Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

77 “Good Old Johnnie” ostensibly to watch Emrys Davies after his fine all-round performance against the Kiwis at Swansea, Although Emrys struck a sound hundred, it was Austin’s hostile bowling that caught Perrin’s eye. He duly followed up with a further six wickets against Somerset at Weston-super-Mare, and on 9 August – just thirteen days after his Glamorgan debut – the England selectors drafted him into their squad for the Third Test, in place of Freddie Brown. The dramatic return of Austin Matthews to the county circuit in 1937 and the appearance of another Welshman in Test cricket may have brought a smile to Glamorgan’s supporters, but their wafer-thin playing resources were cruelly exposed the following year as, on 1 July, they were beaten by the Swansea Central League in a time-limit evening match at St. Helen’s. The game saw each side batting for an hour and a quarter but after the Swansea men made 121-7, the county side were restricted to 89-8 as the local cricketers celebrated a famous victory. 1. Bob Harragan pers.comm. 2. Western Mail , 2 August 1937. 3. Western Mail , 3 August 1937. 4. Western Mail , 4 August 1937. Austin Matthews.