Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

59 Triumph and tragedy a difference of opinion over the terms of his contract for 1937, Austin accepted a coaching appointment at Stowe School and at the end of term decided to visit family and friends in South Wales. It was a fortuitous time for him to be around as Jack was on the sidelines with a severely strained leg muscle, and with the seam bowling reserves needing to be bolstered, Austin agreed to an approach from Maurice to turn out a few times for the Welsh county. He responded by claiming 14/132 against Sussex on a shirt- front surface at Hove, before taking a further six wickets against Somerset at Weston-super-Mare. The sea air and a change of circumstances had clearly been a welcome tonic for the veteran, and his return to the first-class game became evenmore remarkable when barely three weeks after first donning the daffodil sweater, he was drafted into the England squad for the Test Match at The Oval. It proved to be Austin’s one and only Test cap, with his appearance in the England side being toasted by his new county colleagues but, like many of the supporters, they privately felt that Emrys Davies, another yeoman of the county game, was overdue a chance to display his talents at international level. Emrys had made his debut in 1923 and, on more than one occasion, the Llanelli-born cricketer had survived a cull of the professional resources simply because of the fact that he was home-grown. After several lean years, he blossomed into a fine all-rounder and handsomely repaid the faith that Maurice had shown in his abilities by becoming the first Glamorgan cricketer to complete the Double Austin Matthews.