The 1960s saw Glamorgan, like other counties, hire overseas players. 1963 had seen Tony Cordle make his debut against Cambridge University having emigrated from Barbados a couple of years before. 1967 saw Glamorgan acquire the services of Pakistani Majid Khan after he had played an extraordinary innings on the final day of the tourists match against the Welsh county. Most of the first two days of Swansea had seen some turgid play and, on leaving the pavilion, the young batter told his colleagues that he would liven up proceedings with a fast hundred. He responded with a superb 147 in the space of just 89 minutes before lunch as he shared a double century stand with Saeed Anwar.
In all, Majid struck 13 sixes during his majestic innings, with five coming in an over from Roger Davis as the off-spinner was dispatched with grace and aplomb to all corners of the Swansea ground. Majid was the son of Dr. Jahangir Khan, an old friend of Wilf Wooller’s from their days at Cambridge, and the Glamorgan Secretary was only too delighted after young Majid’s salvo at St. Helen’s to announce that he had agreed terms with the Welsh county.
The summer of 1967 also saw Tony Lewis succeed Ossie Wheatley as Glamorgan captain, with Don Shepherd, as the perfect senior professional, helping the Cambridge graduate into his new role. The change in leadership though did not see an immediate rise up the table as Glamorgan ended the summer still in 14th spot, besides departing in the first round of the Gillette Cup as they were beaten by Hampshire at Portsmouth.
Several factors contributed to the fact that only four Championship matches were won. The loss of Wheatley as a new ball bowler was one, although Malcolm Nash enjoyed a decent first summer of playing regularly for the 1st XI. In the absence of Wheatley, Jeff Jones and Tony Cordle became a useful new ball paring, but too many times during the summer, they performed without a decent total on the board. On the batting front, Alan Rees and Lewis himself each had quiet seasons with the bat, whilst Bernard Hedges announced his retirement.
1967 had also witnessed the start of a new era in county cricket in Cardiff as Glamorgan met the Indians at their new base at Sophia Gardens. The building work though was not complete by the start of the game, with temporary changing and dining facilities, and there were concerns as well about the way the new drainage had been installed, with a ridge running at ninety degrees to the stumps mid-way down the wicket.
As a result, the bounce was erratic, with bowlers regularly hitting the ridge, only to see the ball either fly towards the batsmen head or shoot through low towards his ankles. This was another factor behind Glamorgan remaining closer to the bottom, rather than the top of the table, but after remedial work was undertaken following a visit by the MCC’s Inspector of Pitches, Glamorgan recorded their first victory at Sophia Gardens in mid-August as they defeated Kent by an innings after some hostile bowling by Tony Cordle and Jeff Jones. The form of the latter, claiming a total of 91 wickets and regaining his place in the England squad, brought smiles to the Glamorgan cognoscenti, as well as England supporters over the winter months as, at Georgetown in Guyana, he belied his modest abilities with the bat to help England win the series as he blocked out the last over of the final Test from Lance Gibbs.