1956 was a great summer for off-spinners. At the national level, Jim Laker claimed the astonishing match figures of 19/90 in the Ashes Test at Old Trafford, with Emrys Davies, in his second summer as a first-class umpire and officiating in only his second Test Match, sharing in the Surrey bowler’s record-breaking feat by raising his finger countless times as England completed a remarkable innings victory.
At county level, 1956 was a watershed summer for Don Shepherd who, after advice from wicket-keeper Haydn Davies and captain Wilf Wooller switched from fast-medium to off-cutters. Shepherd had lost form and penetration during 1955, finding it difficult to regularly hit the seam because of what he called “a floppy wrist”. Davies remembered the similar issues which Johnnie Clay had also suffered and the outcome was a change of styles. After hours of practice, Shepherd took 10/85 against Warwickshire at Neath in the final match of 1955 before taking 168 wickets for the Welsh county the following summer, including fifteen five-wicket hauls.
With Jim McConnon having opted to play in the Lancashire Leagues, Shepherd was Glamorgan’s first choice spinner and by 27 June and Glamorgan’s visit to Nottingham, he had an astonishing 91 wickets to his name. “I was new to batsmen,” he reflected. “It’s often the way that the first season you cash in before people have worked you out and know what to expect.” Not since the Second World War had a bowler taken 100 wickets before the end of June and after his outstanding start to the season, the Press made him aware that he stood on the threshold of a momentous record.
Seven wickets followed in the rain-affected contest at Trent Bridge, with a final opportunity to complete a rare feat coming on June 30th as Glamorgan met Northamptonshire at Kettering. Glamorgan won the toss, batted first, and Shepherd bowled a wicketless over shortly before the close of play. After a rest day on the Sunday, he claimed his prized 100th wicket on 2 July as he trapped Harry Kelleher leg before and, never again, would a bowler in English cricket reach 100 wickets so quickly in a season.
Despite the magnificent efforts of ‘Shep’, Glamorgan only rose up to 13th place. It would have been higher had batsmen Dick Horsfall, the new acquisition from Essex, not returned to the Home Counties with a nervous complaint which led to his hospitalisation, or Phil Clift being troubled by injury and illness. Fast bowler Ken Lewis also broke down with a serious leg injury whilst Jim Pressdee also lost form and confidence with the ball, whilst Allan Watkins – by his own high standards – had a quiet summer as he failed to pass 1,000 runs for the first time since the end of the War.
These injuries meant that 1956 also saw the emergence of several new faces in the Glamorgan 1st XI, in particular two men who were to play leading roles in the field during the next decade, wicket-keeper David Evans and all-rounder Peter Walker who went on to establish a series of new fielding records for the Club. But Peter very nearly blotted his copy book on his Championship debut in early June against Leicestershire at Stradey Park. When the visitor’s began their second innings, chasing a target of 172, Wilf Wooller decided to attack and ushered Walker into the slip cordon alongside Allan Watkins, had coached him when he was growing up in South Africa and had been largely responsible for his journey to South Wales to become a county cricketer.
Unsure how far back to stand, Walker was still seeking advice from his mentor as fellow debutant Frank Clarke roared in and induced an outside edge from Gerry Lester’s bat. Walker readily admits to not being fully crouched down as the ball flew in his direction. “Allan was still giving me advice and briefly paused as he dived across to catch this projectile,” he reflected years later, “before calmly getting back to his feet and finishing his sentence. It was an instant lesson in the importance of poise and concentration!”
1956 was also the summer when Wilf Wooller, not for the first time, clashed swords with Robin Marlar, the Sussex captain. It followed Wooller putting Sussex in to bat in muggy conditions at Hove and the home batters responding with 379-9 with their openers Don Smith and Alan Oakman adding 241 for the first wicket. To make matters worse, Hugh Davies fell whilst trying to take a catch and broke his ankle, before on the second day, Glamorgan were bundled out for 64 as a sea fret hung over the ground. It had dissipated by the time the visiting batsmen batted for a second time with Wooller giving his batsmen instructions not to play any attacking strokes. “We just defend and stay at the wicket” were his words and he duly set the tone by batting for seven hours in making an unbeaten 79 as Glamorgan amassed 200-1 in 138 overs to save the game with Marlar using all of his eleven as bowlers. So upset by Glamorgan’s go-slow Marlar also bowled several overs of high donkey drops which Wooller and Bernard Hedges gently patted back to him.
From a Glamorgan perspective, the end justified the means but Wooller was castigated in the Press for a negative approach, whilst the Sussex Chairman sent a tersely worded letter of complaint to the Glamorgan committee about the attitude of Wooller and his team, and the fact that many people had left the Hove ground having been bored by the proceedings, whilst others had demanded a refund of their admission money. “But what else could we do?” Wooller retorted. “Play glorious strokes just to please the crowd and give Sussex the match and win points?”