Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

139 A very special place his first delivery of both innings. The day had begun with Norman fending off a lifter from Wheatley into the hands of Peter Walker at short-leg, and then later in the afternoon, as Northants batted again, he edged the first ball of the second innings from Wheatley straight into the hands of Jim Pressdee in the slips. As the Glamorgan fielders congratulated their captain for striking again with his opening delivery, the fair-haired Northants batsman had to walk again back up the steps to the Swansea pavilion, not quite believing his ill fortune in having recorded a ‘king pair’ within the space of six hours of play! Whilst county games have generally attracted decent crowds at Swansea, it was the match against the touring teams over the August Bank Holiday which were the highlight of the summer calendar at St. Helen’s. As Alan Jones recalled when reminiscing about the historic victory over the 1968 Australians: “As I travelled into the Swansea ground, it was clear the game had caught the public’s imagination. The traffic from the West, from Llanelli, Carmarthen and Gorseinon was far busier than usual. Parking for players at St. Helen’s can often be a problem because there is only roadside space available so you have to compete with the spectators. On this particular day, it was obvious we were in for a bumper crowd for I had to walk almost a mile from my parked car.” 1 Right from their earliest days as a first-class county, the well-attended matches against the touring teams at St. Helen’s were something of a cash cow for the Club, not least the game at Swansea in August against the 1930 Australians. The game saw the first appearance of Don Bradman at the ground and after a rain-affected first day, the fact that ‘The Don’ would The crowd at Swansea in 1930 for the visit of Don Bradman and the Australians.