Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

35 Chapter Four Local rivalries Few would disagree with the proud boast of a Swansea club official, quoted in The Cambrian newspaper during 1878, that “Swansea possesses perhaps the finest cricket facilities of any club in South Wales.” 1 Cardiff were probably the only club to match their facilities, having exclusive access at a peppercorn rate from 1867 of a plot of land owned by the Marquess of Bute at the Arms Park. In contrast to the bricks and mortar, plus the industrial landscape which surrounded Cardiff Arms Park, St. Helen’s had a far more attractive setting, on the rural-urban fringe of the town and with a maritime outlook. Thanks to the efforts of the Bancroft family, the practice facilities could more than match those of other club grounds, and a measure of the high standing of the Swansea club can be gained from the fact that they were one of the inaugural participants in the South Wales Cricket Challenge Cup, created in 1879 by the South Wales CC in a bid to match the Rugby Challenge Cup which had been established by their winter rivals, the South Wales Football Union. Cardiff, Carmarthen, Llanelly, Brecon, Newport, Cadoxton, Llandovery College and Canton were the other participants in a competition whose rather cumbersome rules called for the opening round of games to be played on neutral grounds. Three of the first round ties were in 1879 staged at St. Helen’s, giving further evidence of the venue’s high standing, with the match between Llandovery College and Newport also witnessing an outstanding all-round performance by CP Lewis, who made an unbeaten 42 in the College’s total of 55 before claiming six wickets for just four runs – all clean bowled – as the Newport men were dismissed for just six. Swansea were drawn against Canton, an up and coming club based in the western suburbs of Cardiff with the game taking place in the grounds of Merthyr Mawr and close to the spacious country home of old Etonian, John Nicholl, the son of the Conservative MP for Cardiff who besides being a leading member of the Bridgend club was a good friend of JTD’s. It proved to be an eventful game with Canton making 83 and then reducing Swansea to 37-7, before a late rally by the men from St. Helen’s saw them home. Swansea’s participation ended however, much to their chagrin, in the quarter-final against Cardiff, staged at the Arms Park. Batting first the home side amassed 188 with several batsmen benefitting from a series of mis-fields by the visitors. Swansea were then dismissed for 49 in reply with Ben Jones, an employee of the Bute Estate, and a crafty spin bowler, claiming 7/32 as Cardiff secured a place in the semi-finals.