Events in 1928 had shown that a change of captain was needed, and after several months of discussion, Norman Riches and Johnnie Clay agreed to share the captaincy duties for 1929. On a personal level, it was a fine summer for Johnnie, who shared in a remarkable and record-breaking ninth wicket stand of 203 with Joe Hills against Worcestrershire at Swansea. But, at a collective level, the results remained moderate as the Welsh county ended up at the foot of the table.
In the opening game at Fenner’s, Tom Killick, a theological student at Cambridge University scored a superb hundred before lunch for the Light Blues. He continued to plunder runs after the interval, ending unbeaten on 200 as Cambridge rattled up the small matter of 341-1 before declaring. The game ended in a draw, but Glamorgan did not escape defeat later in the week at Northampton where the home side won by 103 runs. The first home game saw Somerset beaten by 103 runs as a result of a fine team effort, with everyone contributing to the victory, reflecting the more harmonious mood in the Welsh camp.
This was evident again in mid-June when a second victory was recorded, against Sussex at Horsham, as Glamorgan won after following-on, ironically when Arnott was deputising as captain. The turnaround was the result of a dramatic innings by Guy Morgan, the 22 year-old Welsh rugby international, who counter-attacked the tiring bowlers, and together with Arnott, added 78 for the seventh wicket before adding 85 for the final wicket with Frank Ryan.
He remained unbeaten on 91 as Glamorgan amassed a 203-run lead, before dramatically reducing Sussex to 80-8 with the seam bowling of Jack Mercer and Emrys Davies proving to be almost unplayable. There was a brief late flourish from the Sussex tail but after the final wicket fell, Morgan fittingly lead the victorious Glamorgan side off the field.
But Glamorgan lost their next six successive games and the only other Championship success came on the annual visit in mid-August across the Severn Estuary to Weston-super-Mare. Ryan fully exploited a dry and dusty surface at the Clarence Park ground to claim a nine-wicket tally before 83 from John Bell plus an unbeaten 63 from Dai Davies saw Glamorgan home with four wickets in hand. The match also saw an outstanding performance behind the stumps from nineteen year-old Trevor Every, a product of Llanelli CC, whose razor-sharp glovework standing up to Ryan and Clay saw with the teenager complete ten stumpings in his debut season.
Every’s emergence was another fillip for the coaching staff, who were also keeping an eye on the emerging talent in the South Wales and Monmouthshire League which had been inaugurated in 1926. But there was no disguising the overall result that Glamorgan had slipped back to the bottom of the table. Whilst Clay and Riches had the full confidence and respect of the professionals, not having a regular captain had been a factor behind the collective slump. On several occasions, neither Clay or Riches were available and during the summer, no less than seven others with the selection committee, almost in a throwback to the early 1920s, having to scour around to see who fancied a game as Glamorgan captain.
Things reached a nadir in early July when Aubrey Morgan, the captain of Cardiff CC and brother of Trevil, agreed to lead the county side during their visit to the East Midlands, firstly at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire and then in the match with Leicestershire at Loughborough. The all-rounder had only played for Glamorgan twice before and, on each occasion, against student opposition. Yet despite having never played before in a Championship match, Aubrey duly travelled up to Nottingham after work on the Tuesday evening and joined up with the rest of the Glamorgan party after their innings defeat against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The following morning he led out the side from the Trent Bridge pavilion besides sharing the new ball with Jack Mercer. But having bowled half a dozen overs, Aubrey then pulled a hamstring and limped off the field leaving Eddie Bates in charge for the rest of the game. Things did not get any better as Nottinghamshire rattled up 512-6, before Harold Larwood scythed through the dispirited Glamorgan batting, as the home side cruised to an innings victory.
An answer to the captaincy issue eventually came during the closing weeks of the season, but only after it looked like Maurice Turnbull was going to follow Cyril Walters’ example and quit the county. Having completed his undergraduate studies, he was mulling over an offer to work in the City of London, but having capably led Cambridge University, it was suggested that the offer of the captaincy would be a large enough carrot for Turnbull to stay in Wales.There were a few dissenting voices with some worried that it could be a repeat of the Arnott situation all over again if he did not gel with the professionals The upshot was that Turnbull was given a trial as captain of Glamorgan during the last four matches of 1929. Thankfully it proved to be a success and he astutely led the Welsh county for the next ten summers.
