Alex Wharf, the 43 year-old former Glamorgan cricketer will be making his debut as an umpire in a One-Day International when he stands in the match between England and Australia at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Saturday. He will also become the first-ever player from the Welsh county to play in, as well as acting as an umpire in, One-Day Internationals.
Alex played for Glamorgan from 2000 until retiring at the end of 2009 – his Benefit Year - after losing his battle with an on-going knee injury. Alex had first played for his native Yorkshire in 1994, with the youngster taking the wicket of Brian Lara on his first-class debut. He subsequently joined Nottinghamshire, before moving to Glamorgan in 2000 and featuring in the final of the Benson and Hedges Cup at Lord’s as the Welsh county met Gloucestershire.
He subsequently became a key member of Glamorgan’s one-day side which won the National League in 2002 and 2004. In the latter season, Alex also made some telling contributions batting at number three, but his personal highlights from 2004 were a match-winning hat-trick against Warwickshire, followed by a remarkable spell of 6/5 against Kent at Cardiff.
These impressive contributions, allied to his agile fielding, lead to his inclusion in the England one-day side in September 2004 for the one-day series against India . He duly returned figures of 3/30 on his international debut against India, and won the man-of-the-match award, in what proved to be the first of thirteen appearances in One-Day Internationals for England. Alex also toured Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2004/05, and in the match against Zimbabwe at Harare, he returned international best figures of 4/24.
Alex became a first-class umpire in 2011 and has recently been elevated to the international panel - on May 31st this year he stood with Rob Bailey at Lord’s in the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge match when the West Indies met the Rest of the World. Saturday’s game will see him emulate the likes of other Glamorgan cricketers such as former wicket-keeper David Evans who stood in the historic Ashes Test at Headingley in 1981, and Emrys Davies who was one of the umpires at Old Trafford in 1956 when England’s Jim Laker took nineteen wickets against Australia.
However, unlike David, Emrys and the other former Glamorgan cricketers who stood in Tests and One-Day Internationals, Alex also won international honours as a player and therefore earns a unique place (so far) in the Club’s annals.