Buzzin Cricket

As the new County Championship season begins and the Ashes creep closer, for one county in particular, 2009 will be a historic year. When England and Australia take to the field in July to re-commence cricket’s oldest series, it will be the first time an Ashes Test match has been played outside either of the two countries.

The ECB’s decision to award the first Test to Glamorgan’s Sophia Gardens signified a huge boost, not just for the county, but for the whole of Welsh sport.

The Test, which starts on July 8th, has attracted enormous interest from the Welsh public – tickets for the first four days sold out within hours and the Glamorgan website received over 2.5 million hits within 24 hours of the tickets going on sale.

Despite being dwarfed in popularity by rugby and football, amateur cricket in the principality is thriving, with 44 accredited clubs and a big recent increase in participation levels among youth players.

Rhys Jones, of Lisvane Cricket Club, based just north of Cardiff city centre, says that this enthusiasm will grow as the Test approaches: ” There was a great pleasure in Cardiff obtaining the Test,” he says.

“People in Cardiff were pleased, if a little surprised that we were allocated the Test, but the enthusiasm is obvious as all five days have already sold out.”

Outside the capital city, the anticipation of the start of the sport’s most famous series is no less intense. Richard Satherley, of Newport’s Rogerstone Cricket Club, believes that the Test match will benefit from the sport’s increasingly popularity in Wales: “Within the Welsh cricket community the match has been eagerly awaited since the first rumours of a Test coming to Sophia Gardens began to circulate,” he explains.

“In recent years cricket has been growing in popularity, so there is far more enthusiasm now than there would have been a few years ago.”

With the Millennium Stadium globally recognised as a top-class arena and the 2010 Ryder Cup to be played at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, hopes are high that the Ashes Test will lead to Sophia Gardens – officially known as the SWALEC Stadium – being able to establish itself as another world-class sporting venue.

For the venue to be able to compete alongside well-established Test venues in England is a great source of pride, according to Satherley: “It is certainly good to know that the only major cricketing venue in Wales is on a par with the likes of Headingly and Old Trafford,” he says.

“The re-development work which has taken place over the last couple of years is impressive, and it is this good work which has raised the status of Sophia Gardens. If the ground is improved further in future, then perhaps it could compete with Lord’s or The Oval.”

He continues: “This test match and next year’s Ryder Cup will give a massive boost to the country, both economically and to the nations pride. To know that some of the world’s top sportsmen will be coming to Wales to play should give everyone a feeling of pride in the country’s sporting venues.”

That pride seemingly stretches the whole length of the country. Geographically, the town of Prestatyn in North Wales is closer to Lancashire’s Old Trafford ground than it is to Sophia Gardens, but Bernadette Horton, vice chairperson of the town’s cricket club, says this will not get in the way of any national pride.

“A bit has been made of the fact that it will cost more and take longer to travel to Cardiff than it would if Old Trafford was holding the Test,” she explains. “That apart though, there is pride that at last Glamorgan is able to stage such an event and bosses at the SWALEC Stadium are reaching out to cricket clubs in North Wales by issuing us ticket allocations.”

The prospect of fans from across Wales descending on Sophia Gardens for five days in July is the latest chapter of a fine few years for Welsh sport. Since 2005, the Rugby Union team have claimed two Six Nations Grand Slams, cyclist Nicole Cooke became the first Welsh Olympic champion since 1972, Cardiff City reached the F.A Cup final and Joe Calzaghe and Ryan Giggs wrote their names into the record books of their respective sports.

Horton believes that it is sporting events of this magnitude which unite the country in a unique way: “The country will be boosted by this event. It is the same with the national teams play, everyone takes great pride in being Welsh and the Welsh flag is everywhere.”

Her words are echoed by Satherley: “It is difficult to think of another kind of event which would boost the nation in the way sport does,” he explains. “I would like to think that there are other things which people can take pride in, but it is probably easier for a sporting event as the vast majority of people will enjoy participating in or watching sport, leading people to know a lot about big sporting events.”

While cricket in Wales may continue to live in the shadow of rugby and football, there is no doubt that the likes of Ponting, Pietersen and Flintoff will be greeted with enthusiastic, passionate sell-out crowds for each day of the first Test, and that support may also mean significant long-term benefits to Welsh cricket.

“The ECB is, after all, The England and Wales Cricket Board,” says Horton. “It always rankles with the Welsh that the cricket team is England, not England and Wales. Hosting this Test will hopefully boost Welsh cricket in general and make people view Wales as serious participants in the sport.”