Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

34 The Bancrofts decision as he was bowled first ball by Harry Smith, but Billy responded with typical grit in the second innings as he made an unbeaten 81, batting for two and a quarter hours, striking a six and seven fours as together with team-mate James Maxwell the pair helped Glamorgan set Essex a target of 336 on the final afternoon. 7 The game against Essex 2 nd XI ended in a draw, and proved to be Billy Bancroft’s final appearance for Glamorgan on his home soil. In later years, the old stager was mightily pleased about his final innings for the Welsh county and was present at St. Helen’s as Bill Bestwick continued his roller- coaster career in professional cricket. Having played again for Glamorgan in 1920 the former miner looked set to play for the Welsh county as first- class status was finally secured for 1921. But his native county stepped in with a better offer and it was for Derbyshire that Bestwick appeared during the 1920s including the game with Glamorgan at Swansea in 1922. Just to rub salt into the wounds, he claimed eight wickets in the Peakites victory at St. Helen’s by 283 runs, having the previous year taken all ten in Glamorgan’s second innings at the Arms Park. On both occasions, his return to Welsh soil saw a group of his old friends from The Gnoll meet up with the burly bowler after play for a few beers. At the Arms Park, his friends had travelled to Cardiff, but in 1922 Bill headed after play to Neath with his pals decision not to go into Swansea, like the late decision over Bill’s availability for the Essex match in 1914, highlighting the long-standing tensions between the two towns and their sportsmen, as well as the other local rivalries which had long been part of sport in south-west Wales. 1. Evening Express , 9 July 1903. 2. Western Mail, 20 June 1912. 3. South Wales Evening Post, 21 June 1912. 4. Western Mail, 22 June 1912. 5. A.K.Hignell, 100 First-Class Umpires (Tempus Publishing, 2003). 6. South Wales Evening Post , 8 July 1914. 8. Western Mail, 13 July 1914.