Glamorgan maintained their Championship momentum in early July 1997 with a ten-wicket victory over Gloucestershire, underpinned by 173 from Morris, who shared a third-wicket stand of 223 with Maynard before probing seam bowling saw the West Country side follow-on. July also saw Glamorgan commence a fine run in the NatWest Trophy.
Up to that point, 1997 had been a disappointing season in one-day cricket with Glamorgan performing erratically in the Sunday League and failing to progress from the group stages of the Benson and Hedges Cup. After losing their opening group games to Essex and Somerset, a maiden one-day hundred from Adrian Dale, plus a return of 3/30 saw Glamorgan defeat Middlesex, and with Ireland the visitors for the final group match at Sophia Gardens, the calculators were out to see if Glamorgan could improve their run rate and qualify.
Opposite – Adrian Dale. Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
The contest at Cardiff saw Hansie Cronje, Ireland’s overseas player, top-score with 85, including three massive sixes off Croft but the spinner, in his new role as a pinch-hitter, retaliated by striking the South African for a pair of sixes as he shared an opening stand of 73 in nine overs with Morris. The brisk momentum was maintained as the target of 203 was reached in the 31st over. Glamorgan were left needing Middlesex to comprehensively beat Somerset in the last group match the following week, but the West Country side won at Lord’s to douse the Welsh county’s ambitions of a quarter-final
However, Glamorgan did reach the knockout stages of the Nat West Trophy after beating Bedfordshire by seven wickets in a one-sided contest at Cardiff and a game most memorable for the visiting wicketkeeper gamely declining to wear a helmet whilst batting against Waqar. In contrast, there was plenty of on-field drama, plus an element of controversy, in the second round contest with Hampshire on an excellent batting wicket at Southampton. The game ebbed and flowed all day with Robin Smith countering the visiting attack by making 119 as Glamorgan were set a target of 303 . They made a decent start, but momentum was lost as three quick wickets fell in the space of six overs, and when the fifth wicket fell with the score on 192, Hampshire seemed on top.
But in the absence of middle-order runs in one-day cricket for the past seasons, Glamorgan had experimented with their batting order for 1997 with Steve James dropping down to number six to capitalize on his strength of deft placement and swift running between the wickets. With 111 needed from the final sixteen overs, James was joined by Adrian Shaw, and with a combination of clever nudges and forcing strokes, the pair reduced the target to 62 in eight overs before a moment of controversy, as Shaun Udal appeared to gather a throw from Matthew Hayden to run out Shaw. The Glamorgan wicket-keeper trudged off dejectedly, but after several moments of confusion, and James having a heated conversation with Hampshire captain John Stephenson, Shaw was recalled by umpire Ray Julian, after Udal had admitted that he had not got the ball in his grasp when breaking the wicket.
It was on this incident that the match turned in Glamorgan`s favour, although there were still a few nerve-racking moments to come as James was dismissed with twelve runs still needed. After Darren Thomas quickly followed, Waqar helped Shaw calmly knocked off the winning runs amidst mounting excitement to see the Welsh county home by two wickets with just two balls to spare.
The reward for the nail-biting victory over Hampshire was a home quarter-final tie against Yorkshire, and, after all of the tension at Southampton, Glamorgan`s fans believed that the match with the Tykes could surely not be as exciting. How wrong they were as the game at Sophia Gardens proved to be yet another cliff-hanger, as Glamorgan chasing a target of 237, had a mid-innings wobble, losing seven wickets for 69 runs, including captain Maynard who was suffering from chicken-pox. When last man Dean Cosker, joined Waqar at the crease, 28 runs were still needed.
Soon after, Waqar had a moment of good fortune, surviving a sharp chance to Michael Vaughan, before drawing on all of his international experience, the Pakistani farmed the strike against Darren Gough and Craig White, with Cosker showing great maturity, well beyond his years, to take Glamorgan closer and closer to their target. As the young spinner later reflected, “I didn’t feel too nervous because when you are out there you just rely on your instincts. Waqar was so cool under pressure. He kept talking to me all the time, encouraging me to carefully watch the ball and not get out. Coming from one of the legends of the game, you try and listen. I survived a shout for lbw off Gough as the ball started reversing a great deal, but when Chris Silverwood, bowled a wide, we had won a quite remarkable game!”
Essex were Glamorgan`s opponents for the semi-final and, once again, the encounter at Chelmsford contained much tension and a few sparks of controversy. Click here to read more about the semi-final which saw Essex’s last man dramatically win the game.
Click here to read more about the 1997 season and winning the Championship crown.