Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

120 The early 1970s had seen the introduction of one-day internationals into the summer schedule with England playing their first limited-overs match against Australia in Melbourne in January 1971, with the 40 overs a side contest arranged after the Test Match at the same ground had been washed out without a ball being bowled. During the Australians visit to the UK in 1972, three one-day internationals were included in the schedule, and the following summer, more were added, including the match in the Prudential Trophy between England and New Zealand. The allocation of the game to Swansea followed an extensive period of lobbying to the games authorities by Wilf Wooller who argued that this new format of cricket should be allocated to different venues than the traditional ones used for Test Matches, and grounds such as Swansea, which had a reputation for decent crowds. As the Glamorgan Secretary wrote at the time: “Following the introduction of one-day internationals into the domestic schedule, I lobbied the Test and County Cricket Board that these games should be held at venues which did not currently host Test Matches, but had a tradition for attracting handsome crowds for county games. The one-day internationals were a new and different type of cricket, so I was pleased when the TCCB agreed with my premise that a game in the 1973 Prudential Trophy series with New Zealand should go to a new and different venue. I was even more delighted when their choice for the game on 18 th July was Swansea. A crowd of just over 10,000 turned up and the gross gate was £4,114.” 1 This was a decent outcome because rain had threatened to play havoc with the game, with the pre-match preparations being blighted by unseasonal rain. As JBG Thomas wrote in the Western Mail : “A lot of sun is needed to make the first Test [sic] cricket match played in Wales at Swansea a success. The St. Helen’s pitch has received a real soaking but sun and the quick drying properties of the sandy sub-soil will, it is hoped, ensure a fine match.” 2 The fact that there was a decent gate was gratifying for the Glamorgan authorities who had spent around £4,00 on ensuring the ground was up to standard for the international contest, with a new scoreboard erected at the top of the bank on the eastern side and replacing the two-sided structure adjacent to Gorse Lane, besides building a new press box next to the Pavilion and erecting five marquees on the rugby pitch in order to provide dining and catering facilities for the crowd, VIP guests and sponsors. The game was staged at Swansea eight days after the three-Test series had ended by the margin of two games to one in favour of Ray Illingworth’s England side. The two matches for the Prudential Trophy were staged at Swansea and Manchester over the course of three days in mid-July, and with bad weather at Old Trafford, it was just the game at St. Helen’s which reached a positive outcome, with a century by Warwickshire’s Dennis International cricket comes to Swansea