts from the memoirs of the players themselves. This book is also lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished images being used to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Championship-winning season. £15.00