Glamorgan CCC faced a number of issues when the County Championship resumed in 1946: there was only a handful of professionals who had been demobbed, there was uncertainty about the availability and whereabouts of other players, the Club only had a small reserve of cash plus a bomb-damaged headquarters, to say nothing of the tragic loss of Maurice Turnbull – the man who had embodied the spirit and desire of the Welsh cricketing public who, like him, yearned for the men in the daffodil-embroidered sweaters to emulate the feats of their heroes in red jerseys and to make the sporting nation proud.
His great pal, Johnnie Clay, had shared Turnbull’s vision, so it was under the cheery veteran’s guidance that the Club dusted off the cobwebs from their pre-war paperwork and started to plan for the resumption of first-class cricket in Wales. Not all of the pre-war venues were ready for the resumption of county cricket. Whilst Rodney Parade, Ynysangharad Park, and Stradey Park had all been cleared of military trappings, The Gnoll in Neath was unavailable and that led to Glamorgan adding Ebbw Vale to their lists of venues, with the Welfare Ground hosting the match against Worcestershire.
Clay’s immediate task was to see who might actually be available for the opening batch of three-day games from mid-May. Raising a muster for the pre-season nets also proved equally difficult as Glamorgan’s players were, at first, quite literally far and wide across Europe and the Far East. Fortunately, Willie Jones and Peter Judge soon returned from the Royal Air Force, whilst wicket-keeper Haydn Davies was able to swiftly secure his demobilisation from the Army. Arnold Dyson secured his release from duties at a munitions factory in the Midlands whilst the Glamorgan officials hoped that promising young cricketer Derek Williams, who had impressed during the friendlies in 1945, would be available for consideration. But the man who was subsequently amongst the group of athletes who carried the Olympic flame into Wembley at the 1948 Summer Games, had commenced his studies at Oxford University and indicated that he was not interested in becoming a county cricketer.
Phil Clift, Gilbert Parkhouse and Emrys Davies were all away on military service and, in theory, unavailable for the early part of the season. But the latter ended up being a regular face in the Glamorgan team, thanks to the persuasive efforts of Clay, who served as a Colonel in the Territorial Army. He used his military contacts to get Private Davies posted to Cardiff Barracks and, despite not being demobilised until late July, he managed to play in all of the Championship matches by doing guard duty all night, thereby allowing him to play during the day in the home fixtures besides ‘obtaining’ privilege leave which conveniently coincided with the away games!
Clay could also call upon Wilf Wooller who had been liberated from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during 1945. His massive loss of weight ruled out any thoughts of a return to the rugby field and when he met up with Clay during January 1946, he readily agreed to help out, besides expressing an interest in the possibility of succeeding Clay as Glamorgan’s captain in 1947.
During the course of the 1946 season, Clay became Wooller’s tutor in the ways and wiles of Championship cricket. An early lesson came at Sheffield when Glamorgan set Yorkshire a target of 179 to win on the final day. During the night a thunderstorm had woken the players, who in these days of uncovered wickets could not get to the ground quick enough the next morning to exploit the wicket. But to their amazement, they found the wicket bone dry, realising that it had been somehow covered during the night.
Len Hutton duly made an unbeaten 99 to see Yorkshire complete a home and away double over the Welsh county. But Clay and his men bounced back with a thrilling three-wicket victory in the second game of the 1946 season against Lancashire at Old Trafford and then, after draws with Northants at Swansea and Sussex at Newport, recorded an emphatic innings victory inside two days over Sussex at Horsham. Given their modest resources in terms of personnel, facilities and finances, it was truly remarkable that Glamorgan ended the summer with a total of ten victories and a position in sixth place in the Championship table.
Opposite – Glamorgan and Sussex players with Viscount Montgomery of Alamein during the match at Horsham in 1946. Image Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
Clay’s shrewd captaincy was a vital ingredient in Glamorgan’s success with the veteran cleverly handling his bowling resources and making subtle changes to the field. He was not afraid either to throw down some interesting challenges, as at Pontypridd during the rain-affected game against Somerset when after agreeing to declare early, he took saw Austin Matthews take 7/12 as the visitors were dismissed for just 53 before Glamorgan eased to an eight-wicket win.
Like his predecessor, Clay was eager to please the crowd, as in the game against the Indians at the Arms Park. The weather delayed play until 2.30pm on the final afternoon and Glamorgan were soon dismissed for 149 and invited to follow-on. With under two hours remaining, a dull draw seeming inevitable but Clay waived the interval between innings and stayed out in the middle with last man, Peter Judge. Chandra Sarwate then dismissed Judge with the second ball of the innings, with the former Middlesex bowler departing with the dubious distinction of having been dismissed twice within a minute. Clay’s slightly eccentric idea of reversing the batting order nearly backfired as Glamorgan lost six cheap wickets before Wooller and Willie Jones held firm and the match was drawn.