Cricket Witness No 3 - The Daffodil Blooms

80 The Wooller Way before wicket and was dropped at second slip, before fending off a lifting delivery straight into the hands of a gleeful Allan Watkins at short-leg. Wilf ended up with five wickets before posting a feisty fifty as Glamorgan secured an invaluable first innings lead. Batting for a second time, Jack Crapp thwarted Glamorgan’s efforts at wrapping up a two-day victory and a richly deserved day off, but they were not to be deprived of victory on the final day as Arnold Dyson made 79 whilst Willie Jones struck an unbeaten 77 and Glamorgan eased to an eight-wicket victory. Wilf’s elevation to the county captaincy progressed with few hitches, especially as he had had a wordly-wise tutor in Johnnie Clay, plus the two Davies’s – Haydn and Emrys – as senior professionals with each having very astute cricket brains. Wilf though was a natural leader with all the attributes that a captain should possess. Even in Changhi as a P.O.W, he had honed his tactical skills by participating in the camp’s chess competition. As he later recalled: “I had played chess at Rydal during the weekly hobby period, so I was not a novice. Even so, it was some time since I had played the game, so I read up on a few set moves using some of the books housed in the modest camp library. I also learnt some opening strategies by playing with an R.A.F. pilot called Alan MacIntyre who had played in national competitions before the War. This practice paid off as I moved up to the top of the camp ladder by beating some very good players.” 1 In the jungle of the Far East, and amidst the depravities of life as a prisoner of War, Wilf came to further appreciate the importance of a strategy. The winter of 1946/47 saw the new Glamorgan leader, like a grand chess master, carefully manipulate the playing resources at his disposal. The healthy attendances at several games during 1946 fortunately meant he had slightly more cash to play with when offering professional terms to various candidates. In particular, there had been healthy attendances at Swansea for the match against the Indians over the August Bank Holiday, with over 50,000 people shoehorned into the St. Helen’s ground. In fact, shortly after lunch on the second day, the gates had to be closed as the ground was full. Despite several thousands of pounds in gate money piled up on a table in the Swansea pavilion, the Glamorgan Treasurer was left rueing the fact that more people could not have been squeezed in.