Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

103 The Extra Test Match of the next few days, Glamorgan turned the formbook upside down, and all with a quite inexperienced side, as captain Ossie Wheatley opted to rest several senior players. Few in the crowd of around 20,000 must have fancied a Glamorgan win as the Welsh county were bundled out for 197, but after a short shower had freshened up the Swansea wicket, Shepherd and Pressdee produced a magnificent spell of bowling as Australia slumped to 39-6 with the cream of their batting talent sent packing by Glamorgan’s spin-twins. It wasn’t just the fans in the St. Helen’s ground who were willing on the Glamorgan team as the National Eisteddfod was being held just a mile or so down the road from the Swansea ground. The organisers had shown great enterprise in arranging for television screens to be placed around the tented village, and the sets drew an ever-increasing crowd as word spread around the maes of Glamorgan’s fightback, resulting in hundreds of patriotic Welshmen and women eager to catch a glimpse of the flickering black and white images, courtesy of the coverage provided by BBC Wales. The two teams also made an appearance on stage, as remembered by Alan Jones: “as both teams took to the stage that night at the Royal National Eisteddfod in Swansea, who would have known we were just a few days away from an historic victory.” Shep also remembers that night and suggests that, “after going up on the stage, we were so full of hwyl that there was no way we were going to lose that match.” The following morning, Glamorgan’s bowlers polished off The victorious Glamorgan team, led by Ossie Wheatley, which defeated the 1964 Australians at Swansea.