The history of Llanelli Cricket Club

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One of his greatest moments in nearly 150 appearances for the club was being carried off the field at Wigan in front of 32,000 people. Following the success of the Merthyr/Wanderers charity match, the Club was again invited to send a team to play against Merthyr to celebrate the official opening of their new clubhouse. Once again the Wanderers fielded a team which included guest players such as Terry Davies; R. H. Williams; Keith Rowlands and John Leleu. By all account a splendid night was had by all and the Wanderers were congratulated on their "spectacular open rugby and wonderful singing", certain evidence that the choir remained in good voice. Season 1966/67 began with a match against an International XV. The match had been arranged as a Benefit Match for Neville Holmes who had served the Wanderers admirably in the centre when a serious leg injury tragically cut short a sparkling rugby career. For the record, the teams who took the field at Stradey were: There had been many applications made from which ten had to be selected by the Union’s member clubs by ballot. The Wanderers were notified of their acceptance in November 1977 along with BP Llandarcy, Bonymaen, Bryncoch, Carmarthen Athletic, Dunvant, Furnace United, Mumbles, Resolven and Tonna. These Clubs were the members of the newly formed Section 'E' of the West Wales Rugby Union and the 1978/79 season was to see the introduction of the Wanderers into the West Wales Rugby Union. The achievement of promotion by the Club's 'A' XV was emulated by the 1st team in season 81/82 when, to the great delight of the whole Club, the Wanderers 1st team finished in third position in Section E of the West Wales Rugby Union, having lost only three of their 18 league matches. In the process, they scored 42 tries and conceded only 12, with Mark Evans notching up 120 points for the season.

The Club was by now, getting used to being in a state of excitement, but the inclusion of Clive Rees in the touring party, whilst being no surprise to the Club, introduced a feeling of euphoria. There cannot be many, if any, second class clubs who can claim to have had two from its ranks selected for a British Lions tour, something that the Club is particularly proud of. The dinner was attended by the great Willie John McBride who had been appointed to captain the Lions, Clive Rees, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, Mervyn Davies, Tom David, J. J. Williams and Roy Bergiers, all of whom had been selected for the touring party. There were many notable people from the Welsh rugby scene and it was the great man himself, Willie John McBride who, during his speech, "felt humbled to be surrounded by so many people who collectively had so much rugby knowledge". In a 1998 with me, he said: “Robert was one of the best passers, but I was never impressed with his all-round game.The investigations into the feasibility of the Wanderers own ground at Stradey proved to be fruitful and in March 1974 the Club launched an appeal fund to develop what was unsightly scrubland, into a playing area, with facilities which have since become the envy of many local sides. The 1966/67 season was one which bestowed a unique distinction on the Wanderers Club when two of the Club's second string were borrowed, on two separate occasions, by Llanelli. They were Roger Howells and Mike Tanner, who made their premier debuts against Newbridge and Pontypridd in midweek matches. The tale is told of a Club member who had been admitted as a patient to Morriston Hospital. He had obviously been missing the hospitality and comforts of the Wanderers so he invited the choir to visit his Ward at the Hospital, without, it should be said, the prior approval of the Hospital Authorities. Arrangements were well in hand but the invitation was not fulfilled as there was "some doubt as to whether the Glee Section would be admitted". Meanwhile, the Wanderers held their 8th Triennial Dinner with chief guests Dewi Griffiths and Phil Bennett relating their experiences whilst on tour of New Zealand with the 1977 Lions. Phil Bennett, of course, was captain of the tour and Dewi Griffiths was involved in the T.V. coverage of the tour for B.B.C.

Two important appointments coincided with the memorable campaign of the first season, when the Bishop of St. David's Dr. W. T. Havard, and former Llanelli and Wales centre Albert Jenkins, served as Patron and Vice President respectively. Ocr tesseract 5.2.0-1-gc42a Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9733 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-1300457 Openlibrary_edition The year before Glamorgan had played for the first time at their new ground in Cardiff following the redevelopment of the Arms Park and the creation of the National Stadium. The final county match took place at the Arms Park in August 1966 before Glamorgan moved a mile or so to the north-west to Sophia Gardens where they met the 1967 Indians in the opening match at their new ground. The Appeal Fund was launched, in typical Wanderers style, by a Dinner at the Stradey Park Hotel on the day that the membership of the British Lions touring party to South Africa was announced.

Llanelli Cricket Club

President: Mr. Elvet Jones; Chairman: Mr. Hector Griffiths; Hon. Sec.: Mr. T. G. Pugh; Hon. Treasurer: Mr. J. D. C. Evans. The other members present at this meeting were D. M. Hughes; Ken John; Albert Lewis; Hugh Rowe; R. E. Williams and G. R. Wilson.

The urge to take part in league rugby was now becoming strong in the Club. Up until this time, the Wanderers had not entertained the concept of "competitive" rugby, the only rugby competitions being entered by the Wanderers were the seven-a-side competitions and the Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup. The Clubs' Constitution stated that one of the objects of the Club was "to play and foster Rugby Football" and it felt that the best method of fulfilling its objects was by refraining from competitive and league rugby i.e. to refrain from participation in cup competitions, other than the W.R.U. Challenge Cup competition and games, the results of which are reflected in a "league table". Following much activity and the dedication of Wynne Davies to his task, what was wasteland had by now become a lush playing surface and on the 1st September, 1975 the ground was officially opened by the then President of the Welsh Rugby Union, Handel C. Rogers. There followed a match between the Wanderers and a team made up of former Wanderers players. For the record, the teams were: Llanelly Wanderers Ieuan Jones (Capt.), Wynne Davies, Gareth Morris, Neville Holmes, Clive Aitken ,Eifion Thomas, Peter H. Williams, Hywel Griffiths, Colwyn Owens, Godfrey Rees, Peter Williams, Rheinallt Jenkins, Dennis Shanahan, Peter Davies, Harry Thomas.This urge to spread their wings was not the outcome of any split with the Y.M.C.A. The matter was thoroughly discussed and agreed that the team should become a Club in its own right instead of an agency of the Y.M.C.A. So what had been a dream for several years became reality. The first match versus A.S. Poissy, resulted in a fine 21 pts. - 9 victory for the Wanderers with 17 pts. coming from the boot of outside half Geraint Llewellyn. The other match was played against St. Germain en Laye, and the Wanderers must have been feeling the effects of French hospitality as they were trailing by 24 pts. to 3 at half time! Quite what refreshed the team at the interval is not known, but it was sufficient for the Wanderers to achieve a drawn result at 27 points each to maintain the Wanderer's record of being unbeaten on the Continent. The Wanderers 1980 Fete and Gala was this time, blessed with sunshine, and with so many people visiting the event, it was certainly a success. Encouraged by this, the Club arranged a similar event for the Spring Bank Holiday of 1981 with the same result. The Wanderers Fete and Gala on the Spring Bank Holiday Monday is now destined to becoming a regular event and it is a tribute to those members who engage themselves in its organisation that it continues to be so popular among those who patronise it. Following his move into rugby league, Jonathan played for Great Britain, won several caps for Wales and scored 39 tries for the Saints.

The highlight of the 1967/68 season was that Club skipper Ieuan Jones became the Clubs' second player to notch up over 100 pts. in his personal tally for a season, with John Barrow just failing to become the first 'A' XV player to emulate this feat with 90 pts.

Regular activities at the hall:

International XV: Alan Priday,Ray Williams, Cyril Davies, Brian Davies, Andy Sendall, Harry Morgan, Dennis Thomas, Normal Gale, Bryn Meredith, Len Cunningham, Rees Step hens, Brian Thomas, Geoff Whitson, Marlston Morgan, Haydn Mainwaring. The 1962/63 season brought distinction to the 'A' XV when they succeeded in taking the ground record of the Llandovery R.F.C. first team. No mean achievement for a second string of only two full seasons standing. Mark Foden broke his own record in the 1979/80 season when he notched up a total of 125 points for the 'A' XV. Following a civic reception at the Town Hall, the Wanderers engaged the tourists at Stradey Park, and after an entertaining match emerged the victors by 5 pts. to nil. The enterprising Wanderers again proved their versatility in other sports by involving themselves in ten pin bowling.