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Sean is a TV Rugby Analyst for BBC Wales Scrum V.  He provides commentary and match analysis.  He also works for BT Sport, Sky Sports, S4C and hosts the Sony Award winning ‘Rugby Nation’ weekly show on Nation Radio.  Sean was Head Coach for Ospreys Rugby where he spent nine Seasons.He played cricket in his home town of Cwmafan near Port Talbot and developed into a good junior player who played representative cricket in his teenage years.He talks about his early cricketing experiences and how he developed as a batsman and young off spin bowler.  He played a lot of football as a youngster but he describes how rugby became his all-consuming passion which squeezed out his cricketing development.  Sean spent a year in Australia before going to University and had some experience of cricket there.As his coaching in rugby developed, Sean's playing for British Steel / Tata Steel declined a little but he has always retained a connection with the club and he has been Club President for many years.Sean has a family connection with Alan Rees, ex Glamorgan cricketer and Welsh rugby international and he talks fondly about his contact with him and how important he is in the sporting history of the town of Port Talbot.Sean talks about the players he followed and learnt from and he recalls watching a video about John Emburey.  Glamorgan players he watched were Alan Lewis Jones, Mathew Maynard and John Hopkins.  He recalls fondly the deal he struck with Gray Nicholls for sponsorship and the bats he used.Tata Steel Cricket Club has been the only club that Sean has played for and he talks with great feeling about how he grew up from a boy to a man with the help of the men at the cricket club.  Older men help sustain the club as they grow older, the turning of the seasons see players change their relationship with it.  Sean does a lot of work raising money for the club and giving back a lot to it.  He talks about being a S.C.O.W, (Steel Company of Wales) boy and how proud he is of this.Sean talks passionately about his own analytical approach to the game and the impact individual coaches had on his game as a young boy.We talk about the transferable skills that make good rugby players also good cricketers and / or footballers and Sean talks about dealing with pressure and the importance of team sport's and leaving a legacy for future players.  'Its incumbent on us to recognise and live up to history.'Sean finishes the podcast with his thoughts about the strength of cricket in Port Talbot and his concerns about the social pressures taking young people away from the game.  He finishes with some final thoughts about Alan Rees and the impact that sporting figures can have on those that come behind them.

,Dean has over 30 years of experience working in elite sport working as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist.He was Head Physiotherapist at England Cricket for over ten years during the period when the national team saw some fantastic success including the iconic Ashes victory of 2005.  He was also Head of Medical Services at Surrey County Cricket Club for over four years. He began his career with Glamorgan County Cricket Club and his career with them stretches from 1989 to 2019.  He has seen hundreds of professional cricketers, including world renowned players such as Ravi Shastri, Viv Richards,  Waqar Younis and Jacques Kallis stretched out on his treatment table but insists that, to him, each person is just another collection of muscle and bone to be analysed and treated.A Mountain Ash boy brought up in a miner's pub Dean still watches the local rugby team most Saturdays and is very proud of his valley's roots.  We talk about his early years and his rugby career that first opened his eyes to the skills and abilities of the physiotherapist.  He talks about University, his early clinical experiences and the connections that brought him to Glamorgan.Dean tells us a little of the life of the cricket physio ( the days are long !) and some of the places and people he has met.  Mike Fatkin was part of the management team  at Glamorgan when he started there in 1989 (uhm !!) and has turned into a long life friend.  He talks about how he approached the task of keeping all the players in the team as fit as possible, the importance of dealing in percentages of fitness and the need for players to rest.Outside of the successful teams he has been associated with Dean remains a Valleys boy, proud of where he has come from and keen to see the game of cricket grow through programmes like the All Stars and the Dynamoes.

This week we chat to ex club cricketer and longstanding umpire in the South Wales leagues Bob Szpadt.We talk about his early cricketing experiences as well as his club cricket with Ebbw Vale.  There were six sixes and a 9 for along the way but Bob's abiding memories of his playing days are the friendships he made and the experiences he had.We talk about his transition to being an umpire and his work not only as an umpire but as appountments officer for the Association of Cricket Officials in South Wales.Bob's dedication to the game of cricket and officiating in particular was recently rewarded with the opportunity to officiate at the Home of Cricket, Lords, when the MCC played a Wales XI.As well as talking about that, Bob talks about other highlights including the Wales v Australia Seniors game at which he umpired and the Welsh Cup and Village Cup games he has been involved in.Bob is another of the great unsung heroes of the game of cricket in Wales.  His love of the game shines through in the chat and there are a few laughs along the way !

This week’s episode features Tony Cordle.  Featured below is Tony’s profile on the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket website (https://www.cricketmuseum.wales/) We would like to place on record our thanks to Michael Cann of Cardiff Cricket Club for enabling us to contact Tony for this interview CORDLE, Anthony Elton.  (birth registered as Elton Anthony Cordle)  Born - Bridgetown, Barbados, 21 September 1940.  Professional.   1st XI: 1963-1982.   2nd XI: 1962-1980.   Club and Ground:1972-1976.  Cap: 1967.  Clubs: Cardiff, Pontyberem.  Career-bests  First-class - 81 v Cambridge University at Margam, 1972.  9/49 v Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay, 1969.  List A - 87 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, 1971.  5/24 v Hampshire at Portsmouth, 1979.  Glamorgan have always been known as a good social team, with many fine singers in their ranks. During the 1930s George Lavis (Vol.2, p155-158) had led the team after they had been invited to sing on stage at several seaside resorts. Their repertoire before the Second World War always featured a number of traditional Welsh melodies, but by the 1960s and 1970s the sing-songs included a series of West Indian calypsos, thanks to the input of Tony Cordle, the Club’s first overseas fast bowler with the Bajan long after retiring from playing, continuing to delight with his lilting voice – albeit in Canada!  Tony was brought up in the Deacon’s Housing Area, just outside Bridgetown and played a decent standard of club cricket in Barbados. His half-brother Frank King had been a Test fast bowler, whilst his father had captained a strong team in the Barbados Cricket League competition. However, Tony was still a novice as far as cricket was concerned when, shortly after his 21st birthday, he decided to follow the example of his older brother Steve and move to the United Kingdom.  He initially worked for London Transport, but after ten days – “the most frightening ten days of my life” he later admitted – he decided to move to Cardiff where his brother and sister were now based. A few days later, he went to the Labour Exchange in Westgate Street ostensibly to secure a job with British Railways. Whilst t walking up the stairs he looked out on the Arms Park cricket ground. “I saw the green turf and the scoreboard – the first friendly sights I had seen in Britain.”  Having fond memories of playing cricket in Barbados, Tony contacted Cardiff CC, little realising that his decision in February 1962 would dramatically transform his life.  Wyndham Lewis, the Cardiff secretary, was soon impressed – so were Wilf Wooller and Phil Clift, the captain and coach respectively of Glamorgan’s 2nd XI and later that summer Tony made his debut for Glamorgan’s second string, claiming four wickets against Warwickshire at Ebbw Vale.  After a clutch of wickets in club cricket, besides frightening opponents with his sheer pace and fast arm, Tony received further coaching from the Glamorgan staff, plus captain Ossie Wheatley who taught him important lessons about variations of pace and swing. “I could spray it around at first, “ he admitted. “Direction and getting things right against the professionals used to worry me, but I cut down a bit on pace and learnt how to move the ball around both ways. I worked at it endlessly until it all came right. It was then I realized that bowling quick was not everything and that made me a more effective bowler. “ He could still however produce an express delivery and one of his happiest recollections in a Glamorgan sweater had been clean bowling Hampshire’s Barry Richards almost before the great South African batsman could pick his bat up!  He agreed professional terms with Glamorgan for 1963, although he continued to work in the shunting yards a

In this episode we chat to John Prickett about his life in cricket.  He talks about his early experiences going to watch Glamorgan play with his father and grandfather and his early development as a cricketer.John studied to be a teacher and took up his first teaching post at the Royal Grammar School in Worcester.  As well as playing with the staff team (which at one point included a very young Imran Khan!) he played local club cricket and became a lynch pin in local schools cricket.When he returned to Wales he continued his involvement with schools cricket, becoming the manager of Welsh Schools Cricket and latterly the manager of the National Wales U15s side where he witnessed the early development of players like David Hemp, Simon Jones, Tom Maynard and many others.John shares with us his love for the game and his thoughts on the importance of schools cricket to the overall health of the game.He fondly remembers his time involved with the game and as he looks forward to his 80th birthday the friends he has made playing and being involved with it.

This week we talk to Newport born Adam Millichip.  A welsh schoolboy cricketer, Adam was man of the match in the Welsh Cup Final in 2008 when Newport defeated Northop Hall CC.He talks about growing up, being part of a succesful age group cricket team and playing for Newport.He also tells us about his career as a special needs teacher, his work in Shrewsbury and more recently Wolverhampton and his recent work on the TWS Sports Podcast.  The podcast was born out of the lockdown when the school was searching for something that could encourage school pupils to develop new skills.  From its early days when Adam held each episode together, school pupils now plan questions and undertake all the interviews for the podcast themselves.The list of those wioth a connection to sport that the podcast has interviewed is very impressive.  On the cricket front they interviewed Nasser Hussain,  David Lloyd,  Rob Key, Mathew Hoggard,  Mathew Hayden, Monty Panesar, Steve waugh, Michael Atherton and Marnus Labuschagne.If you want to have a look at all the podcasts they have recorded, go to:https://www.podpage.com/tws-sports-podcast

In this week’s episode we talk to Linton Lewis and his clubmates from Ammanford Cricket Club.  Linton, born in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, came to Ammanford in 1981 as an unknown young cricketer from the West Indies.  When he left the club in 1989 he had transformed the club’s fortunes and left behind a series of exploits that were legendary throughout South Wales and beyond.   Those interested in learning more about Linton’s experiences at Ammanford can do no better than read this wonderful article on the Dai Sport website which we used in the research for our podcast: https://www.dai-sport.com/linton-lewis-lawyer-politician-multi-millionaire-and-welsh-club-cricket-legend/   Listen in as we talk to Linton, Ammanford club captain Jeff Roach and past players Colin Mathews, Phil Fisher and Richard Evans as they recall those tumultuous years when the club was catapulted from Division 3 of the South Wales Cricket Association to Division 1, winning 3 Welsh cups along the way and completing the double of Division 1 Champions and Welsh Cup Winners in 1986.

This week’s episode is all about Ynystawe Cricket Club.  We met with the following members of the club to chat about its past as well as its present: Phil Rowe Lewis Rowe Ian Evans Ceri Evans Steve Beasley Jason Kiley Paul Crane The club has its origins back in the 1950s when the then club officials bought the freehold of the ground.  Its initial clubhouse was a couple of changing rooms and a lean to shed as the tea room.  The replacement facilities (a set of portacabins) suffered a fire in the late 1990s when they planned and built the current fantastic clubhouse with support from various organisations including the Lottery as well as fundraising by players and locals in the village. The highpoint for the senior team was a winning appearance in the National Village Cup in 2001.  The gents talk about this as well as the other achievements of the various senior teams.  The club’s success in the early 2000s and after was put down to a very successful emphasis on junior cricket and the club had a ‘golden’ period of junior cricket in the 1990s. We hear about the village of Ynystawe, characters who have played for the club and the overwhelming pride that these players have for their club. Anyone wanting to learn more about the club or to book its wonderful facilities can contact them via their Facebook Page or their Twitter feed (ynystawe_ycc)

Aimee Rees is the current Head of the Women and Girls Elite Pathway at Glamorgan Cricket. In this episode she talks about her father and watching him play for Swansea Civil Service and then one day being asked to make up the numbers on the field.  Her father also took her to watch her first professional cricket games and it was at Neath in 1993 when Glamorgan were hosting the touring Australians that Aimee fell in love with the game.  The interview took place shortly after the news of Shane Warne’s death had broken and Aimee recalls getting his autograph and shares her sadness at his passing. She talks about how she started playing in boys and club cricket and the responses she got from male cricketers and then her first games in girls and women’s cricket. Aimee’s father was her first coach and she takes a lot of her coaching philosophy from her father.  Aimee recalls her playing days and her transformation from a bowler to a batsman.  She describes how she developed as a left arm spin bowler and recalls watching video footage of Bishan Bedi. Aimee was 16 before she played any women’s cricket.  She remembers Hannah Lloyd and her father Barry who were involved in the women’s game in Wales.  Aimee ended up playing cricket for West of England, Somerset and Bath and she remembers the costs in time and money for her parents in helping her to play.  In women’s cricket travelling is part of the deal. Aimee talks about some of the famous players she played against who have gone on to have careers in cricket broadcasting and administration.   The development of Welsh women’s cricket came at the same time as Aimee’s playing career.  She mentions extending her range of shots as a batter and how her technique improved with lots of practice.  Her fondest memories of her playing career were the grounds she played at.  She remembers batting in a charity game with Sir Richard Hadlee and playing at Eton and Roadean schools. Aimee talks about the transformation in women’s cricket, how it is played and how it is viewed.  From wearing skirts to play to watching elite players playing in The Hundred Aimee is incredibly enthusiastic about the changes that have taken place and her hopes for its future. Anyone wishing to contact Aimee about her work and the girls and women’s elite pathway can do so at the following email: aimee.rees@glamorgancricket.co.uk

In this week’s episode we talk to Tony Dell,  veteran of the Vietnam War,  Australian Test cricketer and one time resident of Cardiff and pupil at the Hawardian School for Boys. Tony was born in Hampshire but moved to Wales in 1956 when his father was seconded to the Hoover Company based in Cardiff.  He attended the Hawardian school where he had his first sporting experiences. The Hoover Company again called on the Dell family to move to Australia.  On arrival here, Tony’s sporting career really took off with him playing rugby and cricket.  In the early 1960s he played club cricket and then Sheffield Shield.  He remembers vividly being given bowling advice in these early years by Alan Davidson. Just as his cricket career was beginning to take off the Australian government called on Tony to join up and go to Vietnam.  He was called up via a lottery system, trained and then sent to Vietnam. Tony talks about his return from Vietnam, his successes on the cricket field and his eventual call up for Australia against England in the Ashes Series of 1971.  He remembers some of the players he played with and against including Alan Knott, Basil D’Olivera, Ian and Greg Chappel, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson.  Tony gives us his view of both these fantastic fast bowlers. We talk about the decline that took place in Tony’s life and his discovery of the fact that he had been suffering from undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for many years.  He lost his house, business and ended up living in his mother’s garage.  Even in the darkest of times he found that cricket helped him get through as he coached his son.  He talks about meeting other veterans who helped him to get back on his feet and his decision to launch charity dedicated to spreading awareness of Post Traumatic Stress in the armed forces and first responders. The charity he formed is called Stand Tall for PTS and can be found here: http://www.standtall4pts.org/ The song that is played at the end of the episode was written by Tony and the video accompanying it can be seen on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xah52LzLMDg For anyone interested in learning more about Post Traumatic Stress and those who campaign around the issue in the UK you could try checking out Combat Stress here: https://combatstress.org.uk/The Once Upon a Time in the Ashes Podcast is a marvellous celebration of Test cricket and its episodes can be found here:https://onceuponatimeintheashes.com/Many thanks to those at the Roath Local History Group who published the article about Tony that drew our attention to his story.  You can read the article here:https://roathlocalhistorysociety.org/2022/01/16/tony-dell-howardian-pupil-who-played-in-the-ashes-for-australia/

This week’s episode is a tribute to the late great Australian cricketer Shane Warne There are contributions from the following:   Alan Wilkins, sports broadcaster Andrew Hignell, Curator of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket Darren Thomas, ex Glamorgan cricketer and Wales National County Head Coach Adam Rosser, ex player with St Fagans Cricket Club Aimee Rees, Head of Glamorgan’s Women and Girls Elite Pathway Phil Steele, ex professional rugby player, broadcaster and after dinner speaker Mark Wallace, Glamorgan Director of Cricket Dean Cosker, ex Glamorgan cricketer and ECB match referee Steve Watkin, Glamorgan Second XI and bowling coach and ex Glamorgan and England cricketer David Morgan OBE, former chair of Glamorgan CCC, ECB and former President of ICC Richard Thomas, cricket author   The music at the end of the episode has been provided by the Morriston Orpheus Choir.  The details of the recording are as follows:   Musical Director and Accompanist/Cyfeilydd a Chyfarwyddwr Cerdd Joy Amman Davies  Organist/Organydd Ieuan Jones   Gwahoddiad:  Words by/Geiriau gan   Ieuan Gwyllt  Arranged by/Trefnwyd gan   John Tudor Davies  Sound and video mixing/Cymysgu Sain a Fideo C.O.B.R.A. Music Studios, Newport   Their website where you can contact them is:  www.morristonOrpheus.com   They can be found on Twitter @welshorpheus  and their other social media is here:   Facebook.com/MorristonOrpheusChoir instagram.com/MorristonOrpheus   The wonderful portrait that we have used to publicise the episode was produced by a gentleman who describes himself on his Twitter profile as: Shouty amateur cricket artist, number 11 batsman who doesn’t bowl. Can’t catch. I do my paintings on an IPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. To follow him and to see more of his wonderful cricketing portraits go to @WG_RumblePants

In this week’s episode we talk to new Chair of Criced Cymru Jennifer Owen Adams as well as it’s CEO Leshia Hawkins.  Jennifer begins the chat by talking about herself and her interests in sport in general and cricket in particular.  Leshia brings us up to date with the development of the recreational game under the shadow of coronavirus and the successes that Criced Cymru has had in reaching new people, in particular girls and women.  After a brief discussion of how Leshia and Jennifer are developing their relationship we talk about how the organisation has responded along with Glamorgan to the issues raised by the experiences of Azeem Rafiq in the professional game.  They both underline the ongoing work that is taking place around issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in Wales and the importance of changing behaviours through an open and honest conversation around these matters.  Jennifer talks about the need to be aware of the cricket that takes place in the rural areas of Wales and trying to improve the access to the game in the rural parts of Wales.  Leshia reinforced the unique challenges that Criced Cymru faces with the contrasts between urban and rural experiences and the need to incorporate into their work issues around poverty and the welsh language.  The ability of Criced Cymru to achieve its goals depends crucially on the ongoing engagement of an army of volunteers.  Jennifer talks passionately about this being a central focus for her in the coming months and years.  Leshia outlines the plan for a women’s cup competition in the 2022 season and how important this is to encouraging young girls to take an interest in the game.  Both our guests talk about being a woman in their role and whether that is important or relevant in what they do and they both talk about their cricketing highlights of the last 18 months or so.  Both talk about what they enjoy doing outside of administrating the game and they finish by saying a little bit in the welsh language !!  Do check out their website here:  https://cricketwales.org.uk/  To see the equity, diversity and inclusion plan drawn up Criced Cymru and Glamorgan CCC go here:  bit.ly/3J61rY2 bit.ly/3q2rUOW 

In this episode of the podcast we meet and talk to several members of the Wales Seniors Cricket Squads. Our first interview is with Robin Jones who will be this seasons Over 70s captain.  He talks about his cricket with Machen Cricket Club as well as his involvement with the Wales Seniors Squad.  A left arm spinner he also enjoys his batting and has taken around 2,000 league wickets in his 40 years of playing club cricket. His involvement with Wales Seniors dates back to 2015 when he got involved with the over 60s.  He talks about winning the County Championship in 2016.  He talks about the skillset of these older players, their enduring competitiveness and the camaraderie that exists around the team. We talk about some of the grounds where the Wales Seniors play and the mechanics of organising their fixtures.  The team plays other English Counties but has also played international matches.  It is due to play the full England Over 70s side this Summer.  Robin talks about his pride of playing with the Wales Seniors side and his proudest moment in a Wales shirt. Richard Harris, captain of the Wales Over 60s First XI played his club cricket for  Burton and Cresselly Cricket Club’s in Pembrokeshire.  He has toured as a member of the England Over 60s team in Australia but is very proud of his involvement in the Wales Seniors set up.  He sketches out the history of seniors cricket in Wales and talks about the ever improving standards of the cricket.  He talks about his experiences as a tourist with the England Over 60s team and how important it was for him to maintain his welsh identity throughout that experience. Peter Docherty is the current President of Penarth Cricket Club but has been in and around Wales Seniors Cricket for around 15 years.  Opening the batting, Peter was saved from a retirement into playing golf and now loves his senior cricket as it keeps him fit and has taken him around the World. Anthony O’Sullivan will be the captain of the Over 60s Second XI this coming season.  His club cricket was with the Pennydarren Country XI in Merthyr.  He mentions a fantastic claim to fame alongside his career with Wales Seniors cricket. They all talk with great pride of the cricket they play and the successes they have had as seniors cricketers.  There are more players beginning to be involved in this form of cricket and there is an increasing competitiveness about the cricket.  All the boys show a great level of enthusiasm for the set up and through that the game of cricket. We chat about the County Championship set up that the Wales teams participate in and Richard tells us about the inaugural Over 60s Cricket World Cup which takes place in Australia later this year. The Over 60s World Cup Squad is looking for sponsors for its visit to the tournament in Australia.  The chair of their sponsorship group is Stuart Carpenter.  His contact details are: stuartcarpenter@adm.com or 07789402400   You can find Wales Seniors Cricket on Facebook or on Twitter @SeniorsWales

We talk to Glamorgan and Criced Cymru / Cricket Wales' Mark Frost.  Recipient of a BEM in the 2022 New Years Honours List, Mark tells us about growing up in the West Midlands where his first taste of club cricket came at Dudley Cricket Club who were, at that time, captained by the recently retired Worcestershire and West Indies opener Ron Headley.After University and some excellent performances in the Minor County's Championship for Staffordshire he first signed professional terms with Surrery in 1988 and played in a team that included Alec Stewart, Ian Greig and Graham Thorpe.Mark moved to Wales to play for Glamorgan in 1990 and spent 4 seasons with the county.  He remembers playing alongside Alan Butcher, Hugh Morris, Mathew Maynard and the great Sir Vivian Richards as well as a tumultuous over facing the great Curtley Ambrose.After leaving cricket he took up an administrative role with Sport Wales and thus began a career in managing community and professional sport that has lasted almost 30 years.  Mark has had three spells working with the body representing recreational cricket in Wales.  He has been in his current role since 2014 which combines development work in the recreational sector with a role for Glamorgan CCC bringing together the professional and recreational games.He talks enthusiastically about his own professuional career and the development of cricket in Wales emphasising the inclusivity and diversity of cricket at a time when these qualities are being looked at sceptically by some outside the game.  He talks about his optimism for the future of the sport and the joy he gets from regularly volunteering as a coach at his local club, Penarth.Mark has written and published 5 books for children, details of which you can find here:https://httpthefour.weebly.com/You may wish to contact Mark directly if it is not possible to order these books from this site (contact details below)He has been a longstanding member of Christians in Sport and he explains how important his faith is to him in his work and life generally.Anyone wishing to contact Mark can do so here :mark.frost@glamorgancricket.co.ukFollow him on Twitter @MarkFrostsport

This is taken from the back cover of the recently published book about Paul Crump entitled 'One Armed and Dangerous':'This is the totally true, though almost incredible, story of a very proud Welshman.  A son of Merthyr Tydfil, once the industrial capital of the world but always a hotbed of Welsh sporting excellence.  They don't do it by halves in this toen you know, and Crumpy is no exception in that.  A quite remarkable man.  That man is Paul Crump.'Born without a forearm after the difficulties of a twin pregnancy Paul grew up with little or no sense that he was any less of a person than anyone else.  A keen sportsman he wanted, first, to play professional football.  On trial at Wolverhampton Wanderers he turned out for the Pennydarren XI Cricket Club.  Paul tells us how his performances got him referred to Glamorgan for trials and into the press for his exploits.In a hectic few years Paul was contracted to play for the Grounds staff at the Home of Cricket, Lords.  As well as talking about his experiences here and the people he met including England players Ian Botham and Goeffrey Boycott, Paul tell sus about his boyhood friends who have turned into lifeling ones.Paul's story is not without regret as he failed to get the professional career in cricket he wanted and by his own admission done some things that were not great.  In telling his story, you become aware of his prodigious talent and his strong will to succeed.

In this episode we talk to two stalwarts of Abergavenny Cricket Club, Paul Sussex and Ryland Wallace, both of whom were significant players in the 1995 season.  This was the season they secured the services of a young Indian cricketer by the name of Aashish Kapoor.who between committing himself to come to the town that is the gateway to Wales and arriving in Abergavenny made his test debut for India.Paul and Ryland talk about the 1995 season,  Aashish's impact on the club and his record breaking innings of 300 against Swansea during that Summer.Here below are some extracts from the club's official history of the 1995 season:Abergavenny for the 1995 Season secured the signing of Aashish Kapoor of India as Club professional.Born: 25 March 1971, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil NaduMajor Teams: Punjab, Tamil Nadu, India, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh.Batting Style: Right Hand BatBowling Style: Right Arm Off BreakTest Debut:India v West Indies at Mohali, 3rd Test, 1994/95Latest Test:India v South Africa at Kanpur, 3rd Test, 1996/97ODI Debut:India v Australia at Dunedin, NZ Centenary Tournament,1994/95Latest ODI:India v Zimbabwe at Rajkot, 5th ODI, 2000/01Abergavenny 375-6 A.Kapoor (300) M.Coles (31) Swansea 189-8 M.James 2-23,R.Beaumont 3-2Abergavenny were the victorious Macey Shield Winners after defeating Newport at Llanarth in the Final. Abergavenny batted first and put on 68 for the first wicket in just 9 overs. M.Morris (24) was the first to go but Kapoor went on to a great fifty well supported by Mike Powell who finished on (43*) as Abergavenny scored 158-5. The strong Newport side made a very useful bid for victory, but excellent bowling and good catching and fielding made it difficult for them to sustain the run rate and they finished on 140-6 Kapoor taking 3 wickets and a catch to go with his fifty to easily win the Man of theMatch award.Paul and Ryland give colour to these basic statistics mentioning Aashish's stylish batting and accomplished spin bowling as well as his all round professionalism and approach to playing the game.  Although Aashish was clearly a crucial element of their success that season Paul and Ryland talk about the rest of the team that contributed to the succesful year as well as mentioning two young Abergavenny cricketers who were to go on and have first class careers with Glamorgan, Mike Powell and Ryland's son and the current director of cricket at Glamorgan CCC, Mark Wallace.As well as Aashish's record breaking efforts with the bat, the county game supplied another world record performance.  Andrew Symonds, playing for Gloucestershire, hit a mammoth 16 sixes in his innings of 254 in the first innings against Glamorgan.  He followed that up with 4 more sixes in his second innings making a grand total of 20 in the match, another record.  David Hemp scored a career best 157 and Mathew Maynard 164 in a match that saw over 1500 runs being scored.Paul and Ryland reflect on their time with the club and the enjoyment it has given them.  they also talk about the importance a club's history is to its present and its future.

Alun Rhys Chivers interviews Nick Webb, @BBCSportWales rugby/cricket broadcaster/writer and Edward Bevan,  distinguished journalist and broadcaster who has been the voice of Welsh Cricket on the BBC for four decades.They talk about their early experiences of seeing cricket and the commentators that they have admired over the years.They also talk about the mishaps that inevitably occur during commentary and share some of their tips on delivering good commentary.Nick and Ed have been the eyes of the Glamorgan faithful during their time, bringing commentary on games to supporters all over Wales.  As proud Welshmen they also celebrated as much as supporters at Trent Bridge when the Glamorgan Team won the Royal London Cup during the Summer of 2021.

The podcast review of the Year was an opportunity for us to invite back some previous guests to talk about their contributions to the pod and to listen and comment on some of the other highlights. Our guests were Mike Knight of Newport Cricket Club who, with brother Dave, was awarded a BEM at the 2021 New Years Honours List.  He came onto the pod in February and gave an enthralling interview about the history of the Rodney Parade ground. Professor Richard Thomas of Swansea University had his book ‘Cricketing Lives:  A Characterful History from Pitch to Page’ published by Reaktion Books in May.  He talked to us about why he wrote the book and gave us a whistle-stop tour through the history of the game citing the greatest of names along the way including WG Grace,  Len Hutton, Wally Hammond, Ian Botham and Ben Stokes as well as sketching out the importance of the women’s game and a brief history of the Ashes. Chris Peregrine is a journalist who works for the Swansea Evening Post.  As a member of Clwb Criced Bronwydd he contributed to a lovely episode all about the club as well as putting us in touch with people who could talk with some authority about the Swansea Mid-Week Leagues. Along with Stephen Hedges and Jan Gray from the podcast the panel discussed the following clips: Lord Peter Hain, anti-apartheid campaigner and local MP talked about the game held in 1995 between local club Ynysygerwn and the first ever all black club side to tour the UK from Soweto South Africa.  His reflections were captured along with those of Ynys player Huw Jenkins and Soweto cricketer Gordon Templeton.   Mike Knight talking about the 1939 County Championship match between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire in which Wally Hammond scored an incredible triple century.   Richard Thomas talks about that long standing sporting rivalry, the Ashes.  If you are interested in buying Richard’s book, go here: http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789143713   Mike Llewellyn, interviewed for our series of episodes entitled ‘Where Are They Know’, told a string of amusing stories.  This one was one that didn’t make the original programme all about county player Albert Wright.   We interviewed members of the Conwy Ladies Cricket Team.  Here, Emma Leighton – Jones and Llinos Hill talk about the importance of role models and the impact of ECB initiatives the All Stars and Dynamo Programmes.   On our visit to Clwb Criced Bronwydd we met long standing member Arwen Thomas who tells us about the time that cricket gives for a little bit of repartee.   We finish the review with a clip from our interview with Ken Lewis, 92 years old and the oldest surviving Glamorgan professional.  His words are accompanied by the Soweto Gospel Choir who allowed us to use their music for the episode all about Ynysygerwn and Soweto.  To find out a little more about them and their music go here: https://www.sowetogospelchoir.com/   Thank you to all our guests in 2021.  Here’s to an enjoyable cricketing year in 2022 when, hopefully, we will have a full programme of cricket and some more great stories to bring you.

In this episode we talk to Glamorgan and England cricket supporter Fred Raffle.  He decided to follow Glamorgan at boarding school as another boy suggested he do so.  Not only did he go on to follow his favourite county to all the major county grounds as well as some of the out grounds, he has also followed the England cricket team on over 30 foreign tours.Such devotion and commitment would be surprising enough but when you learn that Fred has been blind since birth, his exploits demonstrate a strong willed and confident man whose love of the game of cricket has found him many friends and given him some wonderful experiences.Fred talks openly about his early childhood when the extent of his sight problems were finally diagnosed.  His quiet determination and intelligence won him a scholarship to a school for blind and partially sighted boys in Worcester.  There, his love of cricket flourished and, along with all the other boys, he adopted a first class county to follow.  He chose Glamorgan by accident, the suggestion coming from another boy at the school.  He talks about his boyhood hero Don Shepherd and his developing love of the game.After succesful careers in teaching he bumped into the Glamorgan team again, almost by accident and met Don who was accompanying the team as part of the BBC commentary team.  From here, Fred's zeal for following the Daffodil County grew.  He was also introduced to foreign travel watching the England cricket team.  He explains how this came about as well as the time he spent in the commentary box with both the TMS Team and the Sky Broadcasting team.Now in his 80s,  Fred looks back at the amazing experiences he has had and gives thanks to those that have welcomed him along the way.  He has nothing but praise for the game of cricket and all the experiences it has given him.

Rick was a previous guest of the podcast back in April.  Since speaking to us last he has managed to self publish a book about his thoughts on cricket, sport and life.  This time, as well as recording the launch event for his book we were able to record an interview with him about the book and its contents.The podcast begins with a brief telephone conversation the day after Rick visited Lords to receive a community coaching award from the national cricketing charity Chance to shine.  You can watch a video which formed part of the awards evening featuring Rick here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVhY1j7fCDkTo learn more about Chance to Shine why not check out their website here:https://www.chancetoshine.org/Rick outlines why he titled the book in the way he did and talks about his philosophy of coaching.  He reads a couple of excerpts from the book and we also hear a couple of contributions from people who were present at the launch event.If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book you can contact Rick via Twitter (@cricketmanwales) or go  to this link :https://www.amazon.com/Dots-Will-Not-Joined-Football/dp/1839757922Rick is a prolific 'blogist' (his preferred description).  You can read more from him on the two platforms he uses:cricketmanwales.com and bowling@vincent.com