With Pakistan touring during the second half of the summer, the county’s administrators opted to appoint Javed Miandad as captain for the first part of the 1982 season and his vice-captain Barry Lloyd for the second. They also secured the services of a replacement fast bowler for Ezra Moseley with their choice being Winston Davis, a 24 year-old from St. Vincent who from the outset showed he could genuinely bowl fast and trouble top-order batsmen.
Davis’ emergence was the only highlight during a season which saw Glamorgan slip back to 16th place in the Championship table and recorded just one victory in the three-day competition, beating Gloucestershire in the penultimate match of the season at Bristol by four wickets. Having been outplayed on the first two days, Glamorgan rallied with great determination as they successfully chased a target of 315 on the final day. Such an outcome had seemed unlikely when in their first innings, they nosedived to 93-6 and faced the prospect of following-on.
A plucky rear-guard action orchestrated by Eifion Jones, together with teenager Hugh Morris improved their position before Rodney Ontong celebrated his 27th birthday with a six-wicket haul as Glamorgan were set a challenging target. But after the inconsistencies of previous summers, everyone contributed with Alan Jones making 68, Arthur Francis 63 and new acquisition Charles Rowe from Kent a steady 70, before Eifion joined forces with young Morris yet again and struck Richard Doughty for six to seal a well-deserved victory in the final over of the game, and summer.
As far as the limited overs games were concerned, 1982 saw Glamorgan win just one game in the Benson and Hedges Cup when Javed was available, whilst they departed in the second round of their Nat West Bank Trophy contest with Warwickshire. In contrast, when Winston Davis was available, Glamorgan won six of their last eight games in the Sunday League and rose up to tenth place in the table.
Opposite – Charles Rowe. Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
Their renaissance began in mid-July as they defeated Worcestershire in a cliff-hanger by just one run at New Road, thanks to a frugal spell by the veteran Malcolm Nash. This was followed by a 39-run victory over Middlesex with Winston Davis claiming 3/17 and Darlington-born seamer Simon Daniels 3/32 before a handsome nine-wicket success over Warwickshire at Edgbaston with Alan Lewis Jones leading the way with an assertive 82.
The young batter was to the fore again as Glamorgan then won by eight wickets at The Oval, with Rodney Ontong claiming four wickets before the left-handed Jones weighed in with another half-century which together with fifty by Rowe helped Glamorgan to another morale-boosting win. The one-day season ended in September with a four-wicket success at Derby with Davis claiming 4/24 before further fifties from Rowe and Alan Jones helped Glamorgan to end the summer on a high.
The summer of 1982 was also the coming of age for batsman Arthur Francis who after nine years in the 1st XI reached the 1,000-run mark in first-class games. Rodney Ontong reached this milestone as did Rowe as well, once again, as Alan Jones who later in the year was awarded the MBE for his services to cricket in Wales. 1982 was also the final summer in full-time employment with Glamorgan for Phil Clift, with the worthy and loyal servant of the Welsh county ending his tenure as Secretary after enjoying a Testimonial which celebrated his 46 years of service to Glamorgan Cricket. Phil Carling, formerly of Nottinghamshire replaced Clift whilst Ossie Wheatley also stood down as Chairman with Gwyn Craven, a former bank manager from Swansea, taking his place at the administrative helm as all concerned with the Club looked forward to an improved summer in 1983.
