Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

18 Fairytale or nightmare? wives, daughters and mothers were cajoled into helping to prepare the sandwiches and bake the cakes for lunch and tea rather than spending money on professional caterers. Indeed, it was said about one gentleman that he owed his place in the Glamorgan side more to the prowess of his wife in the kitchen than to his own abilities with either bat or ball! Every penny from the gate receipts was gleefully collected by the county’s new Treasurer, and during the games at the Arms Park, he dispatched the 12 th man down to their bank in Cardiff Docks each lunch and tea interval to pay the takings from ground admission into the Club’s account. If it looked as if the game might end, he was also detailed to return to the ground with sufficient funds to pay the professionals. With ever-rising debts, there was a decrease in the number of professionals who were chosen, whilst the quality of the accommodation booked for away matches also showed a marked decline. In several cases, bedrooms were taken in public houses rather than in the more expensive and luxurious hotels. There were few dissenting voices, especially as some of the more thirsty professionals felt that staying in a tavern was something of a perk! As far as the opposing teams visiting South Wales were concerned, they held Glamorgan in such low esteem that they would only book into hotels for two nights, rather than three, believing that they would wrap up victory inside a couple of days. After much discussion in the committee rooms, it was decided to press on with securing fixtures for 1923 and, as opening batsman Tom Morgan said during a pre-season interview in a local newspaper: “this year is exceedingly vital…..for if we fail now the consequences may be serious since we may never reach the same pinnacle of first-class status again.” 10 But defeats continued to be commonplace, with just one victory during the eighteen Championship matches between May and July. The only success had come during the first week of June when Northamptonshire were beaten at Swansea, but with the Club’s finances and form showing no turnaround, Tom Whittington resigned the captaincy. At the end of the season, he left South Wales believing that all of his hard work had been in vain and that Glamorgan’s existence as a first-class county was over.