Lives in Cricket No 11 - CP Lewis

Evidently, the links between cricket and early Welsh rugby were exceptionally close as, in September 1881, C.P. was invited to play for a Newport and District XXII against an All England Eleven which included W.G.Grace. Alongside Lewis in the Newport side were Newport cricketers George Harding, Frank Purdon and Charles Newman, all of whom were prominent rugby players – in fact, only four months later, all four were members of the Welsh fifteen which defeated Ireland. Before then, the four cricketers played together in a Welsh side against the North of England. Although no caps were awarded, this was an important match for Wales as they gave a spirited performance that persuaded England to re-instate them to a full international fixture the following season. Lewis’ appointment as a vice-president of the Welsh Rugby Union reflected his high standing amongst sporting circles, and stemmed from the fact that he had been the captain of the South Wales side: a position which he maintained when he made his Welsh rugby debut on 28 January 1882, as the national side – now selected in a more formal and organised way – played Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Not surprisingly, there were eleven changes from the team that Mullock had chosen for the inaugural international at Blackheath. C.P.’s partner at full-back was S.S. (‘Sam’) Clark, a solicitor from Neath, who had acted as the secretary of the South Wales Rugby Football Union, besides being a leading cricketer with the town club and a member of M.C.C. At the time the practice was to have two full-backs, a generally defensive arrangement, with one man gathering back to feed the other who either kicked the ball away, or ran up field. Given Lewis’ athletic abilities, he must have relished the prospect of the latter role, as well as being the side’s goal-kicker. However, he managed to convert only two of the four Welsh tries in a match in which Ireland did not get on the scoreboard. They had continuous disputes with the referee, who unfortunately was the secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union; two Irish players walked off in protest, and two others were injured, so that Ireland finished with eleven men on the field. Lewis, though, was very happy, as he duly went down in the annals of Welsh sport as the first man to lead a Welsh rugby side to victory in an international match. Wales’ first-ever home match was against England at St. Helen’s, Swansea on a rainy and blustery day, ‘disagreeable’ according to The Times reporter, in mid-December 1882. C.P. played in the The Lone Full Back 81