This series of features looking ahead to 2017 continues with a reminder that the coming summer will be the 20th anniversary of Glamorgan winning the County Championship under the captaincy of Matthew Maynard.
1997 was a summer when, during a remarkable fortnight of Championship cricket, Waqar Younis took 7/25 at Liverpool to skittle Lancashire for 51, before the Pakistani pace ace helped to dismiss Sussex for 54 and 67.
The weekend before Waqar’s electrifying spell at Liverpool, Glamorgan had been bowled out by Middlesex for a mere 31 on a remarkable Saturday at Cardiff. The collapse, though, was very much a blip as for much of the summer Glamorgan remained in the top three of the Championship table, winning eight of their seventeen games in the competition, which back in 1997 was all-play-all affair.
The Glamorgan squad of 1997 also enjoyed plenty of success in limited-overs games with a nerve-jangling win by one wicket against Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens as Glamorgan’s last pair of Waqar Younis and rookie spinner Dean Cosker saw Glamorgan home. This was followed by an equally dramatic game against Essex at Chelmsford which, through rain and bad light, went into the reserve day. But Essex’s last pair saw their side home with Peter Such hitting the ball from Darren Thomas for four to seal a one-wicket victory for the home side.
The agony suffered by the Glamorgan team and their supporters at Chelmsford duly turned into ecstasy six weeks later at Taunton with Darren delivering a probing spell with the ball as the Welsh county, with Kent breathing down their necks in second place, defeated Somerset to clinch the coveted crown. Hugh Morris, in his final match for Glamorgan, made a skilful century whilst Matthew himself posted a remarkable hundred, largely compiled in stygian gloom and with all five light meters shining brightly on the Taunton scoreboard.