Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

75 “Good Old Johnnie” politely thanking them for their offer, but suggesting that instead they chose a younger and fitter man. But 1937 did see a Glamorgan cricketer appear in Test cricket as Austin Matthews had an eventful return to the county circuit having parted ways with his previous employers Northamptonshire at the end of the 1936 season. His dramatic elevation into the England team followed a chain of events starting in early July when Jack Mercer suffered an injury to tendons in his left leg during the match against Lancashire at Blackpool. In his absence, George Lavis was pressed into service as an opening bowler, but he lacked the skill and guile of Jack, leaving the buoyant Glamorgan side bereft of an experienced medium-pacer. By great fortune, Austin had met up with his old friend Maurice Turnbull after visiting his family in South Wales having completed a coaching stint at Stowe School. Austin and Maurice had played cricket and rugby together back in the mid-1920s before the Penarth-born sportsman moved to the East Midlands, to play rugby for Northampton and subsequently cricket for Northamptonshire. After hearing about Jack’s ailments, Austin agreed to help out for the next few weeks. The MCC authorised his signing, and Johnnie Clay leads out the Glamorgan side at Swansea in 1937 for their County Championship match against Sussex.