A history of Neath CC

08-Jan-2006Like many of Glamorgan’s grounds’ The Gnoll is the home to both
Neath Rugby and Cricket Club. The name of the ground is likely
to have been a derivation from the word ‘knoll’, meaning a small
round hill, as the first building in the area was situated on the
circular mound at the western end of the hill known as Cefn
Morfydd to the north of the twon.By the 17th century a castle and country house had been built on
the hillside, and from 1710 onwards it became the home of the
Mackworth family, who were wealthy industrialists and owned the
town’s copper works. In 1811 the Gnoll Estate was bought by
Henry Grant, who later became the first mayor of the town. Grant
sold off some of the land for building purposes, and allowed ball
games to be played on the fields below Gnoll House.The first record of cricket being played in Neath dates back to
the mid 1840’s, and in 1848 a cricket club was formed, with The
Gnoll being its base. During the middle of the 19th century,
more housebuilding took place on Grant’s land, but he refused to
sell the cricket field, and the club went from strength to
strength. A number of quite prestigious fixtures were held over
the next few years as Alex Cuthbertson, a local soloicitor,
helped to arrange three-day fixtures in 1855 and 1856 between an
Eleven of All-England and a XXII of Neath and District.However, the Neath club encountered money problems, and in the
early 1860’s looked like going out of existence. They were
thrown a lifeline in 1863 as J.T.D.Llewelyn, the cricket-loving
industrialist and landowner of Penllegaer House, paid off their
debts, agreed to personally pay for the use of the Gnoll and
reformed the club under the name of Cadoxton Cricket Club. The
‘new’ side took its name from a small hamlet to the north of the
town, yet there was nothing small about Llewelyn’s ambitions, as
Cadoxton C.C. became the M.C.C. of South Wales.Indeed, in September 1864 he was instrumnetal in arranging a
cricket week which had as its highlight a challenge match between
a Glamorganshire XI and a side representing Carmarthenshire.
However, perhaps the most famous of these early games took place
in May 1868 when a XXII of Cadoxton challenged the United South
of England. W.G. Grace was in the English side, yet for once in
his career, he bagged a pair, dismissed in both innings by George
Howitt, Cadoxton’s guest professional.In 1871 Neath RFC was formed and the south-western part of the
sports field was devoted to rugby, with cricket being played in
the north-eastern half. A rugby grandstand was built and seating
was also provided alongside the cricket pavilion as the Cadoxton
club continued to be the premier gentleman’s side in South Wales,
and played with success in the newly-formed South Wales Challenge
Cup.In 1897 the Neath Football Club and Athletic Association took
over the affairs of CadoxtonC.C., but this proved to be a
short-lived organisation, as in 1904 the cricket club re-formed
under the name of Gnoll Park C.C. However, there were several
financial problems, caused by internal friction within the now
defunct Association. Fortunately, these problems were overcome
by the staging of a series of exhibition games on The Gnoll by a
side called The Gentlemen of Glamorgan. The instigator behind
these games was a young solicitor called T.A.L.Whittington, who
himself was a fine batsman and had represented Glamorgan in the
Minor County Championship.As a result of his efforts, the financial problems disappeared,
and the club reverted back to being known as Neath C.C in 1906.
The success of these games also led to Whittington becoming one
of Glamorgan’s administrators and it was the young solicitor who
was instrumental in the decision by the county club to stage some
of their minor county matches at Neath. The first took place in
June 1908 as Carmarthenshire visited The Gnoll, and either side
of the Great War, the Neath ground staged an annual Minor County
fixture.In 1923 the Neath Corporation became the new owners of the Gnoll
Estate and despite the temptation to sell the land for building,
they decided that the ruins of the Gnoll House should be the
town’s War Memorial , and that the rugby and cricket ground
should be preserved for sporting activities. The Corporation
were also responsible for attracting first-class cricket to The
Gnoll, as in the 1930’s they offered various financial incentives
if Glamorgan agreed to play a Championship fixture at the ground.The inaugural game took place in 1934 as Essex visited The Gnoll
and following the success of the game Neath was added to the
club’s fixture list. The annual fixtures proved very popular,
with 12,000 people watching the match with Warwickshire in 1948,
and in the early 1950’s the club also decided to build an Indoor
School at Neath. The idea was that a purpose-built complex would
act as their winter coaching base in the West of the county and
on October 28th, 1954 the Indoor School was opened by
R.E.S.Wyatt. Over the past 40 years, a host of young Glamorgan
cricketers have been groomed in the nets during the winter months
and the facilities have also been used by the club in their
pre-season activities.However, there were a few problems at the ground, especially when
it rained, as the area around The Gnoll has a high water table.
Indeed, some people believe that the area was once the former
course of the River Neath, and there are several small springs on
the hillside below the remains of mackworth’s old mansion. The
rsult as far as cricket was concerned was that the ground took a
long time to dry out after rain, and in the late 1960’s the
ground became used just for one day matches rather than three day
Championship games. Indeed, in 1969 The Gnoll staged the
county’s first-ever home game in the Sunday League, but even
these one day games were often rain affected, and after the
Benson and Hedges Cup fixture with Gloucestershire had taken
three days to complete in 1974, The Gnoll was dropped from the
county’s 1st XI fixture list.During the early 1980’s various industrial regeneration schemes
began in the area, and the Neath Development Partnership began to
promote tourism and recreation in the area. They viewed county
cricket as the perfect vehicle for promoting their activities and
the area as well, so in 1984 Neath Borough Council offered
Glamorgan a substantial sponsorship package if the Australian
match in 1985 was staged at Neath. The offer of around =A320,000
resulted in the tourist match being staged at The Gnoll, and the
success of the game, and the off-field arrangements led to
Glamorgan playing further first class and limited overs cricket
at the ground. Indeed, the 1993 match with the Australians as
well as the 1995 fixture with their ‘A’ side have taken place at
Neath.The Neath Cricket Club, quite rightly, have a proud tradition and
their splendid pavilion houses many items celebrating the deeds
of their players, including two English Test captains – Tony
Lewis and Cyril Walters, as well as Barry Lloyd, the current
captain of the Wales Minor County side, and the late John Bevan,
the former Welsh rugby international and coach. Many other
Glamorgan have turned out for the Neath club, including Stan
Trick and Geoff Holmes, whilst their overseas stars have included
two from the 1996 World Cup – Richie Richardson of the West
Indies and Kenyan Maurice Odumbe.