Glamorgan’s hopes of winning the County Championship title by winning at Bournemouth took a dent even before they had set foot on Hampshire soil as Allan Watkins, having picked up a shoulder injury in the Test Match, remained in London for treatment. In the knowledge that the Dean Park wicket was normally spin-friendly, Wilf Wooller asked Johnnie Clay to travel with the team to Bournemouth to accompany the team to Hampshire. Once again, Wilf won an important toss but a second blow came just ten minutes into play as heavy rain started to fall forcing Arnold Dyson, Emrys Davies, the umpires and the Hampshire team back to the Bournemouth pavilion where they remained for the rest of the day.
Welsh spirits were lifted as it was confirmed that the weather had also prevented any play in Yorkshire’s match against Somerset at Taunton. Back at their hotel, Wilf called a team meeting and, as he later recalled, “I told them that we should bat and bowl like champions. We needed to score 300 runs as quickly as possible on the Monday in order to do the same as in the Surrey match, and declare an hour or so before the close so that we could have a go at the Hampshire batsmen. I also – with a smile on my face – asked them to also pray for fine weather if they went to church on Sunday!”
The pews of every church in the vicinity of Bournemouth must have been full of praying Welsh men and women, never mind the chapels back home in the Valleys, as the south coast was bathed in glorious sunshine as Glamorgan raced to 315 before repeating their feats at the Arms Park by claiming six Hampshire wickets. There was more good news for the Welsh contingent from the press box at Taunton where Somerset had made 253 to scupper Yorkshire’s hopes of staying in the title race.
It took only half an hour the next morning for the Hampshire innings to be polished off with Len taking 5/25 as Hampshire were skittled out for 84, Wilf walked back into the amateur’s room in the Bournemouth pavilion and asked his opposite number to bat again. Before going back out he also sent a telegram to the Somerset captain at Taunton saying: “Hang on to Yorkshire. We can win here!” For the second time in the game, Len and Johnnie tricked and teased the despondent home batsmen and, by the time lunch was taken, Hampshire were still 130 runs in arrears with only five wickets remaining.
“Come on boys, let’s go and finish off the job,” were Wilf’s simple words as he led the team back out. In the second over after lunch Jim Bailey was run out, before Clay claimed three further wickets to put Glamorgan just one wicket away from the title. Standing as umpire at Johnnie’s end was Dai Davies with his former colleague proudly wearing a red tie with a Welsh dragon motif, plus a Glamorgan sweater under his white coat. He could barely supress a smile as Clay worked his way through some limp resistance. To cap things off, when Hampshire’s last batsman Charlie Knott missed his intended stroke against Johnnie, the ball cannoned into his pads before the off-spinner turned around and appealed for l.b.w. with a broad grin on his face. But before Johnnie could complete his words, Dai had already said the immortal words “that’s out, and we’ve won!”
The Glamorgan team were serenaded off the field to the strains of the Welsh National Anthem joyfully sung by their loyal band of supporters. Also present were a group of miners, convalescing at the recently-created National Miners Federation Home in Bournemouth, and despite their ailments and immobility, they also hurried onto the outfield to proudly share in a seminal moment in Welsh sporting history.
Wilf, puffing excitedly on his pipe, then gathered the team together on the pavilion balcony before making an impromptu speech to the crowd. There were tears of delight running down the cheeks of several senior players, as well as on the face of Dai Davies who was only too delighted to join his former colleagues on the balcony. The Glamorgan players then assembled downstairs in the dressing rooms to share a few words in private and to wish Wilf well the next day following his selection to play for the Gentlemen of England against the Australians at Lord’s.
Fittingly it was Johnnie – the Grand Old Man of Glamorgan cricket – who led the victorious team back to Cardiff General Station. Several crates of beer had already been consumed by the time their express passed through the Severn Tunnel and arrived back on home soil. At Salisbury and other stations, George Lavis had leapt out of their carriage to invite station-masters, porters and those waiting on the platform to gaze through the windows and behold the Welsh Champions! At Newport, a small band of supporters brought fresh supplies of beer plus the final edition of The South Wales Echo so they could see what others had already read before heading down to Cardiff General to welcome home their team.
There was barely any space on Platform Three as their train arrived, with loud cheers greeting Johnnie and the others as they stepped off their carriage. It took time for the happy party to work their way, carrying their kitbags, through the hordes of supporters before heading by foot to Cardiff Athletic Club for a celebratory party. In the words of the famous Welsh melody “Ar Hyd y Nos”, it went on all through the night with Johnnie leading the celebrations. By breakfast time, the wives, girlfriends and other family members had joined their tipsy menfolk. As Johnnie’s wife later told a colleague, “he was quite beside himself with joy and really let himself go that night. I’ve never seen him in such a state. Thank goodness it’s only once they’ve won the Championship!”
