Summer Sports - Cricket
“Having spent my early working life stuck in an office, I got the urge to work outdoors. I've always been keen on sport and reckoned that you can't be much further outdoors than working as a groundsman”
and took up residence at Cae Wyndham, a field provided for the purpose by local landowner, Mr E H Ebsworth, an enthusiastic follower of the game. Located close to Cowbridge’s busy high
C
street, the ground hosted its first match in 1895 when Mr Ebsworth captained a Cowbridge XI against nearby Bridgend Cricket Club, appropriately hitting the first-ever runs scored on the new pitch. More than a century later, the club continues to play on the very same ground, which has been owned since 1913 by the Cowbridge and District Athletic Club, this club having been formed specifically to take over and manage the ground.
Having paid Mr Ebsworth 500 guineas (£525) for the land, Cowbridge and District Athletic Club quickly established tennis, bowls, croquet and hockey sections to complement the resident cricket club. Renamed the Athletic Ground, the former Cae Wyndham field hosted all of the additional sports on dedicated areas laid out by the club. A rugby pitch followed in the late 1940s when Cowbridge Rugby Football Club moved permanently to the Athletic Ground, sharing the clubhouse with the
owbridge Cricket Club enjoys a long and proud history which dates back to the final years of Queen Victoria’s reign, when two local cricket teams amalgamated
cricket club.
The first known groundsman employed to look after the cricket club’s ground was former Middlesex and Norfolk all-rounder, William Russell, brought in by Mr Ebsworth in the early 1900s to maintain a wicket that had been laid by Alex Hearne from Kent. Whilst residing and working in Cowbridge, William Russell also played cricket for Glamorgan as a professional. Over the years, Cowbridge Cricket Club has produced its fair share of first- class cricketers, among them J C (Johnnie) Clay, a right-arm spin bowler who played county cricket for Glamorgan from 1921 to 1949, four of those matches being staged at Cowbridge Athletic Ground in 1931 and 1932. More recent graduates of Cowbridge
Cricket Club who have gone on to represent Glamorgan are Ben Wright, Alex Jones and Hugh Morris, the latter being selected to play for England in three Test Matches in 1991.
Cowbridge also boasts a succession of dedicated groundsmen who have prepared fine wickets over the past century leading, ultimately, to the club’s decision to enter the sphere of competitive league cricket. Having joined the Welsh Club Cricket Conference in 1971, Cowbridge won the league title three times in its first four seasons. In 1993, Cowbridge applied
successfully to join the South Wales Cricket Association and remains the only club to have played in all five of the Association’s leagues, being represented today by 1st and 2nd XIs. A third Cowbridge team - known as the
West Wales XI - competes in the West Wales Cricket Association, whilst the club’s four junior teams play in the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Junior Cricket Leagues.
When one adds cup, fund-raising and friendly games to eighteen adult home league match commitments, it becomes clear that groundsman, Tim Williams, has his work cut out to prepare, repair, renovate and present top-class wickets week in, week out throughout the season. That said, Tim manages to find time also to produce wickets for nearby Vale Cricket Club, which plays in the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Cricket League. “It takes me less than ten minutes to
reach Vale’s ground on the outskirts of Bridgend,” pointed out Tim. “The club keeps the outfield mown, so I only have to prepare a good wicket and mark out the boundary before heading back to Cowbridge where I look after the entire ground.” For that task, Tim is supported by an enthusiastic band of club members whose maintenance duties lie mainly around the clubhouse and ground surrounds,
Groundsman, Tim Williams, cuts the outfield at Cowbridge Cricket Club using the club's Allett Regal 42 mower, purchased new in 2008
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 PC 43
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