The Welsh county celebrated their Centenary Year by having their best-ever season in one-day cricket. They finished in 5th place in the Sunday League, their highest place, besides reaching the quarter-finals of the Nat West Trophy and the semi-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup. If lady luck, that most capricious ingredient in professional sport, had also been on their side they may well have made a fairy tale appearance at Lord’s in the final of the 55 overs competition.
During May, Glamorgan had defeated Somerset, the Combined Universities and Gloucestershire to finish on top of their group, before defeating Nottinghamshire in the quarter-final thanks to a superb stand of 187 between John Hopkins and Matthew Maynard. The latter made a brilliant 107 off 117 balls to clinch a first-ever semi-final in the competition, against Derbyshire at Swansea in early June. Fortune still seemed to be on Glamorgan’s side as Hugh Morris won the toss and saw the visitors restricted to 140-4 off 45 overs with Rodney Ontong in parsimonious mood conceding just 19 runs from his eleven overs. Steve Barwick and John Derrick also claimed three wickets apiece before some loose bowling and bold hitting in the final ten overs saw Derbyshire’s lower order add 77 invaluable runs.
Chasing a target of 218, Alan Butcher and John Hopkins provided a solid platform before Matthew Maynard and Ravi Shastri reeled off a salvo of handsome drives to raise Welsh hopes, but Kim Barnett, the visiting captain, recalled Michael Holding in a bid to stem the flow of runs. It did the trick but not quite as the Derbyshire captain had envisaged. As Matthew later reflected, “I was going so well, but then as I played a back foot drive to Holding, my [strapless] helmet fell off and rolled onto the stumps –something that had never happened before or since!”
Despite a crowd of 8,000, you could have heard a pin drop as Matthew walked off before soon afterwards Shastri was caught in the slips. Bad light then saw the players leave the field with Glamorgan on 130-5 after 43 overs. Rain prevented any play the next day before the task of making 88 in 12 overs proved too much for the Welsh county. Ontong and Geoff Holmes each played some lusty blows but each time they opted for the aerial route, the ball was caught by a Derbyshire fielder as the visitors won by 14 runs.
Opposite – Matthew Maynard sans helmet. Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
The Welsh county had by far their best-ever summer in the Sunday League and for the bulk of the summer were in the top half of the table. After a defeat at Bristol, Glamorgan recorded home victories over Somerset and Derbyshire, as well as away victories over Warwickshire, Essex and Nottinghamshire. Their position in the top six was maintained by a nail-biting victory over Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens as the visitors, needing 41 from seven overs with eight wickets in hand, imploded against the accurate bowling of John Derrick.
An eventful game then followed against Surrey at Ebbw Vale where Monte Lynch and fellow West Indian Sylvester Clarke got lost as they travelled from London on the morning of the game at Eugene Cross Park. With the pair not around when the toss took place, the game took place without them with Hugh Morris posting a half-century as his side reached 197-7 after 40 overs. Greg Thomas then took 4/31 as Glamorgan won by eight runs.
A place in the top four and the newly-inaugurated knockout Refuge Assurance Cup now beckoned but a rain-affected contest with second place and eventual champions Worcestershire took place at Swansea. Just as Matthew Maynard was unfurling some majestic blows, the initial game was abandoned, with a new 11 overs-a-side started. Put in to bat, the home batsmen failed to hit their straps as Worcestershire eased to their target of 82 from 11 overs.
However, Glamorgan endured a dismal season in the longer format, finishing at the bottom of the County Championship table, winning just one game, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. During the summer, Glamorgan came agonisingly close to winning other Championship games, as at Chelmsford where Essex pursued 273 on the final afternoon. An assertive 72 by Graham Gooch put his team on the way before a spell of 5/38 by Geoff Holmes revived Glamorgan’s hopes as Essex needed two off the final ball. Derek Pringle guided the ball to fine-leg where Matthew Maynard picked up the ball and sent an arrow-like throw to Colin Metson. Pringle was run out going for the second run and the contest ended in a draw. Had the dismissal been made off the previous ball, the Welsh county would have won because Geoff Miller was absent with a back strain.
.
The summer of 1988 also saw Matthew Maynard make his Test debut. He had been on the selectors’ radar for some time and after another hundred before lunch against Worcestershire and further displays of uninhibited strokeplay, he made his England debut against the West Indies at The Oval. He only scored 3 and 10, but at the end of the summer, Matthew voted as the country’s Young Cricketer of the Year.
Others to make headway included Tony Cottey who, having opted against a career in professional football, was rewarded with an extended run in the 1st XI where he played some useful innings and impressed with his nimble fielding. Steve Watkin, the 23 year seamer from Maesteg also made decent progress with his accuracy of line and length saw him claim 8/59 against Warwickshire in the end of season victory at Edgbaston.
1988 also saw Glamorgan celebrate their centenary year with a floodlit contest at Swansea. Floodlit cricket had been the brainchild of Australian entrepreneur Kerry Packer and during the late 1970s, games had been staged at several football grounds, During the 1980s, more authentic games took place at various county grounds and in August 1988 Glamorgan met a star-studded Rest of the World XI at St. Helens with the match – won by the all-star side by 47 runs – being staged on the rugby pitch at the Swansea ground, utilising the permanent floodlights.
The year also saw the appointment of Tony Lewis as Glamorgan Chairman – as one writer observed, “the prevailing atmosphere within the club has changed – noticeably. To the connoisseur it’s a renaissance, to the onlooker, a quiet revolution. Lewis, whose Welsh voice charms cricket viewers nationwide, is set to call the tune. He wants Glamorgan, little Glamorgan, to make it big. A new determined drive to capture the best of Welsh youth for Glamorgan adds flesh to the county’s skeleton, slowly emerging from the cupboard of obscurity.”