The Extra Test

Matches against the touring teams from overseas were the undoubted highlight of Glamorgan county's fixture list. The three-day games against the international stars allowed the club's avid supporters, plus those with a more general sporting interest, a chance to watch in the flesh some of the greatest names in world cricket play on Welsh soil. This book is a celebration of bygone times, in the modern history of the domestic game. It is also a tribute to the richly appreciated efforts of the overseas stars in their matches with Glamorgan. The Celtic fervour and uninhibited displays of nationalism, especially in the matches at the St. Helens ground in Swansea, meant that there was an additional dimension to the matches between Glamorgan and the touring teams, in the words of Richie Benaud, the great Australian captain - and later the world-famous broadcaster - who said, "this match with Glamorgan is like an extra Test in our series on tour."The memories and records here also commemorate the end of cricket at St. Helen's which, ever since its creation in 1875, had seen the game co-exist with rugby. But the summer of 2025 is the last before thepitches where Glamorgan defeated the 1936 Indians, the 1937 New Zealanders, the 1951 South Africans,both the 1964 and 1968 Australians as well as the 1971 Pakistanis, disappear as part of a multi-million-pound redevelopment scheme for regional rugby. For those living in Wales, as well as Welsh folk exiled elsewhere, the disappearance of the St. Helen's cricket ground at the end of the 2025 season is a moment to reflect on the good times, remembering sunnyafternoons sat enraptured as the likes of Wilf Wooller, Tony Lewis, Don Shepherd and Alan Jones locked horns with the Test Match stars whilst wearing the daffodil sweaters of Glamorgan.

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