(by Andrew Hignell)
The coming week sees Glamorgan take first-class cricket back to Newport, whilst their 2nd XI play at Pontypridd and Neath, two of the other venues to have benefitted from the Club’s successful policy of playing county cricket at out-grounds.
Taking cricket around the county has been embedded in the Club’s history, and even in their days as a Minor County, Glamorgan played at Neath in addition to their eastern base at the Arms Park and St. Helen’s in the west.
With financial considerations to the fore during their early years as a first-class county, Glamorgan looked to boost attendances and raise membership by taking County Championship matches to a number of outgrounds. With clubs offering their facilities for next to nothing, it also saved money on renting the Arms Park from Cardiff Athletic Club.
In 1926 saw Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd being added to the fixture calendar, followed by Cowbridge in 1931.In 1933 Stradey Park, Llanelli followed suit with a bumper attendance watching the game against Worcestershire and cheering on local men Emrys Davies, Dai Davies and Trevor Every in their efforts for Glamorgan.
But not all of these ventures to outgrounds proved successful with concerns raised about the quality of the wicket at Cowbridge, whilst in more recent times, Glamorgan’s visits to the Steel Company of Wales’ ground at Margam saw complaints from players and officials alike about the plumes of smoke and assorted gases which wafted regularly across the ground from the adjoining furnaces.
Glamorgan’s decision to fly the flag for county cricket around South Wales was given a further boost in 1934 as Johnnie Clay and Maurice Turnbull oversaw a merger with cash-strapped Monmouthshire. It enabled the Club to field a 2nd XI in place of Monmouthshire in the Minor County competition and groom the next generation of players, besides allowing Glamorgan to stage County Championship cricket in Newport, plus other grounds including Ebbw Vale and Abergavenny.
The inaugural County Championship match at the Rodney Parade ground in Newport duly took place in July 1935 as Glamorgan met Leicestershire – the first of 27 first-class games at the home of Newport Athletic Club. The final Championship match at the ground came in 1965, but during their Centenary Year in 1988 Glamorgan re-visited Rodney Parade for the first of three annual Sunday League matches.
This was part of a programme celebrating the way the Club has taken cricket around Wales with other one-day matches during 1988 being played at Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Ebbw Vale and Llanelli, in addition to Cardiff and Swansea, whilst Championship matches also took place at Abergavenny and Neath.
With Colwyn Bay also staging annual Championship matches at the popular North Wales resort, Glamorgan have reaped the benefits from flying the flag for county cricket. With county cricket’s administrators starting to plan for the new 100-ball franchises, other counties are likely to stage regular matches at outgrounds. Some are already experimenting during 2019 with new venues, and in a fortnight’s time county cricket will be taking place at Newport, but this time, it’s the one on the Isle of Wight as Hampshire meet Nottinghamshire at the recently developed Newclose ground.