Wednesday 28 February 2007

There is no reason why we should not have our own national team

Ebost gan Mark Vincent, Llechryd CC - www.llechrydctc.co.uk, 2006

Email response by Mark Vincent, Llechryd CC - www.llechrydctc.co.uk, 2006


1... why the ENGLAND AND WALES CRICKET BOARD use ECB instead of EWCB?

Beats me .... Laziness most probably ... on the part of journalists & the PR guys at the E&WCB, plus an all-pervading assumed English pre-eminence.

2...Why the 'National' Team is called 'England' even though it should be called 'England and Wales'?

Same as above. Interestingly, this team has never been given the correct name. I grew up being told by my grand father that the correct name was in fact... The Marylebone Cricket Club President's Invitational Eleven.

3... why the emblem is the three Lions, when it should be the three lions and the Red Dragon?

Same as the answer to the answer to question 1

4... Why doesn't Wales split from the ECB to create the WCB with our own national side?

...I DON'T KNOW.

Their are indeed TWO administrative bodies for cricket in Wales; both with rather fractured terms of reference and are subordinated to the E&WCB...

The Welsh Cricket Association (WCA) is the Governing Body of Welsh Amateur Cricket and is so recognised by the Sports Council for Wales (SCW) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (E. & W.C.B)

and

The Cricket Board of Wales (CBW) is an umbrella body partnership comprising the Welsh Cricket Association (WCA), Glamorgan CCC, Wales Minor Counties, Welsh Schools Cricket Association and the Sports Council for Wales (SCW).

Underneath these bodies are the "minor" county & regional bodies such as Pembrokeshire C.C. (effectively managed by the Haverfordwest C.C.)

You may know that I am involved with Llechryd Cricket Club where I play, serve on the cricket & executive committees and administer the website. I mention my involvement at Llechryd C.C. as I have experience of the confusion that is involved in applying for grants for equipment or coaching courses. In some cases the application is made directly to the E&WCB, and in others (for example, to fund the training for junior coaches) we apply to Pembs.C.C. (who presumably receive the funding from the WCA via the E&WCB.

Anything that would rationalise this arrangement would be welcomed.

When I was much younger I spent some summers in Scotland & I was very taken with the strength of cricket there at the time, therefore, I was not surprised when a Scotland national team first qualified for the World Cup. But they have, as yet, failed to break in to FULL Test match status.

There is no reason why we should not have our own national team, and I believe that it MUST be an ultimate goal; though a sensible time-scale is the big question. The merits of such a move is a topic that often arises in conversation at our local cricket club. How the youngsters would aspire to emulate their heroes? How the administrative infrastructure could cope? How truly competitive a National team might be?

Mark Vincent

Tuesday 27 February 2007

Finance would be the biggest hurdle

Ebost gan Steve Watkins, Swyddog Datblygu Criced (D.Dd Cymru), 2006

Email response by Steve Watkins, Cricket Development Officer (S.E.Wales), 2006


We have Wales National teams at Junior level under 11 - under 16 which is run by the Cricket Board of Wales. After those age groups the players come under Glamorgan. Wales have a Minor Counties team but not a National team at Senior Level. I do not know all the politics behind the ECB \ EWCB etc but at present finance would be the biggest hurdle as neither Ireland or Scotland are funded through the ECB, I doubt that the Welsh Assembly would fund especially as Glamorgan at present get in excess of 1m from the ECB.

Steve Watkins

Monday 26 February 2007

Welsh savour sweet success over England!

Rwyf newydd ddod o hyd i'r adroddiad yma oddi ar wefan y BBC yn dilyn buddugoliaeth Cymru dros Loegr yn 2002. Mae'n dangos yn glir y byddai cefnogaeth eang i dîm criced Gymreig.

I've just come across this report on the BBC website, following Wales' historic win over England back in 2002. It just goes to show how popular a Welsh Cricket Team would be here in Wales.

Monday, 24 June, 2002, 18:27 GMT 19:27 UK
Welsh savour sweet success
Robert Croft crashes another shot to the boundary against England
Croft was awarded the man-of-the-match award

By Dewi Hughes
for BBC Sport Online at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Whatever the sport and whatever the occasion, a Welsh victory over England always tastes that little bit sweeter.

And when the win comes entirely against the odds and in such style, Welsh supporters can never be accused of hiding their delight in embarrassing the big neighbours from over the border home.

Such occasions have been few and far between to say the least in recent years.

Since the footballers have been denied the opportunity to meet since 1984, the responsibility for derby success on the sporting field has been in the hands of the rugby players.

And we all know too well who holds the upper hand there.

So when Wales secured an eight-wicket victory over England with 57 balls to spare on Monday, the delight was plain to see all around Sophia Gardens.

England's Paul Collingwood is bowled by Robert Croft
England wickets fell at regular intervals
It was extra special too considering this was the first official match between the two nations.

Photo Gallery: See this story in pictures

England, on the other hand, were understandably not amused.

With the exception of captain Nasser Hussain and Darren Gough, this was the side expected to take on one-day specialists India and Sri Lanka in the forthcoming NatWest series.

So seeing Steve James and David Hemp coping so comfortably with the England bowling attack to forge a match-winning partnership of 132 will not have pleased coach Duncan Fletcher

Fletcher became a firm favourite with the Glamorgan faithful during his time in charge at the club, but his former players handed him no favours as they wore the colours of Wales for the first time.

The Zimbabwean had warned his players beforehand that Wales would want to give his side "a good hiding", and no one epitomised that Welsh determination to win more than Robert Croft.

The Glamorgan off-spinner could not have hoped for a better shop window in front of the England selectors ahead of next year's World Cup.

He certainly made the most of the opportunity as he produced a man-of-the-match display.

England's Alec Stewart
Stewart's 38 runs were not enough to save England
The relish with which he celebrated his two wickets gave evidence - if any was in fact ever needed - that this was nothing less than a full-blooded competitive match.

Croft, with 50 one-day international England caps to his name, used all his experience and every trick in the book to unsettle the England batsmen.

Alec Stewart was given particular special attention from Croft as the off-spinner varied his pace, bowled from a yard behind the crease and even paused in mid-action.

But Croft's most telling contribution came with the bat.

Match report

Even though he was bowled for just 30, his aggressive style put Wales on the front foot early in their innings as they chased England's total of 189.

Matthew Hoggard was handed particular punishment in the third over as Croft blasted four consecutive fours.

This brought predictable chants of "Crofty for England" from the crowd as they began to smell the scent of a possible historic victory.

He lost his wicket to James Kirtley in the very next over, but was given a standing ovation from a small section in front of the pavilion which a few minutes earlier had finally found their voice.

But this was by no means a one-man show.

The five other Welsh bowlers each played their part in restricting the visitors to such a disappointingly low score.

England would have hoped for a total approaching 270 on a friendly wicket, but the fact that the first four wickets fell to catches suggests the batsmen failed to show enough respect to the Welsh attack.

Wales captain Steve James was in spectacular form
James finished on 83 not out
South African Jacques Kallis - an adopted Welshman for the day - was expected to be Wales' joker in the pack.

The world class all-rounder took the first wicket of the day to remove dangerman Nick Knight.

But thanks to the imperious form of James and Hemp at the crease, Kallis was not forced to bat until Wales were only 13 runs short of victory.

Before the game began, Croft said he wanted the match to become a permanent fixture on the cricket calendar.

And after witnessing such a comprehensive Welsh victory, few inside a sun-baked Sophia Gardens would disagree with him.

The only snag, however, is that England will probably not be too keen to venture back over the Severn Bridge ever again.

Sunday 25 February 2007

What is the point of this blog?

Wales has continuously produced some quality cricketers. However, only two home-grown Glamorgan players have had the opportunity to perform at the World Cup. Croft represented England in 1999 whilst David Hemp was Bermuda’s star player in 2007. Our proposal is that Wales should be made Associated Members of the I.C.C. in the same way as Scotland and Ireland so that Welsh cricketers of the future can also showcase their talents at the biggest stage of all.

The benefits would be great:
  • give more cricketers in Wales the opportunity to play in a World cup
  • raise cricket awareness amongst Wales’ youngsters
  • increase nationalistic pride
  • Give those of us who are not quite good the chance to spend a couple of weeks in slightly more tropical conditions!
Wales and Glamorgan have always been treated as second class in cricketing terms. The mere fact that the likes of Don Sheperd and Alan Jones didn’t get a single Test cap is as good an example as any.

Ireland and Scotland, meanwhile, are able to field an international side as well as entering a one-day domestic competition with the counties.

This, combined with the fact that Wales generally have higher quality players than our Celtic cousins, should mean that Glamorgan should be able to maintain their full-status within the domestic structure. It is appreciated that this must be the case if such a scheme is going to work because in no way would one wish to devalue Glamorgan’s status.

With over £7 million being invested in developing Sophia Gardens into one of the top cricket venues in the UK, Wales could have a base to be proud of. Crucially, since 'Team England' would remain as the official test side for England & Wales (at least in the short-term) and the likes of Simon Jones would carry on playing for England in the same way as Ed Joyce, there would be no need to take future Test matches away from Cardiff. It is an important source of income not only for Glamorgan CCC but also to Cardiff as a City – as would any international involving Wales be.

We have seen from important Glamorgan matches and the Wales-England matches that the support is out there and people would be ready to embrace an international side in the same way as the Scots an Irish have done.

Beth yw pwrpas y blog?

Mae Cymru yn gyson wedi bod yn gartref i gricedwyr o fri. Wedi dweud hynny, dim ond dau o Gymry Clwb Criced Morgannwg sydd wedi cael y cyfle i ddangos eu doniau yng Nghwpan y Byd. Fe gynrychiolodd Croft Lloegr yn 1999, a David Hemp oedd yr unig chwaraewr proffesiynol yng ngharfan Bermuda yn 2007. Ein cynnig ni yw y dylai Cymru gael ei wneud yn Aelodau Cyfrannog o’r I.C.C. yn yr un ffordd a’r Alban ac Iwerddon fel bod mwy o gricedwyr safonol Cymru yn cael chwarae ar y safon uchaf.

Byddai’r buddiannau’n enfawr:
  • mwy o gricedwyr Cymru yn cael chwarae yng nghwpan y byd
  • cynyddu ymwybyddiaeth criced ymysg ieuenctid Cymru
  • cynyddu balchder cenedlaethol
  • rhoi’r cyfle i’r rhai ohonom ni sydd ddim digon da i chwarae’n broffesiynol i dreulio cwpwl o wythnosau mewn ansawdd dipyn mwy trofannol!
Mae Cymru a Morgannwg wastad wedi cael eu trin yn israddol yn nhermau criced. Mae’r ffaith syml fod cricedwyr o safon Don Sheperd ac Alan Jones heb yr un cap rhyngddynt yn enghraifft gwych o hyn.

Yn y cyfamser, mae Iwerddon a’r Alban yn cael cadw timau rhyngwladol ynghyd a maesu tîm yng nghynghrair undydd y siroedd.

Dylai hyn, ynghyd a’r ffaith fod Cymru yn gyffredinol yn cynhyrchu chwaraewyr o safon uwch na’n cefndryd Celtaidd, olygu y gallai Morgannwg gadw ei statws llawn-amser o fewn strwythur domestig yr ECB. Gwerthfawrogwn fod hyn yn gorfod digwydd gan nad oes unrhywun sy'n cefnogi criced yng Nghymru am danseilio statws Morgannwg.

Gyda dros £7 miliwn yn cael ei fuddsoddi i ddatblygu Gerddi Soffia i fod yn un o feysydd criced gorau Prydain, byddai gan Gymru gartref i fod yn falch ohono. Yn allweddol, gan y bydd y Cymry yn cynrychioli “Team England” mewn gemau prawf (yn y tymor byr oleiaf) yn yr un ffordd a’r Gwyddel Ed Joyce, ni fyddai’n rhaid cymryd gemau prawf i ffwrdd o Gaerdydd yn y dyfodol. Mae’n ffynhonnell incwm da i Forgannwg ac i Gaerdydd fel dinas - yn yr un ffordd ac y byddai gemau rhyngwladol Cymru.

Rydym eisoes wedi gweld gyda gemau proffîl uchel Morgannwg a’r gemau rhwng Cymru a Lloegr fod y gefnogaeth ar gael a bod y Cymry yn barod i gofleidio tîm rhyngwladol yn yr un ffordd ac y mae’r Gwyddelod a’r Albanwyr wedi gwneud.