Wales prepares to celebrate 40 years of ODI cricket
Glamorgan Cricket has two important anniversaries to celebrate in 2013 as part of a huge summer of cricket when five ICC Champions Trophy matches will be played in Cardiff.
Besides being the Club's 125th Anniversary, this coming summer marks the 40th anniversary of the inaugural England One-Day International in Wales, staged at Swansea against New Zealand on 18 July 1973. The two teams will come face-to-face again in Wales on Sunday 16 June, which is Father's Day in the UK, when the teams play at Cardiff in the group stages of the ICC Champions Trophy.
The years leading up to the first appearance by the England side on Welsh soil had seen a growing campaign for international cricket in Wales, fuelled by Glamorgan winning the County Championship in 1969 before being runners-up in 1970. In addition, Glamorgan leader Tony Lewis was at the helm of the MCC side which toured India and Pakistan in the winter of 1972/73.
A large crowd were present for the 55-over encounter and to cheer on an English side captained by Ray Illingworth, whose new ball attack soon made inroads into the New Zealand batting. John Snow (4/32) and Geoff Arnold (3/28) reduced the tourist's to 15/4 in the first hour before Vic Pollard led a fightback with a feisty half-century as the tourists reached 158. As so often is the case at the maritime ground, batting became a far easier proposition later in the day when England batted, and Warwickshire's Dennis Amiss struck a fluent century as England successfully reached their target with almost ten overs to spare and seven wickets in hand.
When the ICC Cricket World Cup returned to the UK in 1983, Glamorgan were allocated the contest between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which produced a feast of 626 runs and a fine batting display from Pakistan. Mohsin Khan and Zaheer Abbas led the way with graceful fifties before Javed Miandad, who by this time had made his Glamorgan debut, together with Imran Khan upped the tempo with some lusty blows. Javed delighted the Swansea faithful with a sparkling 72 from 52 deliveries whilst Khan weighed in with a lusty 56 from 33 balls, as their side reached 338/5. Brendon Kuruppu led a spirited run-chase for Sri Lanka by hitting a half-century himself but the loss of wickets stymied their progress. Guy de Alwis offered some late defiance but Pakistan won by 50 runs.
Following the first phase of ground development work at Glamorgan's headquarters at Sophia Gardens, international cricket subsequently switched to Cardiff, with the Welsh capital hosting its first One-Day International in May 1999 as the ground staged ICC Cricket World Cup games.
Despite losing to New Zealand in their first appearance in Wales in 1999, Australia met with more success on their next attempt in June 2001 against Pakistan. Australia won by seven wickets thanks to a fine innings of 70 by Man-of-the-Match Ricky Ponting. After dismissing Pakistan for 257 with the penultimate ball of their innings, Ponting found useful partners in Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan, before captain Steve Waugh posted a delightful half-century as Australia successfully reached their target in the 46th over.
After visits by Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2003, Cardiff proved to be a happy hunting ground once again for the New Zealand one-day side as they defeated the West Indies by five wickets on 3 July 2004. Chris Cairns and Ian Butler each took three wickets to restrict the Caribbean batsmen after the Kiwi's ? no doubt remembering its successful run-chase against Australia in 1999 - had opted to bowl first. Half-centuries from Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan guided the West Indies to 216, but the total proved insufficient as Hamish Marshall struck an unbeaten 75 to steer his side to victory with four overs remaining.
The next international match at Cardiff - between Australia and Bangladesh - on 18 June 2005 produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of international cricket as Mohammed Ashraful, a teenager, struck a superb century to see Bangladesh to a five-wicket victory with four balls in hand, and all in a match which Bangladesh had started on odds of 500/1. The formbook however was turned upside down as, apart from Damien Martyn (77) and Michael Clarke (54), the star-studded Australian batting line-up were restrained by the youthful Bangladeshi bowlers. Ashraful then played the innings of his life as his side successfully chased a target of 250, with the victory sparking wild celebrations in the streets of Dhaka and a special message being sent to the Sophia Gardens ground by the Bangladesh Prime Minister.
Similar to the most recent One-Day International at the SWALEC Stadium in 2012, only a handful of overs were possible for the first match at the redeveloped Cardiff ground between England and South Africa when the teams met in September 2008. But the weather gods were smiling when the English One-Day side returned to Wales on 24 June 2010 and inflicted another defeat on Australia. Despite an assertive innings from Shane Watson (57) and Cameron White (86*), the men in the green and gold posted an under-par total of 239/7 after a fiery bowling spell of 4/44 by Man-of-the-Match Stuart Broad. Captain Andrew Strauss then launched the run-chase with a half-century, before the inventive Eoin Morgan added a fifty of his own as the English side strolled to victory in the 46th over.
September 2010 saw the SWALEC Stadium play host to a pair of Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan. Michael Yardy produced a Man-of-the-Match performance in the first game, with the Sussex all-rounder conceding just 21 runs in his four overs, besides smartly catching Pakistan opener Kamran Akmal, before posting an unbeaten 35 as England reached their target of 127 in the 18th over to secure a five wicket victory. Two days later, Tim Bresnan was the star of the show as England dismissed the tourists for 89 with the Yorkshire all-rounder claiming 3/10. His efforts with the new ball ripped the heart out of the Pakistani batting and with the rest of the English bowling unit in frugal mood, the tourists were always on the back foot. England then eased to their modest target for the loss of just four wickets with captain Paul Collingwood top-scoring with 21.
The next One-Day International at the SWALEC Stadium ? on 16 September 2011 ? saw Virat Kohli compile a superb century for India as they posted a commanding total of 304/6. Rain briefly interrupted the contest before play resumed with England needing a revised target of 241 from 34 overs. Alastair Cook and Jonathon Trott each struck vibrant fifties to launch the chase, before Jonny Bairstow came in to settle the contest with a brutal 41 from just 21 balls as England won with four balls to spare.
Cricket fans will be hoping that there are clear blue skies over the UK this coming June as Cardiff, together with Edgbaston and The Oval play host to the ICC Champions Trophy. The anniversary of the first One-Day International in Wales will therefore see the richest diet of international cricket in the Principality with the world's leading nations clashing in four group games at the Cardiff ground, before Glamorgan's headquarters stages the second semi-final on Thursday 20 June ? a fitting way to celebrate both the Club's 125th Anniversary and the 40th Anniversary of the inaugural One-Day International in Wales.
