June 21, 22 v Warwickshire at Cardiff Arms Park – Lost by 8 wickets
Aug 16, 17 v MCC and Ground at Lord`s – Lost by 103 runs
Aug 19, 20 v Surrey Club and Ground at The Oval – Won by 6 wickets
Aug 21, 22 v MCC and Ground at Cardiff Arms Park – Match Drawn
Warwickshire were Glamorgan’s first-ever opponents with the fact that the Birmingham-based club had close links with the Ansell family hinting at discussions having involved Jack Brain, the manager of the Cardiff brewery who, having moved from the Bristol area to South Wales had agreed to help out the fledgling Welsh county.
During the week leading up to the fixture, the Glamorgan committee finalized their squad for the prestigious fixture, but they were unable to choose their strongest team. Willie Llewelyn and William Morgan, each had niggles and were unable to accept invitations to play in the inaugural game, whilst on the eve of the game, Lewis Kempthorne, a talented all-rounder had to belatedly withdraw.
Opposite – the letter confirming Glamorgan’s first inter-county fixture. Image Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
In contrast, Warwickshire arrived in Cardiff at full strength, and had several England players in their ranks. It came as no surprise that the West Midlands side eased to an eight-wicket win on the second afternoon, before batting on for exhibition purposes until shortly before their express train back to Birmingham was scheduled to arrive at Cardiff General.
Despite the best efforts of the Club’s Secretary William Yorath, no other inter-county matches were arranged that summer, with the rest of the fixture list comprising a five-day tour to London during the third week of August with games against the MCC plus Surrey Club and Ground, followed the next day by a return contest with the MCC at the Arms Park.
The game at Lord’s ended in another heavy defeat by 103 runs, but the Welsh county were victorious at The Oval, winning by six wickets with opening batsman Hastings Watson scoring 58 and William Wilkinson, the Cardiff professional claiming seven wickets. Glamorgan’s target in their second innings was only 21, but there were jitters in the camp as four batsmen were quickly dismissed before Gowan Clark and WH Williams saw them home.