Through time: Glamorgan v Yorkshire

Glamorgan gained a ‘backs-to-the wall’ draw, preventing Yorkshire from winning as the Welsh county’s last wicket pair of Malcolm Nash and Don Shepherd put on an unbeaten 18 runs to thwart the White Rose county. At the close of play, Glamorgan finished on 109-9, having been set a target of 168.

As Wisden stated ‘not even the most optimistic Welshman would have prophesied that Glamorgan would not only win the County Championship, but complete a memorable summer unbeaten – a notable double not achieved since Lancashire’s record in 1930.’ Yorkshire had gone into the match having won three consecutive titles – 1966, 1967 & 1968.

For the record, Geoffrey Boycott top-scored in the match with 68, achieved in the first innings on a tricky surface, while Glamorgan’s Majid Jahangir made 65 in their first innings (he was run out for nought in the second innings). Yorkshire spinners, Don Wilson and Geoff Cope took 13 wickets between them, as they strove to win the first game of the season.

It was a red-letter day for Glamorgan on the afternoon of 24 August 1948, when the Welsh county clinched its first County Championship title by defeating Hampshire at Bournemouth by the emphatic margin of an innings and 115 runs. Appropriately, it was county stalwart and secretary, J.C. Clay who played a leading part in that victory, taking 6-48 in Hampshire’s second innings. He was a member of the original Glamorgan side which entered the competition in 1921.

Yorkshire’s match against Glamorgan in the same year ended in a tame draw at Hull in July. Swansea-born W.G.A. (Gilbert) Parkhouse – one of the best home-bred batsmen to play for Glamorgan – top-scored in the match with 103 in the first innings. Yorkshire’s best with 91 was Brian Sellars. The all-conquering invincible Australian touring team of 1948 drew a rain-ruined match against Glamorgan at Swansea, with some 50,000 watching the game.

Glamorgan clinched their third County Championship in 1997 when, at 6.18pm on the penultimate day of the campaign, Steve James hit a delivery from Graham Rose to the fine-leg boundary against Somerset at Taunton. Yorkshire hosted Glamorgan in the opening match of that season at Headingley – a game which ended in a draw. Darren Lehmann made his championship debut for Yorkshire, scoring 54 in the only innings of the White Rose county. Steve James was at it again, making 109 and 52 for Glamorgan.

The most recent matches between Yorkshire and Glamorgan came in 2024, a season which saw Yorkshire finish second in Division Two and hence achieve promotion back to the top tier of cricket. In early May, Headingley produced a drawn match with both Finlay Bean (173) and Joe Root (156) helping Yorkshire to declare on 519-7.

There were a couple of century-makers for Glamorgan in their second innings – captain Sam Northeast (142 not out) and Colin Ingram (113). In the reverse fixture at Sophia Gardens in mid-September, Yorkshire emerged victorious, with seamers Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher sharing 15 wickets between them. George Hill’s 90 in Yorkshire’s first innings was also a significant contribution to Yorkshire’s 186-run success.

The White Rose and the Daffodil……an enduring cricketing rivalry.