Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

87 Championship tricks and a victory over the Boks a typically slow and dry surface, Glamorgan steadily accumulated 257 on the first day, with Phil Clift making a sedate half-century before some later blows by Wooller and Haydn Davies. Somerset kept up with them, ending just eight behind, with Harold Gimblett rolling back the years with an elegant 70 before Arthur Wellard clubbed a few lusty blows of his own and for a short while put in peril the trains running along the railway line on the far side of the Oystermouth Road. Despite his salvo, Trick held his nerve and claimed 6/77 in his 34 overs. Nomad duly wrote in the Western Mail , “Trick impressed with his clever spin and would have returned better figures but for his meeting with the big-hitting Wellard.” 1 Emrys Davies and Gilbert Parkhouse then completed assured half centuries as Somerset were left with a target of 236. It proved to be too much as, with the wicket well worn, Trick was in his element, taking 6/29 to spin Glamorgan to another victory. Under the heading “Stan’s six wickets did the Trick!”, Nomad was fulsome once again in his praise of the spinner, noting his accuracy and variations, especially a sharp top-spinner: “Trick maintained an excellent length and great accuracy. Making the occasional ball rise sharply, Trick hit the wickets of five of his six victims and he promises to be of valuable assistance when available.” 2 His match-winning efforts with the ball saw Glamorgan rise into second place in the table and they consolidated their position with two further wins before Kent were the next visitors at St. Helen’s. Once again, it was a bowler-friendly surface, with a few wags suggesting that the groundsman’s preparations for the pitch had been focussed more on buckets of sand than using rollers or lawnmowers! Twenty wickets fell on the first day with Phil Clift scoring 73 as Glamorgan reached 189 before Stan claimed 6/39 as Kent were spun out after tea for a paltry 105. On the second day, two left-handers completely changed the pattern of the match with Emrys Davies scoring 92 and Allan Watkins 93. After Wooller had declared, Kent were left with a mammoth 399 to win, but they mustered a mere 120 with Len Muncer claiming 5/47, whilst Stan played a fine supporting role and ended with 4/32 as the visitors capitulated, with Nomad writing “on a wicket taking spin, Kent never showed any fight as Glamorgan’s bowlers demonstrated why they are second place in the Championship table.” 3 Muncer and Trick played a leading role a week later as Glamorgan defeated Nottinghamshire by 221 runs at St. Helen’s with the game following a similar pattern with a top-order batsman wearing down the visiting attack, in this case Willie Jones who made a gritty 62, before some late blows from Wooller, who made 80 from number eight to see Glamorgan to 329. After securing a first innings lead of 112, Glamorgan’s batsmen played with freedom and gleefully extended the lead with Emrys Davies making a forthright 75 to leave the visitors with a target of 300. They could only make 78 as Muncer came into his own, taking six wickets in his 19 overs which cost only 13 runs. Runs literally dried up as Trick was equally frugal