Glamorgan County Cricket Club played its inaugural match as a first-class county one hundred years ago today and, as Andrew Hignell, the Club’s Archivist outlines below, 18 May 1921 was a day of great rejoicing for the cricketing family of South Wales.
“Today is a notable day in the history of Welsh cricket. Glamorgan will play its first match as a first-class county” – so proclaimed the Western Mail newspaper as the Welsh county prepared to commence their inaugural match in the County Championship on 18 May 1921 against Sussex at Cardiff Arms Park.
With the Sussex team having travelled by train from London where they had been engaged the day before against Middlesex, play on the opening day of this historic contest did not get under way until 12 noon, and by the start there was a decent number of spectators inside the Arms Park having paid their one shilling and thruppence to gain admission. Paying the same amount again allowed access into the enclosures and pavilion, and it was here, high up on the balcony of the impressive four-storey building where the great and good of the Club were already in place, including JTD Llewelyn – the elderly Squire of Penllergaer – who had convened the meeting back in 1888 when the Club was founded and had dipped into his pocket to help finance their bid for first-class status.
Like the other officials alongside him, JTD had great feelings of pride and satisfaction as everyone stood up to applaud as Glamorgan’s opening batsmen, Tal Whittington and Norman Riches walked out from the pavilion to start the match after the Welsh county had won the toss and opted to bat. From a position on the adjoining rugby field, the band of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, were also completing their pre-match renditions by playing “The Men of Harlech” and not for the first time at the Arms Park, the grand old man of Glamorgan Cricket had tears in his eyes.
Few of the Sussex team, who preceded them onto the Arms Park turf, had ever experienced anything as stirring at the start of a Championship game. The arrival of the two Welshmen out in the middle was also greeted by cheers and applause from the crowd which by late afternoon was estimated at around 7,000.
It was one of the largest-ever attendances for the opening day of a county game at the Cardiff ground with patriotic supporters travelling since the crack of dawn so that they could share in this special piece of Welsh sporting history and see their infant team take its first steps in the County Championship against several well-known England cricketers, including star bowler Maurice Tate, all-rounder Vallance Jupp and the two Gilligan’s – Arthur and Alfred.
For those spectators able to stay for all three days, they duly witnessed a fairytale start to Glamorgan’s first-class career with the Welsh county winning the contest by 23 runs.
A special commemorative copy of the scorecard from this match in 1921, with the 2021 contest at Sophia Gardens on the reverse, is now available for purchase at £5, plus postage. Please send an email to museum@glamorgancricket.co.uk if you would like to place an order for this item.