Wales

International Cricket Council
ICC status	Part of the England and Wales Cricket Board
International cricket
First international	21 July 1923 v Scotland at Perth, Scotland
One Day Internationals
World Cup Qualifier appearances	1 (first in 1979)
Best result	First round, 1979
As of 11 September 2006

The Wales national cricket team (Welsh: Tîm criced cenedlaethol Cymru) is a representative cricket team for Wales. It does not play in International Cricket Council (ICC) competitions, as Wales is part of the England and Wales Cricket Board and is represented by the England cricket team.

A Wales national cricket team has been proposed on a number of occasions and continues to be a topic of debate.

Status Quo

Wales is currently represented by the England and Wales Cricket Board, however, the team is known as ‘England’.^[1]

Clubs in Wales

Welsh Fire is a cricket club that plays in the hundred series.^[2]

^[3]

The only "first-class cricket club in Wales" is Glamorgan County, a team that plays in the English county competition.

Previous appearances

A Wales team existed in the 1920s and 1930s playing against touring sides such as the West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand and secured a win against the West Indies. Wales competed in the 1979 ICC Trophy, winning two of four matches and narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals.^[4]

From 1923 to 1930 Wales played 16 first-class matches,^[5] and had some success against touring teams, drawing with the New Zealanders in 1927 and beating the West Indians a year later, as well as losing by only ten runs to the South Africans in 1929. Sydney Barnes, by this time well into his fifties, took 49 first-class wickets for Wales, including 7–51 in the victory over the West Indians.

ICC Trophy

Wales' next significant appearances came in the 1979 ICC Trophy. As several ICC members did not enter the competition, Wales were invited without qualification.

Playing in Group C, Wales had a reasonably successful tournament, opening with a win over the Netherlands in a rain-affected game at Enville. Jeffris Hopkins top scored with 71.

They next played Israel and piled up a daunting 234/5, this time Hopkins opened the batting and again top scored with 92, Geoffrey Williams hit 67. Some effective bowling by Alan Geoghegan (3/23) limited Israel and Wales finished the match 91 runs ahead.

The match against United States, was an exciting affair. Chasing a respectable total of 190, the Welsh were on target at 139/4 (Geoff Ellis making 56), but an unexpected and excellent spell of bowling from Kamran Rasheed (more usually a wicket-keeper) turned the game. He took 5–17 in his eight overs and Wales were dismissed for 182, just eight runs short.

The game against Sri Lanka was abandoned without a ball being bowled. As a result, Wales finished equal first on 10 points in group C but lost out on a Semi-final spot to Sri Lanka due to their superior run rate. Hopkins finished with 168 runs to his name, joint 6th for the tournament and the highest of any player to exit at the group stage.

Triple Crown Tournament

Wales took part in the Triple Crown Tournament (British Isles Championship) between 1993 and 2001; this was an initiative to help develop cricket in British Isles involving Wales, Scotland, Ireland and various England amateur XIs. Wales hosted the event in 1996 and 2000 but never won the annual tournament in its nine years.

As Scotland and Ireland became ICC members the tournament was discontinued and the two have since competed in the ICC's European Cricket Championship. As Wales is not an ICC member in its own right, the team cannot feature in the ICC competition meaning Wales has not played competitive international cricket since the discontinuation of the Triple Crown Tournament.

Recent appearances

From 2002 to 2004 Wales played a 50-over challenge match against England each June. In the first of these games they recorded a shock eight-wicket victory, with Steve James making 83 not out, though the other two games went to England. Wales' team consisted mostly of Welsh cricketers, although there were a scattering of non-Welsh Glamorgan players such as Michael Kasprowicz and Dean Cosker.

In 1988, a Wales Minor Counties team under the control of the Welsh Cricket Association, the governing body for amateur cricket in Wales, made its first appearance in the Holt Cup, a one-day tournament for minor-county teams. Since then, the Wales MC side has appeared regularly in the NatWest Trophy (and its successor, the C&G Trophy) as well as in the Minor Counties Championship, their most notable result probably the seven-wicket win over Denmark in the first round of the 2004 C&G Trophy (which due to the vagaries of the schedule was actually played in August 2003).

Calls for a Wales national team

Wales Online noted that Scotland and Ireland have their own international cricket team despite fewer cricket players than Wales.^[6]

The institute of Welsh affairs also published an article in 2019 titled "Why is Wales not a cricket nation like Scotland and Ireland?" questioning why a national Welsh cricket team did not exist.^[7]

Jonathan Edwards MP called for a national Welsh cricket team in 2019 saying; “The greatest honour in any sport is to play for your national team – Welsh cricket players are denied that opportunity,”.^[6]

Bethan Sayed, Plaid Cymru's spokesperson on heritage, culture, sport and broadcasting argued in 2015 that “Wales is the second-oldest cricket playing country in the world, yet it is alone in the British Isles in not having its own national side. Even Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have their own teams. Rugby and football players get to grow up dreaming of playing for Wales. But for those who love cricket, there is no Welsh team to dream of playing for or to support.” ^[8]

In 2022 North Wales live published an article citing Welsh cricket fans who were calling for a national Welsh cricket team.^[9]

There have been suggestions that the Hundred makes a Wales national cricket team more likely.^[10]

In 2002 there was a call for Wales to be represented by its own national team, as in other sports, in the same way that Scotland is.^[11]

Conservative, member Mohammad Asghar has stated, “if Afghanistan can play world cricket, then for God’s sake Wales should.”^[12]

Former Labour First Minister, Carwyn Jones has called to reintroduce the Wales one-day team stating, “It is odd that we see Ireland and Scotland playing in international tournaments and not Wales.”^[12]

Plaid Cymru included a commitment to re-forming a Welsh cricket team in its 2016 manifesto, but this was not part of negations with the Welsh Labour party.^[12]

There was a motion to establish a "Welsh International 20-20 and one day cricket team" in the UK Parliament tabled on 07 June 2010.^[13]

According to some sources, there has "always have been demand for a separate Wales team" and discussions have arisen about whether a Welsh team would be successful, with some suggesting it would be.^[14]

Former Plaid Cymru MP, Jonathan Edwards has proposed multiple reasons as evidence to support a Welsh national cricket team via a document to the Senedd.^[15]

In October 2011, a petition was made to the Senedd for a Wales national cricket team.^[16][17]

The absence of a Welsh cricket team has seen a number of debates within the Senedd. In 2013 a debate saw both Conservative and Labour members lend their support to the establishment of an independent Welsh team.^[18]

In 2015, a report produced by the Senedd's petitions committee, reflected the passionate debate around the issue. Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru's spokesperson on heritage, culture, sport and broadcasting, and a member of the petitions committee, argued that Wales should have its own international team and withdraw from the ECB. Jenkins noted that Ireland (with a population of 6.4 million) was an ICC member with 6,000 club players whereas Wales (with 3 million) had 7,500. Jenkins said: "Cricket Wales and Glamorgan CCC say the idea of a Welsh national cricket team is ‘an emotive subject’, of course having a national team is emotive, you only have to look at the stands during any national game to see that. To suggest this as anything other than natural is a bit of a misleading argument."^{[19][20][21][22][23][24]}

In 2017, the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones called for the reintroduction of the Welsh one day team stating: "[It] is odd that we see Ireland and Scotland playing in international tournaments and not Wales."^[25][26]

Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price has called for a Wales national cricket team saying, " "There are a great number of cricket teams in Wales, equal to those of football and rugby, yet unlike those sports there is no national side. In Carmarthenshire there are a number of very talented cricketers who could go on to represent Wales given the right opportunities. Wales have beaten England in One Day International in the not so recent past and there is no reason to believe that as a test nation they could not compete with sides at least of the calibre of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh." Price also added, "Many people argue that Wales is already represented in the England and Wales Cricket Board (the EWCB). But how often do you hear the second letter pronounced by the media or even game officials? A new national team would be able to ask the Welsh Assembly Government for support and the ICC has development funds available to new nations."^[27]

Criticism of the "England and Wales" Cricket Board

Criticism has been made of the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name whilst utilising Welsh players^[28] such as Simon Jones and Geraint Jones. With Welsh players pursuing international careers exclusively with an England team, there have been a number of calls for Wales to become an independent member of the ICC, or for the ECB to provide more fixtures for a Welsh national team.^[29] However, both Cricket Wales and Glamorgan County Cricket Club have continually supported the ECB, with Glamorgan arguing for the financial benefits of the Welsh county within the English structure, and Cricket Wales stating they are "committed to continuing to play a major role within the ECB" which underlines their need for profit over national representation.^[30][31][32]

Some have questioned the naming of the "England and Wales" cricket team and the attitude of the "English establishment", calling for a Welsh cricket team.^[33]

Welsh football Dean Saunders has questioned the current naming of the England cricket team which uses "England cricket team" and an English flag for fixtures. He also stated "“I thought it was the England and WALES cricket team!?” and “How come it only says England in the fixtures!”.^[34]

Some suggest that "there is a significant section of the Welsh population who totally reject the England Cricket team as representative of our country."^[35]

There has been criticism of the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name even though it selects Welsh players such as Simon Jones and Geraint Jones, both of whom were instrumental in England regaining the Ashes from Australia in 2005.^[36]

Notable Welsh cricketers

The following Welsh cricketers have played Test cricket for England:

• Sydney Barnes: The legendary English fast-medium bowler, born in Staffordshire, made nine appearances for Wales from 1927 until 1930 (retiring at 57 years old). Barnes took 49 wickets for Wales in 1928, including seven for 51 and five for 67 in an eight wicket win over the touring West Indians.^[37]
• Johnnie Clay: Clay played one Test match for England in 1935.^[38]
• Robert Croft: Croft played international cricket for both England and Wales. He is first Welsh cricketer to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket.^[39]
• Jeff Jones: He took forty-four wickets in fifteen Tests for England from 1964 to 1968.^[40]
• Simon Jones: He became an integral member of England's triumphant Ashes-winning team in 2005. Jones's pace and mastery of reverse-swing carried him to 18 wickets at 21 in four Tests, before he was forced to sit out a nervy final match due to an ankle problem.^[41]
• Tony Lewis: Lewis captained Glamorgan and England, and went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC.^[42]
• Austin Matthews: He played for Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and single Test for England.^[43]
• Hugh Morris: He played in three Tests for England in 1991.^[44]
• Gilbert Parkhouse: He played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950–51 and 1959.^[45]
• Pat Pocock: He played in twenty Tests and one ODI for England from 1968 to 1985.^[46]
• Greg Thomas: He played in five Tests and three ODIs for England between 1986 and 1987.^[47]
• Maurice Turnbull: He played in nine Tests for England from 1930 to 1936.^[48]
• Cyril Walters: He had most of his success after leaving Glamorgan, as captain-secretary of Worcestershire.^[49]
• Steve Watkin: He played three Test matches in 1991 and 1993, and four One Day Internationals in 1993 and 1994.^[50]
• Allan Watkins: He played for England in fifteen Tests from 1948 to 1952.^[51]
• Wilf Wooller: Cricketer, rugby union footballer, cricket administrator and journalist, Wooller captained Glamorgan CCC for 14 years, was Secretary for thirty and President for six.^[52]

Alan Jones played a match for England against Rest of the World in 1970 which was later stripped of Test status. He holds the record for most runs in first-class cricket without playing a Test match. In 2020, he was awarded an England Test cap.^[53]

See also

• Cricket in Wales
• Movement for a Wales cricket team
• Welsh women's cricket team

References

External links

• Cricket Wales
• Welsh Cricket Association