Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

48 A Welsh identity devastating news – “Sorry son – you’re going blind.” The opthalmic specialist then explained to the 24-year old that his optic nerve was badly deteriorating and that there was nothing from a medical point of view which could be done for him. Trevor rang Maurice to tell him the dreadful news and the following morning, the Glamorgan captain gathered the team together in the Arms Park pavilion and quietly told them the news about their wicket-keeper. Given his condition, Trevor took no further part in the game, and was simply recorded as “absent” in the scorebook when Glamorgan batted for a second time. Within a few weeks of the diagnosis, he was completely blind and through the generosity of his colleagues, who arranged a fund-raising campaign for their unfortunate friend, he began training as a stenographer. The abrupt loss of the popular wicket-keeper could have been a major blow for the Welsh county, but thankfully Tom Brierley, the Southampton-born batsman, had experience behind the stumps in club cricket in Lancashire and he took over the gloves for much of the summer. Tom was quite a talented all-round sportsman, having also played football to a high level, as well as taking part in lacrosse in Canada where he spent many winters coaching and teaching. Indeed, Trevor Every keeping wicket at the Arms Park during 1929 as Alan Howard bats.