Welsh cricket team
Encyclopedia
The Welsh cricket team has appeared on a number of occasions. Generally however, Welsh
players are represented in international play by England
.
matches, and had some success against touring teams, drawing with the New Zealanders
in 1927 and beating the West Indians
a year later, as well as losing by only ten runs to the South Africans
in 1929. Sydney Barnes
, by this time well into his fifties, took 49 first-class wickets for Wales, including 7-51 in that 1928 win over the Caribbean
tourists.
Wales' next significant appearances came in the 1979 ICC Trophy
, a competition for which they had not actually had to qualify but instead appeared to make up the numbers because several ICC
members had not entered the competition. Playing in Group 3, they had a reasonable tournament, opening with a win over the Netherlands
in a rain-affected game and also beating Israel
; they lost to the USA
by eight runs and their game against Sri Lanka
was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Wales took part in the Triple Crown Tournament
between 1993 and 2001; this was a competition involving Wales, Scotland
, Ireland
and an amateur England XI. They had little success, however, never finishing out of the bottom two in the points table. From 2002 to 2004 Wales played a 50-over challenge match against England
each June. In the first of these games they recorded a shock eight-wicket victory, with Steve James
making 83 not out, though the other two games went to England. Wales' team consisted mostly of Welsh cricketers, although there were a scattering of non-Welsh Glamorgan
players such as Michael Kasprowicz
and Dean Cosker
.
In 1988, a Wales Minor Counties
team under the control of the Welsh Cricket Association
, the governing body for amateur cricket in Wales made its first appearance in the Holt Cup, a one-day
tournament for minor-county teams. Since then, the Wales MC side has appeared regularly in the NatWest Trophy (and its successor, the C&G Trophy
) as well as in the Minor Counties Championship, their most notable result probably the seven-wicket win over Denmark
in the first round of the 2004 C&G Trophy (which due to the vagaries of the schedule was actually played in August 2003).
Recently there have been calls from Welsh fans for the country to be represented by its own national team as in other sports. Criticism has been made of the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name whilst utilising Welsh players such as Simon Jones
, who was instrumental in England winning the Ashes from Australia in 2005.
-
The following people have not played Test cricket but have had notable first class cricket careers -
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
players are represented in international play by England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
.
History
From 1923 to 1930 Wales played 16 first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
matches, and had some success against touring teams, drawing with the New Zealanders
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in 1927 and beating the West Indians
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
a year later, as well as losing by only ten runs to the South Africans
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
in 1929. Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
, by this time well into his fifties, took 49 first-class wickets for Wales, including 7-51 in that 1928 win over the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
tourists.
Wales' next significant appearances came in the 1979 ICC Trophy
1979 ICC Trophy
Canada proved too strong for Malaysia, Rasiah Ratnalingham's excellent analysis of 12-5-18-3 not enough to stop the Canadians winning by 44 runs thanks to 77 from Cecil Marshall and 4-33 from John Vaughan...
, a competition for which they had not actually had to qualify but instead appeared to make up the numbers because several ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
members had not entered the competition. Playing in Group 3, they had a reasonable tournament, opening with a win over the Netherlands
Dutch cricket team
The Dutch cricket team is a national cricket team representing the Netherlands. It is administered by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond which is based in Nieuwegein in the centre of the country and is older than many renowned cricket clubs in the West Indies, Australia, and New...
in a rain-affected game and also beating Israel
Israeli cricket team
The Israel national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Israel in international cricket matches. Despite being geographically part of the Middle East, they are members of the European Cricket Council....
; they lost to the USA
United States cricket team
The United States national cricket team is the team that represents the United States of America in international cricket matches. The team became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1965...
by eight runs and their game against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Wales took part in the Triple Crown Tournament
Triple Crown Tournament
The Triple Crown Tournament was a cricket competition staged annually from 1993 to 2001 between the Home Nations; that is to say Ireland, Scotland, Wales and a team representing England...
between 1993 and 2001; this was a competition involving Wales, Scotland
Scottish cricket team
The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. They compete in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as the Scottish Saltires...
, Ireland
Irish cricket team
The Ireland cricket team is the cricket team representing all of Ireland. Because of political difficulties, the Irish Cricket Union was not elected to the International Cricket Council until 1993, and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2007. The Irish Cricket Union is the...
and an amateur England XI. They had little success, however, never finishing out of the bottom two in the points table. From 2002 to 2004 Wales played a 50-over challenge match against England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
each June. In the first of these games they recorded a shock eight-wicket victory, with Steve James
Steve James (cricketer)
Stephen Peter James is a former English cricketer who played two Tests for England in 1998, making 71 runs in four innings. He was captain of Glamorgan for three seasons before retiring in 2003 after 17 seasons with the club, aged 35...
making 83 not out, though the other two games went to England. Wales' team consisted mostly of Welsh cricketers, although there were a scattering of non-Welsh Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
players such as Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...
and Dean Cosker
Dean Cosker
Dean Andrew Cosker is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler who plays for Glamorgan. He has played in first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket. He attended Millfield School in Somerset between 1991 and 1996....
.
In 1988, a Wales Minor Counties
Wales Minor Counties Cricket Club
Wales Minor Counties Cricket Club, representing the historic counties of Wales except Glamorgan is currently the only non-English member of the Minor Counties Championship in the England and Wales domestic cricket structure....
team under the control of the Welsh Cricket Association
Welsh Cricket Association
The Welsh Cricket Association is the governing body of Welsh amateur cricket. It also runs the Welsh Cup and convenes the Welsh Coaching Forum. The WCA aims to promote, encourage, and improve amateur cricket in Wales, and to encourage and develop active participation in the game...
, the governing body for amateur cricket in Wales made its first appearance in the Holt Cup, a one-day
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...
tournament for minor-county teams. Since then, the Wales MC side has appeared regularly in the NatWest Trophy (and its successor, the C&G Trophy
C&G Trophy
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties compete each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland...
) as well as in the Minor Counties Championship, their most notable result probably the seven-wicket win over Denmark
Danish cricket team
The Denmark national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Denmark in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1966 and are currently part of the ICC's High Performance Program.-Beginnings:Cricket has been played...
in the first round of the 2004 C&G Trophy (which due to the vagaries of the schedule was actually played in August 2003).
Recently there have been calls from Welsh fans for the country to be represented by its own national team as in other sports. Criticism has been made of the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name whilst utilising Welsh players such as Simon Jones
Simon Jones (cricketer)
Simon Philip Jones MBE is a Welsh cricketer, who played internationally for England. Formerly playing his county cricket for Glamorgan County Cricket Club and then Worcestershire before moving in September 2009 to Hampshire. He is currently on a month's loan with his first county, Glamorgan...
, who was instrumental in England winning the Ashes from Australia in 2005.
Notable Welsh cricketers
The following people have played Test cricket for EnglandEnglish cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
-
- Johnnie ClayJohnnie ClayJohn Charles Clay was a cricketer who played for Glamorgan County Cricket Club. Clay also played one Test match for England....
- Robert CroftRobert CroftRobert Damien Bale Croft is a Welsh cricketer who has played international cricket for both England and Wales. He is an off-spin bowler who plays for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006...
- Jeff JonesJeff Jones (cricketer)Jeff Jones is a former Welsh cricketer, who took forty-four wickets in fifteen Tests for England from 1964 to 1968....
- Simon JonesSimon Jones (cricketer)Simon Philip Jones MBE is a Welsh cricketer, who played internationally for England. Formerly playing his county cricket for Glamorgan County Cricket Club and then Worcestershire before moving in September 2009 to Hampshire. He is currently on a month's loan with his first county, Glamorgan...
- Geraint JonesGeraint JonesGeraint Owen Jones MBE is an England cricketer of Welsh extraction but raised in Australia. Until August 2006 he was the first-choice wicketkeeper for England in both Test and One-day cricket, but fell behind Chris Read, Paul Nixon, Matt Prior and Tim Ambrose...
- Tony LewisTony LewisAnthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...
- Austin MatthewsAustin MatthewsAustin David George Matthews was a cricketer who played for Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and England.-Cricketing career:...
- Hugh MorrisHugh MorrisHugh Morris is the current managing director of England cricket, and a former Welsh cricketer, who played in three Tests for England in 1991...
- Gilbert ParkhouseGilbert ParkhouseWilliam Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959....
- Pat PocockPat PocockPat Pocock is an English former cricketer, who played in twenty Tests and one ODI for England from 1968 to 1985....
- Greg ThomasGreg ThomasGreg Thomas is a Welsh former cricketer, who played in five Tests and three ODIs for England from 1986 to 1987.-Life and career:...
- Maurice TurnbullMaurice TurnbullTurnbull was an eager sportsman as a youth, and played rugby for Downside School. He matriculated to Cambridge, and at university joined not only the cricket team, but also Cambridge University Rugby Club. One of the earliest rugby clubs he represented was St. Peters in Cardiff. His elder brother,...
- Cyril WaltersCyril WaltersCyril Frederick Walters was a Welsh cricketer who had most of his success after leaving Glamorgan to do duty as captain-secretary of Worcestershire. In this role he developed his batting to such an extent that for a brief period he became an England regular and even captained them in one match as...
- Steve WatkinSteve WatkinSteve Watkin is a former Welsh cricketer, with Glamorgan County Cricket Club and England. A reliable seamer who never suffered serious injury despite several lesser niggles, he played three Test matches in 1991 and 1993, and four One Day Internationals in 1993 and 1994...
- Allan WatkinsAllan WatkinsAllan Watkins Allan Watkins Allan Watkins (born Albert John Watkins (21 April 1922 – 3 August 2011) was a Welsh cricketer, who played for England in fifteen Tests from 1948 to 1952. He toured India and Pakistan in 1951-2 with the MCC, and also participated in the 1955-6 'A' Tour to Pakistan...
The following people have not played Test cricket but have had notable first class cricket careers -
- Emrys DaviesEmrys DaviesDavid Emrys Davies was a Glamorgan cricketer and in his later years a Test cricket umpire.Davies was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. His first class career for Glamorgan lasted for thirty one years, from 1924 till 1954...
- Alan JonesAlan Jones (cricketer)Alan Jones was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan for almost a quarter of a century. He also played, for a single season each, with Western Australia, Natal and Northern Transvaal.-Career:...
- Eifion JonesEifion Jones (cricketer)Eifion Wyn Jones was a Welsh cricketer who played for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.When he first came to Glamorgan Jones was a specialist right-handed batsman but after being tutored by Phil Clift he became their first choice keeper...
- Don ShepherdDon ShepherdDon Shepherd was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets, 2,218 at 21.32 each, than any other player who never played Test cricket.Shepherd began his county career in 1950 as a fast-medium bowler, and was a regular in the...
- Wilf Wooller