We are delighted to announce that, after ratification at our AGM, Glamorgan and Broadcast legend Alan Wilkins was appointed as the Club’s President.
Wilkins, 70, presented a wide range of cricket and rugby programmes in Wales before developing a stellar international broadcasting career.
As a player he claimed 243 first-class wickets and 130 limited-overs victims during his county career with Glamorgan and then Gloucestershire. He helped Glamorgan to their first one-day final, the Gillette Cup, in 1977.
Wilkins is one of the most recognisable voices in sports broadcasting across the world.
A broadcasting career that has spanned three decades, his broadcasting began in South Africa. The early informative days in Johannesburg provided the platform for his return to Britain, where he became the most recognized face and voice on BBC Wales Television, hosting and commentating on the BBC’s coverage of the Five Nations Rugby Championship (later the Six Nations), Wales’s Football World Cup and European Championship Qualifying campaigns, Glamorgan County Cricket and domestic Cricket and Rugby for BBC Network (London).
In 1999, Alan had the distinction of covering the ICC Cricket World Cup in England in June, and in October, the IRB Rugby World Cup for ITV, after which he was invited to move to Asia.
In February 2000, Alan moved to Singapore to take up a position with ESPN Star Sports, the pan-Asia broadcaster, establishing himself in a new television market, especially in India, where he has been a household name in Cricket since 1996.
He commentated on his first international Cricket tour by India, to England. Now with Star Sports India, Cricket in India is part of his life, covering the ICC Cricket World Cup, India’s international Cricket at home for Star Sports and the BCCI, and the Indian Premier League.
A true legend of the sport, he returns to Wales and will begin his tenure as Glamorgan President immediately.
On his appointment, Alan Wilkins said:
“Firstly I am thrilled, and honoured to have been considered for the role of President, knowing who has held the position in the past.
“It is my way of coming full circle back to where my cricketing journey began as a young schoolboy at Whitchurch Grammar School. Coming through the ranks of Wales Schools, Cardiff Cricket Club and then coming through the Glamorgan itself.
“I am coming back to where it all began. I have travelled a lot through my work as a broadcaster, and that journey has brought me home. What I want to do is lend my global experience during my tenure as I work with the new Chair, Mark Rhydderch-Roberts, and the rest of the extremely talented Board.
“I want to make a difference, both on and off the field for Glamorgan. We have some fresh faces coming in, myself included. I know our new Head Coach well from my travels with Pakistan, and I cannot wait to see his brand of cricket out on the hallowed turf of Sophia Gardens.
“I honestly feel good things are coming here, I still get goosebumps and butterflies looking out onto that field, and wish I could still play!
“But this is a chance for me to really give back to what this Club has done for me, as it set me on the road to where I am now. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be the President of this great Club.”
Glamorgan CCC Chair, Mark Rhydderch-Roberts, said: “I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to Alan Wilkins, who takes on the role of President for the next 3 years.
“I am delighted that Alan has accepted the Board’s invitation and I know he will add huge value as we move forward into a period of potential change.
“Not only will Alan add cricket expertise, gathered from his years of playing and commentating, but he is so well known and respected throughout world cricket that he will be well placed to support the club as we create a new Glamorgan future.
“Alan has already been an excellent ambassador for the club, and we know that he will be able to strengthen the Glamorgan brand in the UK and globally.”