Oh here is TJB with his refreshing and innovative brand of humourOr "England, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and West Indies"
You have to start somewhere. I find it unfair they don't credit Wales at all. We have ECB and England used, yet they use players from Wales. I'm pretty sure for a kid growing up in Wales, and all cricketers in Wales, that it would be much nicer to have their own team - even if at first they weren't competitive for a long time.Maybe 20+ years ago, when there were enough good Welsh players to at least make it a topic of conversation. But surely not now.
That's all very fair. You probably know that, technically, the ECB stands for the England and Wales Cricket Board and yet, for some reason, 'and Wales' is nearly always ignored. I vaguely remember that when Robert Croft played for England, he viewed the side as a cricketing version of the British Lions as he didn't like representing England. And I don't really know why Scotland aren't part of this, although they did use to have their own side who sometimes made it to the world cup, so maybe that's why.You have to start somewhere. I find it unfair they don't credit Wales at all. We have ECB and England used, yet they use players from Wales. I'm pretty sure for a kid growing up in Wales, and all cricketers in Wales, that it would be much nicer to have their own team - even if at first they weren't competitive for a long time.
As I mentioned they aren't even credited as a country, yet England use their players - whether they admit it or not, it must be frustrating as a Welshman, or woman, having to basically support "England" by default if you want to follow a country. I look at scorecards sometimes for small nations on Cricinfo. Sometimes you get very interesting games, like the Belgium-Malta penalty runs incident game. I don't think it necessarily matters what level a country is, or what level they get to. Just that they can compete in international cricket at all is good.
It would be unfair to cut Glamorgan off. I wouldn't suggest that.I don't know the history of why Glamorgan in cricket and Swansea, Cardiff, Wrexham and Newport in football ended up playing in the respective English competitions back in Victorian times or whenever it was, whereas their Scottish equivalents didn't. But I think their presence is possibly the only reason there is anything like a grassroots base for those sports in Wales.
What would happen to Glamorgan if Wales was split off from the ECB? Would we still be part of the county championship? Or would we become the equivalent of Scotland and Ireland?
The danger is that anyone of the level to play first-class cricket would move to an English county, and interest in the sport would dwindle. Same I think for the football teams -- if Swansea and Cardiff were confined to playing in a Welsh league instead of challenging for a place in the Premiership, the money would disappear, the base would dwindle.
I grew up in sight of St Helens in Swansea, which was one of Glamorgan's bases. As a kid, I had a season ticket and went to every match there -- we're talking late 60s, early 70s here. Swansea had half a dozen county matches every year; Sunday league; overseas teams would come as part of their tours; we hosted one of the very first ODIs (against NZ; in maybe 71? 72?). If I hadn't had that exposure as a kid, I would never have got into watching cricket.
So although I'd feel pride in a Welsh team, I don't think it would be good for cricket in Wales and on balance I don't want to see it happen.
Hmmm.fwiw here are the eleven Welsh players who have represented England during my life-time: Allan Jones, Hugh Morris, Tony Lewis, Matthew Maynard, Geraint Jones, Robert Croft, Greg Thomas, Simon Jones, Pat Pocock, Jeff Jones and Steve Watkin.
I had to look that up, and I had never realised that Pocock was Welsh. I wonder who are the better Welsh cricketers currently playing professionally.
Yes he was. Both of Jones' parents were Welsh, so maybe that's how he saw himself. I suppose the rugby internationals on the telly would have been the litmus test.Hmmm.
Obviously has Welsh ancestry, but was born in PNG and grew up in Queensland, didn't he?
He's Welsh in the same way DR Jardine was Scottish.