Some notable happenings took place in 1987, in terms of the both the short- and medium-term development of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. These included the signing of Alan Butcher who agreed to join the Welsh county after a highly successful career with Surrey, during which he won one Test cap against India at The Oval in 1979. He duly offered solidity and plenty of experience at the top of the order, as well as wise council to others in decision-making positions. Behind the stumps Colin Metson took over as the county’s first-choice gloveman following Terry Davies’ decision to emigrate with his wife to Australia and retire from county cricket.
South African pace bowler Corrie van Zyl was also signed to share the overseas duties with Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri as the committee, mindful of Ontong’s requests from previous summers, opted against putting all of their overseas eggs into one basket given the way previous international pace bowlers. as well as Greg Thomas, had met with less success on the slower Welsh wickets.
As the players gathered for the pre-season photocall there was a mood of quiet optimism within the Glamorgan camp fuelled by these new signings plus the quiet and steady development of the likes of Geoff Holmes, John Derrick and Steve Barwick. But the latter was one of several players to pick up injuries during the summer. In Barwick’s case he damaged muscles in his ribcage, whilst Rodney Ontong underwent knee surgery and missed a month. Thomas also broke down with an ankle complaint whilst Van Zyl sustained a stress fracture in his foot.
Hugh Morris could have been forgiven at being aggrieved that his well-balanced attack was torn apart by injuries but it was not just his bowlers who succumbed as Alan Butcher badly damaged a calf muscle whilst turning for a second run in the Sunday League game with Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens. He missed eight weeks but subsequently made hundreds against Leicestershire, Worcestershire and Derbyshire to pass 1,000 first-class runs and deservedly win his Glamorgan cap.
As the season unfolded, there were two innings which deserve special mention – the first was played by Hugh Morris who continued to carry the stamp of an aspirant England batter as well as an indomitable spirit as he carried his bat for 16 on a most unpredictable surface at Headingley as Glamorgan were bundled out for 83 in their encounter with Yorkshire in the Nat West Trophy. As John Billot of the Western Mail wrote “his innings finds a niche in Glamorgan’s cricket history. It was perhaps the most memorable sixteen runs – with as many bruises – of its kind by a Glamorgan player.”
It contrasted vividly with a high-octane innings of 160 in a shade over three hours by Matthew Maynard against Somerset at Clarence Park in Weston-super-Mare. He had already struck the fastest fifty in the Club’s history, albeit in contrived circumstances during mid-May against Yorkshire at Cardiff, and the innings against Somerset saw him strike 3 sixes and 25 fours from 177 balls, besides making a century before lunch on the opening day of this extraordinary contest which the home side ended up winning.
Opposite – Matthew Maynard. Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
Maynard’s boundary-fuelled innings against Somerset saw him awarded his county cap but after his dismissal Don Shepherd, who was assisting Edward Bevan on the popular BBC Radio Wales cricket commentaries, had a very different assessment as the legendary bowler, ever the perfectionist, greeted the return of the young batter to the pavilion by saying. “You dull bugger, you could have made the highest score of all time if you had stayed out there.”
Maynard duly made amends the following day by scoring 50 off 34 balls in the Sunday League match before ending the summer with a tally of 1,626 runs in first-class cricket at a healthy average in excess of 40. Many good judges regarded his finest innings being the one against Derbyshire in September at Cardiff where he remained unflustered against their battery of pace bowlers and carefully saw them off, one by one, with another audacious selection of strokes. It was a match which also saw a fine hundred from Butcher, who recovered from a painful blow to his arm which caused him to briefly retire for treatment before returning and reaching three figures, but not before a phase of play where he carefully farmed the strike so that last man Steve Barwick would not have to face the fiery Michael Holding.
Morris’ run-scoring showed no ill-effect of the captaincy, with the left-hander scoring a hundred in each innings of the Championship matches against Warwickshire having started the season with a record second wicket stand of 249 with Steve James against Oxford University at The Parks. In effect this was also Steve’s first appearance for the Welsh county as the man who would go on to write his name in the Club’s record books, had not got onto the field in his only previous appearance for Glamorgan in 1985 during the rain-ravaged Championship match with Sussex at Sophia Gardens.
Another gratifying aspect of the season was the excellent form of Ravi Shastri. His subtle left-arm spin and forthright batting made an immediate impact in the one-day games whilst he formed a fine partnership with Ontong. Shastri’s finest hour in 1987 came at Swansea in mid-May where he took 7/51 against Lancashire as the eventual runners-up in the Championship followed-on before succumbing to an overwhelming defeat by an innings and 132 runs. Phil North, the young left-arm spinner claimed six wickets in the very pleasing Championship victory over Worcestershire at Neath. It was a complete reversal of the game the previous summer when Graeme Hick had feasted on the Welsh attack, but this time, Hick fell cheaply in both innings to North.
1987 also saw a royal visit to the Club’s headquarters in Cardiff as the Welsh county launched their Centenary Year celebrations with a special match on July 6th at Sophia Gardens as Glamorgan, supported by HRH Prince Charles met Gloucestershire, the Club for whom his wife Diana, Princess of Wales was Patron. The 40-over friendly for the Severn Trophy, watched by a crowd of around 7,000 saw Gloucestershire win by seven wickets, thanks to an unbeaten 99 by Tony Wright, as the weather quite fittingly, matched the Club’s colours with the contest staged under clear blue skies and golden sunshine. There were also a series of packed marquees lining the boundary’s edge as the Club’s commercial team attracted hundreds of members of the local business community to join in their royal celebrations.
