England (and Wales): End of Swansea as venue (12 Dec 1997)

12 December 1997

End of Swansea as venue

By Edward Bevan

GLAMORGAN are unlikely to play again at the St Helen's ground in Swansea, where in 1968 Sir Garfield Sobers struck Malcolm Nash for six sixes in an over.

The local council have refused to agree to a financial guarantee of £10,000 and supply seating at a venue where facilities have deteriorated in recent years.

The 1997 county champions are waiting for an official reply, but the chairman of the council's leisure committee said after a meeting on Wednesday that Glamorgan were "greedy in their demands" for the proposed championship and Sunday League games against Surrey in July.

However the club are committed to a £6.5 million development of Sophia Gardens, their Cardiff headquarters, and although they have agreed to play at Colwyn Bay and Pontypridd next season, the local authorities there are happy to accommodate the county.

Glamorgan played two championship games at St Helen's last season in a 10-day festival, but despite a concentrated effort by their marketing department, there was minimal support from the business community.

The ground, where Glamorgan defeated the 1964 and 1968 Australians and where Matthew Maynard in 1985 - on his debut - struck three successive sixes to reach a hundred, has been used for championship cricket since 1921.

Derbyshire, who have lost Devon Malcolm and Chris Adams since last summer's political upheavals at the County Ground, are now confronting the possibility of being without Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar as their new overseas player next season.

Anwar agreed terms in September, but Derbyshire have yet to receive confirmation that he will be available throughout the full county season and are not prepared to ratify a two-year contract until this is forthcoming.

John Smedley, the county's secretary, said: "We are increasingly concerned about the situation, so much so that we have taken steps to put some alternative arrangements in place as a precaution."

Chairman Vic Brownett added: "We had a problem over availability with Mohammad Azharuddin in 1994, when international duties meant losing him several weeks earlier than we had been led to believe he would be needed.

"We were also without an overseas player for much of last season following Dean Jones's departure and can't afford to risk putting ourselves in that situation again."

Derbyshire's concern is underlined by the knowledge that Pakistan have commitments at both ends of the 1998 English season. This could mean Anwar missing up to four championship matches.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)