1974 was another disappointing summer for Glamorgan with just two Championship victories and a chastening defeat to Lincolnshire in their Gillette Cup encounter at St. Helen’s. It was the first time that a Minor County side had beaten Glamorgan, and followed a decisive toss which was won by the Lincolnshire captain in bowler-friendly conditions. They duly reduced Glamorgan to 59-8 before the tide went out, making batting easier and allowing Malcolm Nash and Tony Cordle to share a ninth wicket stand of 87. But the eventual target of 156 in 60 overs still proved to be insufficient as Martin Maslin led his side to a famous victory with an unbeaten 62.
It followed an unsettling time for Glamorgan as their young batters continued to struggle for consistency whilst Tony Lewis announced his retirement midway through the match with Middlesex in late July at Cardiff as his long-standing knee injury meant he could no longer manage the day-to-day demand of county cricket. With Majid Khan on tour with Pakistan from mid-June, Alan Jones took over as captain but the inexperienced line-up still displayed a Jekyll and Hyde character. On their day, the young batters could be extremely good, but on others they could be poor.
Nevertheless, mid-August saw a remarkable victory in the County Championship over Hampshire at Sophia Gardens, and all after the Welsh county had poised to follow-on after the visitors had made 234 in their first innings. By the close of the first day, Glamorgan had nose-dived to 43-7 with Andy Roberts, the hostile pace bowler from Antigua, having claimed all of the wickets. On the Monday morning, Roger Davis bravely manoeuvred his team past the follow-on as Hampshire secured a first innings lead of 144.
With Barry Richards, the South African maestro and Gordon Greenidge, the gifted West Indian opener, in their ranks many thought that the Hampshire batsmen would easily see their side into an unassailable position, but Nash and Cordle were undaunted by their presence as four cheap wickets fell to the new ball. Barry Lloyd, the young off-spinner from Neath then spun his way through the middle-order as Glamorgan were left with a target of 284.
Given the unpredictable nature of the Cardiff wicket, this was still a big ask for Alan Jones’ team, but the captain led the way as he blunted Roberts early pace. Others bravely knuckled down, none more so than Len Hill, the Newport County footballer who had first played for Glamorgan a dozen years before. The absence of others had given him a chance to establish himself in the county’s line-up and he took the opportunity to play his most important innings in Glamorgan ranks.
Despite being struck a series of painful blows on his body by Roberts, he stoutly defended against the West Indian, as well as spinner Peter Sainsbury who wheeled away for 63 overs as the quicks were rotated at the other end. Hill bravely soldiered on and with Eifion Jones in impish mode with the bat, the pair shared a century stand to guide Glamorgan to a heart-warming victory by five wickets.
As it turned out, this defeat cost Hampshire the Championship title, but it proved though to be Glamorgan’s final victory of the summer in either format. After their modest run of form, plus a fall in gate receipts, the committee were forced into a series of cost-saving measures over the winter months, including the dropping of Neath and Colwyn Bay from the county’s fixture list for 1975.