Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

53 Team spirit The flag itself had also undergone a re-branding exercise since the Club’s entry into the first-class game, with the introduction in 1927 of a daffodil logo, as the flower of Wales rather than the dragon symbol. The red and green colours were also replaced by blue and gold and, as Glamorgan took to the field with an increasing number of young Welshmen, they successfully shrugged off their old identity. One of the spin-offs from all of these changes was an enhanced team spirit. The Glamorgan cricketers had always been a happy bunch, despite the financial worries and the clash of personalities with some of the captains. Morale flourished during the 1930s under Maurice’s captaincy and a settled side emerged with a greater number of Welsh cricketers. The greater camaraderie and togetherness was clearly in evidence on the away trips when the team travelled together on a series of express trains, with many overnight journeys being undertaken despite a long day in the field. On occasions, they missed their connections as games dragged on for longer than expected, as at Lord’s in 1933, so that by the time the team gathered at Paddington their train, with booked seats, had departed. To make matters worse, it had also been the last passenger service that night back to South Wales and, for a while, it looked as if the team would have to spend an extra night up in London. But Maurice went off to the station master’s office and made alternative arrangements for the team to travel on the mail train. Even so, there was only limited seating available and whilst the three amateurs – Maurice, Bob Haines and Ted Glover – were fortunate enough to gain seats in the first-class carriage, the rest of the team had to find somewhere in the already crowded second-class coach. Some of the professionals ended up sleeping on the floor, whilst Trevor Every clambered up into the luggage rack! During the summer, the team also had some fun with a sign saying ‘Wanted – a Respectable Girl’. Ted Glover and Viv Jenkins had first seen the sign in the window of a newspaper shop in Hinckley when popping in for newspapers and cigarettes before play against Leicestershire. On leaving the small shop, Ted discreetly filched the sign, to which he duly gave a border of sticking tape. The fun began as the pair of jolly amateurs placed it gently on the back of Harry Ditton, the cricket correspondent of the Western Mail newspaper. Harry spent the day with the card on his back, and several times walked around the Hinckley ground, blissfully