Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

38 Local rivalries After the loss of the Bryn-y-Mor field, the rugby section decamped for 1874/75 and 1875/76 to Primrose Field, the home of the Swansea Workingmen’s Club and Institute which had been created during the 1870s by Pascoe St Leger Grenfell, a prominent businessman from Kilvey. With such a well-known local cricketer as their President, it was no surprise that from 1876 the Club were staging cricket matches as well at rugby on Primrose Field. Their leading performer in both codes was Bill Gwynn, who at the time was a teacher at Swansea Parochial School, with his batting and cunning off-spin seeing the Club secure a series of victories besides acting as a flagship for the Club’s activities. By 1879, the Club had 131 members with the Treasurer paying tribute to Gwynn’s efforts on the cricket field by saying: “Many gentlemen have enrolled themselves in the Institution during the past year through its instrumentality.” 2 Buoyed by their success against local teams, and an ever-growing membership, they accepted an offer to play in the South Wales Challenge Cup in 1880, defeating Rhymney in the first round before losing to Christ College, Brecon in the second round. The following year they reached the final, but this was only after beating Penarth in the first round and then having some good fortune to receive byes in the quarter- and semi-final. The Club were fortunate to secure the use of St. Helen’s for the final, against Llandovery College, but the bowling of CP Lewis proved to be too good for them, as bowling straight and full at a decent pace, he claimed 5/9 as the Collegians won the Cup. On 16 December 1882, CP Lewis also led the Welsh rugby team in their first-ever international on home soil as they met England at St. Helen’s, on a rainy and blustery day. A crowd of around 3,000 were present as Lewis played in the scarlet jersey of Wales alongside David Gwynn, the star local sportsman, plus Frank Purdon and George Morris who were fellow members of the Swansea rugby club. The game though was one-sided in favour of the English side who won by two goals and four tries to nil, as the Welsh side, so used to a more aggressive and muscular form of play with a forwards-dominated style with mauls and rucks, were run off their feet by a new style system of three-quarters play, led by the powerful running wing Gregory Wade of Richmond. In the words of the South Wales Daily News : “the passing of the (English) backs was brilliant in the extreme and the Welshmen appeared quite undone. The home team were all of a heap defending their goal as every opening was invaded. Every weak point was tested by the Englishmen, and but for a short time, the Welshmen managed to keep them back… Lewis eventually got a run but soon lost the ball and ere long, the wonderful passing of the visitors proved too much for the home side”. 3 By the time of this defeat, the Swansea cricketers had reached the first of several appearances in the Challenge Cup. For 1882 the format changed to a regional one, with a western and eastern division using the River Neath