20th anniversary of the 1997 county title

20 Sep 2017 | Cricket
Today, September 20th, is the 20th anniversary of Glamorgan becoming County Champions of 1997. The Welsh county clinched the title against Somerset at Taunton after what has become regarded as one of the finest innings of modern times by a Glamorgan batsman, with Matthew Maynard scoring an audacious hundred against Somerset – in near darkness – to put his side in a commanding position in a contest which the Welsh county simply had to win in order to clinch the Championship title.

His efforts came after Somerset had been dismissed for 252, and after Andy Caddick had claimed two early wickets, but together with Hugh Morris, Maynard played a perfect captain’s innings to quell the home side’s comeback as the third wicket pair added 235 at a helter-skelter pace of six runs an over. Even though all five lights were brightly shining on the scoreboard light meter, Maynard gave an exhilarating display of strokeplay as he raced to a glorious century without even making a single. When he finally fell for 142, his breath-taking innings had lasted just 117 balls, and had contained 28 fours and a six.

Hugh Morris continued resolutely at the other end, as Glamorgan further consolidated on their decent position, reaching 527 and a full clutch of bonus points with Morris eventually falling for 165. Somerset then struggled against Darren Thomas as the young seam bowler took five wickets, before Graham Rose and Caddick shared a defiant stand of 95 in fourteen overs as Somerset gained a lead of just 11. It only needed eight deliveries before Steve James hit the winning boundary, and despite second-placed Kent also winning, Glamorgan had secured a full complement of bonus points to clinch their first Championship title for 28 years.

As Steve James later reflected, "I will not forget that innings at Taunton as long as I live. The prospect of needing to score just 11 got to me more than any other innings I have played. It was the most nervous I have ever been on a cricket field. I didn`t really want to bat and I had hoped we wouldn`t need to. Caddick was at the top of the Whyte and Mackay Rankings at the time, and as there was a bit of money in it, he was keen to get a few more scalps."

"When I actually hit the ball, I thought we would get one run, maybe two if I ran quickly. But when I got down the other end and turned around I saw Hugh picking up the stumps and running off.  I still thought we needed one more to win, and quickly realised that I had miscounted as what seemed like half of Wales descended on the outfield to celebrate our victory."