Ammanford Cricket Club is a cricket club from Ammanford in Wales. They are members of the Welsh Cricket Association and currently play in the South Wales Premier Cricket League. The club play at The Park in Ammanford. Their current coach and captain is former Glamorgan player Alun Evans (cricketer).
History
Ammanford Cricket Club
Ask the cricketers who play in the South Wales League on which ground they prefer to play their matches and more than likely you will get the same answer over and over again: Ammanford Park.
Hardly surprising, really. Firm, true wicket; fast, flat outfield; first-rate clubhouse with two balconies overlooking a park colourfully resplendent with trees, shrubs and flowers of different hues; a discerning public eager to see a good class of cricket; and by 7pm on a Saturday evening the appetising smell of exotic cuisine wafting across the arena from the town's three Indian restaurants.
The club has enjoyed an unprecedented run of sixteen consecutive seasons in the top flight of the South Wales League—recognised as one of the most competitive Leagues in Britain—but it took a long time to get there.
The first reported game of cricket played at Ammanford was when the place was then known as Cross Inn in the parish of Llandybie. The match that took place in July 1853 was played over two innings between Cross Inn and Cwmaman:
"A Cricket Match was played at Cross Inn, on Tuesday last, between the Cross Inn and Cwmamman Clubs. The Cross Inn Club took the bat first, and scored 34 runs. The Cwmamman Club went in and played a tie. The Cross Inn followed and scored 38. The Cwmamman Club went for their last innings, and scored 34 again. After the game had terminated, most of the gentlemen proceeded to Mr Wm Howells, of the Cross Inn, where every accommodation and good refreshment was found."
The inauguration of the club took place in 1886, though the centenary was celebrated in 1975. The belief that the club was formed in 1875 probably stemmed from a July entry in the log book of the local primary school which recorded that pupils were given an afternoon off school in order to watch an Ammanford team play a visiting side.
The Club's first secretary was a Councillor David Jones of High Street, which is where another treasurer, Hywel Rees, lived until recently. It is an interesting irony that the first recorded match should be against Cwmaman since the present Chairman, Wyn Jones, and Secretary, Neil Hobbs, hail from the Cwmaman.
The impetus which established Ammanford as a cricketing locality was the coming of the coal industry which naturally attracted work-seekers from all over Wales and beyond. Several Lancashire folk came to the area, bringing with them a missionary zeal to spread the cricket gospel among the locals. Names from that era have a distinctly un-Welsh cadence: like Ernie Hewlett, Jim Darbyshire and the Cooke brothers.
The home of Ammanford cricket is the Park, then called the Cross Inn Field, where it has played since about 1900. It started play back in 1882 when Cross Inn played their matches in Tirydail on a field adjacent to Afon Llwchwr – where the CCTA now stands. Arthur Morris was responsible for the founding of Ammanford Rugby Football Club in 1887. He was the captain at that time, and one of the principals of the Pontaman Chemical Works. In his team was C. P. Lewis who captained Wales in their second rugby international match against Ireland.
At the time of the move to the Park was made, it had a bowler, Huw Morris, who would bowl underhand with considerable success. On the fixture list was Llandovery, against whom was played for high stakes—dinner hosted by the losers.
Tom Handel Richards became president of the club in 1979 and was feted for his long service to the club when he retired. Amongst the earliest presidents was one Lt. Col. W. N. Jones of Duffryn whose son Harold captained the side in the 1920s. During the Depression of the 1930s, J Owen Parry OBE, was president which may have benefited the club keeping it solvent during this decade of severe privation, and potential use of his two cars available as team transport.
The payment of professionals in an essentially amateur club is a perennially thorny issue, but the engagement of professionals at Ammanford Cricket Club has a long history. Maintaining the square and setting up the wicket was a responsibility of the professional players. For years the square was rolled by a horse-drawn roller: the horse wore foot-pads when working on the square and was the property of the club.