1997 will also be remembered for three other events, with the first being the tragic death of Diana Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris with Glamorgan’s match against Leicestershire on 31 August at Grace Road, like all of the others that day in the Sunday League, being cancelled as a mark of respect. Secondly, 1997 also saw the introduction by the ECB of the Duckworth-Lewis Method to decide the outcome of one-day matches affected by rain. Previously, the run rates of the two sides had been used to determine the outcome of weather-affected contests, but this new method – devised by two leading mathematicians – was much fairer.
The Welsh county’s Sunday League match against Warwickshire at Sophia Gardens on 27 April duly entered the history books as the first-ever county game to be decided by this excellent new system. Warwickshire had batted first and were restricted to 147-7 in their 40 overs with Steve Watkin taking 4/15 in his eight overs. Rainclouds then gathered over the Cardiff ground, before Glamorgan’s innings was halted on 81-3 after 20 overs. With rain falling for the rest of the afternoon, the umpires – David Shepherd and Merv Kitchen – called off play. The two scorers, Glamorgan’s Byron Denning and Warwickshire’s Alec Davis, duly undertook the calculations required by the Duckworth-Lewis system and determined that as the par score was 64, the Welsh county had won the contest by 17 runs (D/L Method).
Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
The third curio related to Phil North who very nearly returned to the Glamorgan side after being out of the county game for eight years. With Cosker chosen in the England Under 19 squad, Glamorgan were short of a second spin option for their annual visit to Colwyn Bay and despite having not played in a county match since May 1989, the left-armer was included in the county’s squad for the match against Nottinghamshire.
After arriving at Rhos-on-Sea, the indications were that North would be in the starting line-up, but the first day’s play was washed out and then on the second morning, North overslept and was late arriving at the ground. In breaking the team rules, he was disciplined and sent back home, with all-rounder Gary Butcher chosen in his place.
Not only had North missed out on writing his name into the Club’s record books, he missed out on winning a Championship medal, as well as taking part in the open top bus tour around the streets of central Cardiff, shortly after the victory at Taunton, as well as in a celebratory party in a specially-erected marquee on the outfield at Sophia Gardens and a grand dinner at Cardiff City Hall.
At both functions, a minute’s silence was observed to mark the passing earlier in the year of Wilf Wooller – the club`s eminance grise – and the spiritual backbone of the county since the Second World War. It was a poignant and fitting tribute to a man who even in his final year, had still popped into the Glamorgan dressing room with a few words of advice on field placing and tactics. No doubt, “The Skipper” was looking down on Cardiff as the celebrations moved into full swing!
