Cricket in Wales

Cricket in Wales
The entrance to the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, the home of Welsh cricket.
Country	Wales
Governing body	England and Wales Cricket Board
National team(s)	Wales (men's) Wales (women's)[a]
National competitions
County Championship Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Royal London One-Day Cup Charlotte Edwards Cup t20 Blast The Hundred
International competitions
Cricket World Cup ICC Men's T20 World Cup ICC Champions Trophy Women's Cricket World Cup ICC Women's T20 World Cup Under-19 Cricket World Cup

Cricket is a popular sport in Wales; it started in the late 18th century, and has been played in Wales ever since. All cricket within Wales is regulated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), making it effectively part of the English cricket system. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is Wales' only first-class county team, and Welsh players are eligible to represent England as Wales does not currently have its own Test cricket team or cricket body. Cricket is played within the Welsh schools system, and is considered one of the country's main summer sports.

History[]

Cricket, as a sport, has its origins in England, with its first known set of rules written in 1744. The earliest definite reference to cricket in Wales is in 1763, when it was played at Pembroke.^[1] The first recorded match was played at Llanegwad in Carmarthenshire.^[2] The first club to be mentioned is Swansea, in 1785.^[2] By around 1800, matches were also being played in the north, specifically in Holywell; there are records of further matches in the Hanmer area in the 1820s.

With the development of the railways and better transport links, the game of cricket began to spread slowly across Wales and by the 1830s the first interclub fixtures were regularly played.^[2] On 5 May 1845, Cardiff Cricket Club was inaugurated, and after three years using the rented field at Longcross, now the location of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, the team became associated with the Cardiff Arms Park.^[3] Both the Arms Park and St. Helen's, in Swansea, were cricket venues before they became associated with rugby union. By 1850 cricket had become a popular activity in many schools, and this in turn helped cricket to be adopted as a working-class sport rather than one associated with the gentry as it was in England.

1859 saw the first match between select English and Welsh teams, when the All England XI played a South Wales XXII.^[2] The South Wales team were victorious and this led to the first attempt to form a first-class team in Wales. Although county teams were later formed, most were short lived; but in 1888 Glamorgan County Cricket Club was formed, which would become the most important first-class team in Wales. Glamorgan entered the Minor Counties Cricket Championship in 1897 and was joined by other county teams from Wales: Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire and Denbighshire. In 1921 Glamorgan became the first county team to gain first-class status, and was the 17th member of the County Championship.

From its earliest days Glamorgan refused to designate a county headquarters, playing its matches at both St. Helen's in Swansea and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, to try to remain neutral between the two main cities of the county. In 1975, St. Helen's Ground in Swansea held the first international game to be played outside the usual Test venues of England, hosting a One-day International between England and New Zealand.^[2]

Domestic competitions[]

In men's cricket, Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship. They also play in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the T20 Blast. Wales National Counties Cricket Club also play in the English National Counties competitions, for county teams that do not have first-class status.

In women's cricket, Wales currently play in the Women's Twenty20 Cup, and previously competed in the Women's County Championship.^[4] Within the regional domestic structure, Wales is represented by the Western Storm regional hub.^[5]

Welsh Fire represent Wales in both the men's and women's competitions of The Hundred.^[6]

Two Welsh cricket leagues have received ECB accreditation: the North Wales Premier Cricket League and the South Wales Cricket League.

Cricket grounds[]

See main article: List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

Glamorgan play at the following grounds: Penrhyn Avenue in Colwyn Bay, St. Helen's in Swansea and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

On 8 July 2009 Sophia Gardens held its first Test match, when it hosted the first match of the 2009 Ashes Series. The game ended in a draw.

Governing body[]

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB), the National Cricket Association (NCA) and the Cricket Council. They are full members of the International Cricket Council.

Cricket Wales^[21] is the governing body of cricket in Wales. It is an umbrella partnership body comprising the Welsh Cricket Association, Glamorgan Cricket, Wales National Counties Cricket Club, the Welsh Schools Cricket Association and Sport Wales.

National team[]

Welsh men's and women's cricket teams have played matches on a number of occasions. Generally however, Wales do not field a team in international competition, with players instead playing for England.

The following Welsh people have played Test cricket for the England men's cricket team: Johnnie Clay, Robert Croft, Jeff Jones, Simon Jones, Tony Lewis, Austin Matthews, Hugh Morris, Gilbert Parkhouse, Pat Pocock, Greg Thomas, Matthew Maynard, Maurice Turnbull, Cyril Walters, Steve Watkin and Allan Watkins. Lynne Thomas is the only Welsh cricketer to have played Test cricket for the England women's cricket team.^[22]

Recently there have been calls for Wales to be represented by its own national team, as in other sports, in the same way that Scotland is. There has been criticism of the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name even though it selects Welsh players such as Simon Jones and Geraint Jones, both of whom were instrumental in England regaining the Ashes from Australia in 2005.^[23] The only Welsh cricketer to captain England on a major tour abroad was Tony Lewis in 1972–73.

Notable Welsh cricketers[]

The following Welsh people have played Test cricket for England:

• Johnnie Clay – Clay played one Test match for England in 1935.^[24]
• Robert Croft – Croft played international cricket for both England and Wales. He is first Welsh cricketer to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket.^[25]
• Geraint Jones – Born in Papua New Guinea and brought up in Australia, Jones qualified to play for England through his Welsh parents. Jones was the England wicketkeeper between 2004 and 2006, most notably part of the team that regained the Ashes from Australia in 2005. He subsequently represented the Papua New Guinea national cricket team.
• Jeff Jones – He took forty-four wickets in fifteen Tests for England from 1964 to 1968.^[26]
• Simon Jones – He became an integral member of England's triumphant Ashes-winning team in 2005. Jones's pace and mastery of reverse-swing carried him to 18 wickets at 21 in four Tests, before he was forced to sit out a nervy final match due to an ankle problem.^[27]
• Tony Lewis – 9 Tests. He is the only Glamorgan cricketer to captain England and lead a major tour abroad. He went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC.^[28]
• Austin Matthews – He played for Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and single Test for England.^[29]
• Matthew Maynard – He played four tests for England from 1988 to 1993 and 14 one day internationals. Captained Glamorgan CCC and part of the England backroom staff for their Ashes winning series in 2005.^[30]
• Hugh Morris – He played in three Tests for England in 1991.^[31]
• Gilbert Parkhouse – He played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950–51 and 1959.^[32]
• Pat Pocock – He played in twenty Tests and one ODI for England from 1968 to 1985.^[33]
• Greg Thomas – He played in five Tests and three ODIs for England between 1986 and 1987.^[34]
• Lynne Thomas – She played in 10 Tests and 12 ODIs for England between 1966 and 1979. In 1973, she became the first women to hit a century in a One Day International.^[22]
• Maurice Turnbull – He played in nine Tests for England from 1930 to 1936.^[35]
• Cyril Walters – Played 11 Tests for England in 1933 and 1934.^[36]
• Steve Watkin – He played three Test matches in 1991 and 1993, and four One Day Internationals in 1993 and 1994.^[37]
• Allan Watkins – He played for England in fifteen Tests from 1948 to 1952.^[38]

Popularity[]

Cricket has always struggled for attention in Wales, where rugby and football are the two most popular sports. The lack of a national team has also meant that cricket has a harder time capturing the popular imagination in the way the Welsh national rugby and football teams often do.

In 2005 the ECB concluded a commercial arrangement with Sky, giving it the exclusive television rights for live Test cricket in England for four years (the 2006 to 2009 seasons). This deal, which took live Test cricket for home England matches away from terrestrial television for the first time generated substantial future revenues for English cricket, but was criticised by many England cricket supporters and others.

The Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual award voted by the Cricket Writers' Club for the best young cricket player in England and Wales, and has been awarded since 1950.

Bibliography[]

• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
• Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.

See also[]

• Sport in Wales
• Cricket in England

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Cricket Board of Wales official site