In 2018 the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket at Sophia Gardens became the first fully-accredited cricket museum in the UK. It opened in 2012 as the first sports-specific Museum in Wales and features a series of fascinating displays, as well as commemorative films celebrating the long and proud heritage of cricket in Wales.

In addition to being open to the public and hosting school parties and other organised groups, the Museum stages a series of Winter Talks with guests including players from past and present. Since the Autumn of 2020 these talks have been in a virtual format via ZOOM - see below for further information.

The Museum was created by Glamorgan Cricket in partnership with CC4 - the Cardiff-based multimedia company and e-learning specialists. Situated on the first floor of the National Cricket Centre at Glamorgan Cricket's headquarters at the Sophia Gardens Cardiff, it was developed with the help of generous financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, plus other bodies including Visit Wales, with a series of fascinating displays created which celebrate the long and rich heritage of cricket in Wales besides helping to bring history alive.

In particular, the displays show how cricket is the oldest team game in Wales - older even than rugby - with references to the game being played from the late 18th century. Further information about this long history as well as the men and women involved in promoting the game, can be found on the Museum's new website. Other displays show how cricket equipment has changed over time, with a number of items used by Glamorgan legends on display for the first-ever time, including iconic players such as Hugh Morris, Robert Croft, Matthew Maynard and Steve James, as well as from the families of the late Wilf Wooller and Haydn Davies.

A historic timeline of cricket in Wales has been produced, charting the game's development from its earliest record in Swansea in the 1770s to the Ashes Test Matches at Cardiff, contests in the ICC World Cup and other international games of recent years. The achievements of Glamorgan County Cricket Club in winning the County Championship are also celebrated with a cabinet being devoted to Welsh cricket legends, starting with Wilf Wooller - the man who led Glamorgan to their first Championship title in 1948, and who was Club Secretary when they added a second to their tally in 1969.

The CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket won the Kieran Hegerty Award at the Celtic Media Festival, held in Cornwall in April 2014, with the judging panel commenting on the Museum's imaginative and innovative use of technology in engaging with visitors of all ages. Furthermore the Museum received recognition in the ECB's Business of Cricket Awards at the end of 2014.

In 2018 the Museum became the first cricket museum in the UK to be awarded full accreditation status by MALD/Arts Council, whilst during 2019 it hosted the national two-day conference of the Sporting Heritage CIC network. In addition 2019 saw the Museum receive a VAQAS certificate from Visit Wales as part of their Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme. In 2020/21 a new Library facility was also created in the Museum thanks to further generous funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If you would like further information about the Museum and Library, please send an email to museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk

MUSEUM TALKS

A series of virtual talks have taken place since October 2020 using ZOOM, with recordings of these talks with Alex Wharf, David Hemp, Michael Hogan, Adrian Dale and Michael Kasprowicz now available by visiting the Museum's website. 

A series of anniversary-themed talks were also held during 2021 celebrating Glamorgan's 100 years as a first-class county. Click here to watch the anniversary-themed talks with family members of former Glamorgan players including Maurice Turnbull and Wilf Wooller looking back on the Club's early years plus the first County Championship title in 1948. 

You can see further information about all of these anniversary talks by visiting the Museum's website. These include the talks involving Hugh Morris and Matthew Maynard looking back on the 1970s and 1980s., as well as the one focussed on the 1990s involving Matthew Maynard, Steve James, Steve Watkin and Darren Thomas, together with former Glamorgan Head Coach Duncan Fletcher - click here to watch this talk.

A full programme of talks took place in 2022/23 including  An Evening with Norman Riches,  "An Evening with Tony Cordle" , "An Evening with Michael Cann" plus "An Evening with Andrew Salter". For 2023/24, the initial talk was  An Evening with Ottis Gibson followed in early November by An Evening with Colin Ingram and then in December by An Evening with Hugh Morris.

This was followed after Xmas with An Evening with Chris Cooke . The next talk will be with Timm van der Gugten during early March. Please send an email to museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk if you would like to attend.