A look at a resistance act by Glamorgan that has rewritten the first class record books and a substantial photo gallery.
As the 2023 County Championship heads towards a break for the Vitality Blast (which kicked off yesterday, overlapping with this round of matches), the match between Sussex and Glamorgan is heading towards a draw, but today’s action has seen several Glamorgan records go and one all time first class record. The Glamorgan innings is still ongoing at the moment.
THE MORNING SESSION
Kiran Carlson was sixth out, having reached a career best 192, and when Chris Cooke also fell in the morning session it looked like Sussex would have a gettable target. However, Michael Neser and Timm van der Gugten saw Glamorgan through to lunch with no further loss.
THE AFTERNOON SESSION
It has been since lunch that the assault on the record books has been happening, spearheaded by Neser, supported first by Van der Gugten, then by James Harris and now by number 11 Jamie McIlroy. As I write this Neser has completed his maiden Glamorgan century and brought Glamorgan’s score past 700. The first class record came when Glamorgan reached 675, 552 more than the first innings score, relegating Barbados (175 and 726-7), Middlesex (83 and 634) and Pakistan (106 and 657-8) to joint second in this category with a 551 differential, though Pakistan still hold the test record, theirs having happened against West Indies. Glamorgan have beaten their previous record against Sussex, though their overall record, against Leicestershire last season is probably out of their reach at 795. There are some mitigating factors for Sussex – Ollie Robinson has an ankle problem and has not been on the field during this innings, and regular skipper Pujara has a stiff neck and is likewise off the field, Tom Alsop leading the side in his absence. Nonetheless, Glamorgan’s response to facing a deficit of 358 on first innings has been utterly extraordinary. Sussex will be recording a fifth successive draw after coach Farbrace had said they would always go for a win.
Welcome to the continuation of my series of all time XIs. Today we look at the county that is chiefly responsible for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB for short) being so named, Glamorgan.
GLAMORGAN ALL TIME XI
Hugh Morris – a left hander who was consistently to be found among the leading run scorers of the season in the first part of the 1990s. In common with many whose prime years were then he was shockingly handled by the England selectors.
Alan Jones– the scorer of more first class runs than anyone else who never got to play test cricket (he did play for England against the Rest of the World in the series that was organized to replace the South African visit of 1970 when that was cancelled, but those games were not deemed to be test matches).
Emrys Davis – a left hander who often opened the innings and was a very consistent scorer of runs in his day, including being a major contributor to Glamorgan’s first ever county championship in 1948. He holds the record for the highest second innings score in English first class cricket, 287 not out (the overall record belongs, like so many batting records, to Donald Bradman who scored 452 not out in NSWs second innings tally of 760-8 declared versus Queensland in 1929-30). He was also capable of bowling left arm spin – 903 first class wickets at 29.30.
Matthew Maynard – a stroke playing middle order batter whose prime years coincided with a period when the England team was abysmally mismanaged.
Tony Cottey – a diminutive but aggressively inclined middle order batter who tended to come up trumps when it was most needed. That the England selectors never came calling for him was a major oversight on their part – 1990s England middle orders were not known for their solidity or resilience and it seems likely that someone of Cottey’s character and talents would have significantly improved the situation. For more see this post from my 100 cricketers series.
*Wilfred Wooller – captain and an all-rounder in at least two and possibly three senses, his middle order batting, medium paced bowling and excellent fielding making him a cricketing all-rounder and the fact that he also played rugby for Wales (in which game he was both a prolific try scorer and a very good kicker, hence the three senses of being an all rounder) making him a sporting allrounder. He captained Glamorgan to the championship in 1948.
+Haydn Davies – a long serving and very successful wicketkeeper for the county.
Len Muncer – a highly skilled bowler of both off spin and leg spin, who took his wickets at under 20 a piece and no mug with the bat.
Don Shepherd – an off spinner who bowled significantly quicker than most of his kind. He holds the record for the most first class wickets taken by anyone who never played test cricket, an unwelcome double first for Glamorgan.
Simon Jones – a crucial cog in England’s 2005 Ashes winning machine, during which series he recorded the best innings figures by a Welshman in test cricket, in the fourth match at Trent Bridge. A genuinely fast (over 90mph) bowler whose ability to ‘reverse swing’ the ball made him at least as dangerous with an old ball as with a new one. He was also an excellent fielder and had his moments as an attacking lower order batter, notably at Edgbaston in 2005 when his contribution to a last wicket stand with Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was crucial to the outcome of the match.
Steve Watkin– an accurate and persistent medium-fast bowler who was as consistently at or near the top of the seasonal wicket takers lists as Hugh Morris was the run scoring lists and who got pretty much equally scant recognition from the England selectors.
This side has a strong front five, an all-rounder at six, a quality keeper and four high quality bowlers of different types. The presence of Watkin and Wooller to bowl their varieties of medium and also the two spinners Muncer and Shepherd plus Emrys Davies’ SLA if needed means that Simon Jones, the X factor bowler could be used in short bursts operating always at top speed.
THE WICKETKEEPER AND SPINNERS
This subsection deals with a couple of areas that caused difficulty. There were several keepers who would merit attention: Eifion Jones, Colin Metson (he was closest other than Davies to getting the nod) and Mark Wallace being the three most obvious.
The situation with the spinners/ support bowlers is that there were quite a few contender. First, some would look at the fact that Robert Croftwas a fairly regular pick for England, and that one part of the 1997 county championship triumph, Glamorgan’s third and to date last, was the success enjoyed by Croft and Dean Cosker. Johnnie Clay, Muncer’s older contemporary (they combined effectively to help their side win the 1948 Championship, by when Clay, who had taken part in Glamorgan’s inaugural first class season of 1921, was 50 years old) was another who had to be considered. I also considered Malcolm Nash, who in spite of once being walloped for six sixes in an over by Garfield Sobers was a successful purveyor of left arm medium pace and spin over the years. Croft and Cosker, playing in the 1990s and 2000s took their wickets at 35.08 and 36.31 a piece respectively, both quite pricey for guys whose batting would never have got them selected. Nash, playing in the 1950s and 60s, averaged a respectable 25.87, Clay, operating between 1921 and 1948, averaged 19.76 per wicket and Muncer, who played in the 1940s and 1950s averaged 19.90 per wicket, but had the advantage of being able to bowl two kinds of spin, whereas Clay bowled only off spin. I accept that Clay and Muncer would have paid more for their wickets in the 1990s, but I do not believe that they would have paid almost twice as much. Similarly, Croft and Cosker would both have paid less for their wickets in an earlier era, but not by enough to close the chasm that yawns between their figures and those of Clay and Muncer. Hence, having already determined that Shepherd with his huge tally of wickets had to be in the side, it came down to Clay vs Muncer, and Muncer’s more varied bowling stock in trade was the clincher.
Some cricket, some music including references to the Classic FM Hall of Fame, some stuff about upcoming local elections and some photographs.
INTRODUCTION
An odd combination of topics to appear in a title, but all will be made clear in the course of this post. There will of course be some of my photographs as well.
CRICKET
The English cricket season is well underway. Because of an alteration to the structure of the two divisions of first class counties last season to a first division of eight teams and a second division of ten teams, it is now possible for all 18 first class counties to be in action simultaneously, as was not the case when there were nine teams in each division. Over this Easter weekend, for the first time since 1999 (the last season of the single division championship) all 18 of said sides have been in action. Glamorgan lost heavily to Worcestershire before today was underway. Leicestershire had also suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Gloucestershire. Essex and Somerset also finished early, a century from Alastair Cook anchoring Essex in their fourth innings chase of 255. Warwickshire only kept their match against Yorkshire alive into the fourth day because of some assistance from the weather, and having started the season with back to back innings defeats, and three shocking batting performances out of four innings, they must be considered heavy favourites for one of the relegation spots from division 1. Of the five remaining matches, Nottinghamshire are nearly done and dusted against Durham (since I wrote this Nottinghamshire have completed the job as expected, with nine wickets in hand), and it would also seem to be only a matter of time before Kent finish the job against Sussex (this match has also subsequently reached its predicted conclusion). A draw looks the most likely result in the Surrey versus Lancashire, although Surrey are not out of the woods yet. Hampshire and Middlesex also looks like being a draw, although again the Londoners are not quite safe yet. That leaves only…
DERBYSHIRE VERSUS NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Overnight this also looked like a draw was the most likely result, with Derbyshire 128 runs to the good with 10 second winnings standing. However, some behind the scenes discussions obviously took place, since Northamptonshire spent the morning session of today feeding Derbyshire easy runs, handing Reece (168) and Godleman (156 not out) a new record opening stand for Derbyshire. A declaration at 351-1 left Northamptonshire two sessions to score 326 for victory. Whatever happens in these two session neither team will emerge from this match with much credit in my book. While Northamptonshire’s motivation was obvious, Derbyshire could easily have declined the offer, backing their batsmen to score off proper bowling.
MUSIC
The long Easter weekend is when the Classic FM Hall of Fame is unveiled. It is assembled from listener votes. Each participant votes for their first, second and third favourite pieces of classical music, and the votes are all tallied up. The Hall of Fame comprises the top 300 pieces that emerge at the end of the process, and they are played counting down from 300 to 1 between 10AM and 10PM on each day of the weekend (it used when it first started to be 9AM to 9PM). This is the first occasion on which there has been a clash between the Hall of Fame and live cricket. I have resolved that clash by listening to the cricket when it has been on five live sports extra, and to the music at other times. The only exception to this was on Saturday afternoon, when it was time for…
MUSICAL KEYS
A shortage of available NAS West Norfolk Committee members meant that I was there for both sessions. The attendances were unsurprisingly low in both sessions. However, those who were able to make it had a good time. In the second session I renewed my acquaintanceship with Scratch 2, and next time I shall be moving on to another aspect of this program. Here are some pictures…
Kirsten, one of the two people from Musical Keys who run these sessions, at a very impressive looking keyboard.
I shall be adding some mathematics to the mix in two weeks time.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
Various places in the UK will be going to the polls on May 4th. Last time I mentioned this subjectI said that I was between Labour and Green, and leaning towards Green. Since then, although I have yet to receive anything from any candidates a search of the King’s Lynn & West Norfolk borough councilwebsite turned up the following information about who was standing:
In view of the fact that there are three candidates in this list of four for whom I am absolutely unwilling to vote and that I regard failing to vote as unacceptable my vote will therefore go to Mr Collis, and I urge others who are voting in this election to cast their votes for Mr Collis as well.
Moving on from my own area, there also elections taking place much more extensively in Wales and Scotland.
– Vox Political’s Mike Sivier is standing as a Labour Party candidate for Powys County Council’s Llanbadarn Fawr ward – and there’s more to him than a nice smile [Image: Mike Sivier].
The big debate in Scotland at the moment is over whether or not there should be a second independence referendum (#IndyRef2) following the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU, when Scotland was strongly pro-remain. It is not for me as a Sassenach to comment on whether or not Scottish independence is desirable since the only people who should be making decisions about the future of Scotland are the Scots, but I do believe that brexit is a sufficiently major change in circumstances as justify #IndyRef2, especially since one of the main claims of the no camp in 2014 was that an independent Scotland would not be able to join the EU. It would appear, if the article to which I link at the end of this section is anything to go on that the Tories seek to make the local elections in Scotland a sort of ‘pre-referendum’. Anyway, here courtesy of the website indyref2.scot, is a post that goes into detail on the issue, titled “Sending a message“.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I posted some photographs in the music section of this post, and I finish the post with some pictures mainly from outside…
ENDNOTE – CRICKET REVISITED
During the time it took to put the above photos up both Middlesex & Hampshire and Surrey & Lancashire have shaken hands on the predicted draws. These means that only the ‘declaration bowling’ game between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire is still to be settled.
aspiblog 