The St. Helen’s Balconiers celebrate their 50th Anniversary this year, and under the banner of Daffodil Cricket Tours many members of the Balconiers will be travelling in support of the Glamorgan 1st XI in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
This will be the 47th year that the Balconiers have undertaken stay-away tours with pick-up points along the M4 starting from Swansea heading east. The trips are open to all, so you do not need to be a member to take advantage of the arrangements made for the coach and accommodation packages.
This year the initial destinations available for booking have been released. These are Trent Bridge, Derby, Worcester, Leicester and Lord’s. Further trips will be announced as the season progresses based on the fortunes of the team, so we’re looking forward to including knockout stages of the Royal London Cup, Finals Day in the Vitality T20 Blast and a further LV=Insurance County Championship visit to Hove to conclude the season.
For full details and updates through the season, Click HERE
On October (3rd) the Balconiers will hold their Annual Glamorgan Players Presentation Awards Dinner and in November (18th) there will be a Celebration Lunch “Balconiers 50th Anniversary” and “Michael Hogan Testimonial Event” will be enjoyed. Both events will be at The Towers Hotel, Jersey Marine.
The Balconiers were established on Monday, 28th August 1972; the occasion being the second day’s play of the County Championship match, Glamorgan v Northamptonshire (St. Helen’s, Swansea), when a record first wicket stand was set up by Roy Fredericks (228 not out) and Alan Jones (105 bowled by John Steele). The partnership was worth 330 runs and both players gave a delightful display of cricket. On Alan Jones being dismissed, a remark was made by Danny Lewis to fellow observers and friends: “This is the sort of occasion on which a collection should be made for a player in his benefit year”.
His friends wholeheartedly agreed that a collection should be made, and an approach was made to Mr Wilfred Wooller, former Glamorgan Captain but now the Club Secretary, who replied that unfortunately it was not possible as only a certain number of collections are allowed by a set rule and Alan Jones’ (now President of the St. Helen’s Balconiers) allocation had already been used, the last permitted one being the previous day …
Danny Lewis then enquired of Mr Wooller whether collections other than official ones might be made. “Certainly”, replied Mr Wooller, “I’ll make an announcement and arrange for the buckets”. The friends who sat together, D.T. Lewis, Gwyn Rees, David Evans, Gerald Munday and Owen Pughe made the collection. The crowd was sparse, being a Monday, but the sum of £109 was collected. They were delighted – the Society was formed.
We look forward to seeing you this summer.