Author: Andrew Hignell

Publisher: Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians

Published: 2018-02-01

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 190816591X

The third book in the Cricket Witness series is a celebration of Glamorgan winning the 1948 County Championship. Not only was it their first-ever title, it was achieved just four years after the heartbreak of losing their inspirational captain, Maurice Turnbull, who was killed shortly after the Normandy invasion whilst serving King and Country. Maurice had steered the county through a series of difficult seasons when defeats were more common than success, and the committee was regularly contemplating a return to Minor County status. Elevated into first-class cricket in 1921, Glamorgan CCC were the Cinderella of the county game, with opponents travelling to South Wales only booking two nights’ accommodation instead of the normal three, given the Welsh county’s dreadful form. As defeat followed defeat during their first two decades, Glamorgan’s selection committee often found it difficult to raise a strong team, as talented amateurs declined invitations to play, and, in 1922, they had to draft in a virtually unknown 15-year-old schoolboy for what proved to be his one and only county game. There were calls for the debt-ridden club to wind up but, to the delight of their loyal band of supporters, they continued, and in 1948 Wilf Wooller, the former Welsh rugby international, led the county to the Championship title. This rags-to-riches tale is recounted with the use of contemporary quotes and extracts from the memoirs of the players themselves. It is also lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished images to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the club’s first Championship-winning season and a special moment in Welsh sporting history.