Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

108 a poor delivery from Peter Walker straight back to the bowler. With a career tally of 697 first-class victims and a reputation as one of the greatest fielders in the county game, Walker was not going to miss out, and his catch turned the game in Glamorgan’s favour. With the lower order exposed, and with the ball starting to turn, there was a flurry of lusty boundaries, but to the delight of the home crowd, the fours and sixes were accompanied by wickets as the razor-sharp Glamorgan fielders held every chance that came their way, and when Dave Renneberg’s holed out to Majid, Glamorgan had won by 79 runs. Welsh hymns were soon echoing around the ground yet again, together with a rendition of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ before Shepherd and his players addressed the crowd to celebrate another defining moment in Welsh sporting history. After sustained applause for ‘Shep’ in recognition of his wily captaincy, Barry Jarman – the Australian skipper – also spoke to the crowd and the biggest cheer of the day came when he began by saying “What’s new about being beaten by Glamorgan!” The cheering, singing crowd, saluting winning captain Shepherd on the steps in front of the pavilion in 1968 also illustrated the heights to which these fixtures with touring teams aspired. Don Shepherd and Barry Jarman make impromptu speeches from the pavilion balcony after the Welsh county secured successive victories at the Swansea ground against the Australians. The Extra Test Match