Top 10 players of all time from Glamorgan

Glamorgan are a unique first-class club in many ways. They are one of the youngest members of the top tier of the domestic game in England, having been made a member in 1921, while, on the other hand, they are the only team based out of Wales. They have won the County Championships thrice in their history and over the course, Glamorgan have had their fair share of truly great cricketers as part of their squad.

Some of them have been from England while many others have been from Wales and in addition to that, Glamorgan have also been blessed with the presence of excellent foreign recruits over the years. Here is a look at 10 of their all-time best players.

---

#10 Matthew Maynard

Although born in Lancashire, Matthey Maynard grew up in Wales and hence, it was quite natural that he joined Glamorgan. He joined the county in 1985 and over the next two decades, emerged as its top batsman. Maynard was an attacking right-handed batsman and was known to go for his strokes at every opportunity and over the course of his 2 decades long career at Glamorgan, he scored 22,764 runs in first-class cricket.

Maynard is third highest first-class run scorer in the history of the club. He averaged 42.53 and scored 59 centuries in his glittering first-class career. In List A cricket, he was equally dominant and scored 13,506 runs at an average of 36.80.

#9 Robert Croft

Robert Croft

Right arm off-spinner Robert Croft had a rather short international career during the course of which, he played 21 Tests and 50 one day internationals for England. However, at Glamorgan, he was a colossus and had a fruitful career that lasted around 23 years, from 1989 to 2012. Croft's action allowed him to give the ball a real rip and when there was a semblance of assistance from the pitch, then he could be quite devastating on his day.

Croft is the 4th highest wicket-taker in Glamorgan's first-class cricket history with a haul of 1001 wickets in his long career. On the other hand, he played plenty of List A cricket as well and picked up a further 411 wickets to become one of the best spinners in the English domestic scene for a considerable period of time.

#8 Ossie Wheatley

Ossie Wheatley

Right arm fast medium bowler Ossie Wheatley started off his first-class career at Warwickshire in 1959 but moved to Glamorgan a year later and went on to become one of the best players to have played for the county. Wheatley was made the captain of Glamorgan as well as soon as he joined. He was a tough bowler to negotiate and his hostility often proved too much for many batsmen in the county circuit in the 1960s.

Despite giving up the captaincy and becoming a bit part player in the side, Wheatley returned to the side in 1968 and became the top wicket-taker in the season. In his first-class career, he took 1069 wickets and recorded an average of 21, to cement his place as one of the greats of the domestic game in England.

#7 Hugh Morris

Hugh Morris

Hugh Morris might now be known more for being a cricket administrator but during his days as a professional cricketer, he was one of the best opening batsmen in the county circuit. Although his international career never really took off due to his apparent weakness against serious pace, Morris was one of Glamorgan's top players for around 16 years from 1981 to 1997.

The left-handed opening batsman also became the county's youngest ever captain at only 22 back in 1986. Throughout his career, he remained one of the most reliable and consistent opening batsmen in English domestic cricket. He scored 18,520 runs for Glamorgan in his career and recorded a first-class career average of 40.29. He is the 5th highest run scorer in the county team's history.

#6 Alan Jones

Alan Jones

Glamorgan's highest ever run scorer Alan Jones has the dubious record of being the most prolific first-class batsman to have never been called up by the national team. Jones, a left-handed opening batsman, who played for Glamorgan for around 26 years, scored 34,056 runs for the county in his glittering career and scored more than 1000 runs in a season 23 times.

In 645 first-class games, he averaged 32.89 and scored as many as 56 hundreds. On the other hand, he was equally good in List A games. He played 288 of them and scored 7157 runs over the course of his career and scored 4 hundreds and 42 half-centuries in those games.

#5 Jack Mercer

Jack Mercer

Although he started out his career at Northamptonshire and then played for Sussex, it was at Glamorgan that Jack Mercer had his longest stint and it was there that he became one of the most versatile bowlers in county cricket. Mercer joined Glamorgan in 1922 and for the next 17 years, resigned as the team's main bowler. He was primarily a right arm seam bowler, who had the ability to swing the ball both ways and while that brought him plenty of wickets, he could also double up as an off-spinner when the situation demanded.

Mercer picked up 1460 wickets in his Glamorgan career and remains the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the county team's history. In his entire first-class career spanning 457 games, he picked up 1591 wickets and averaged 23.40.

#4 Simon Jones

Simon Jones

Jones could have been the greatest bowler to have been produced by Wales and his exploits for England during his short career was enough proof of the sort of talent that he possessed. However, Jones's injuries finished his international career. Even then, there is no doubt that he is one of Glamorgan's greatest ever bowlers and played for the county team from 1998 to 2007.

Jones played for Hampshire and Worcestershire as well but it was at Glamorgan that he had his best years. He played 91 first-class games in his career and picked up 267 wickets, while in 54 List A games he claimed 55 wickets. His scorching pace and ability to generate reverse swing often made him unplayable.

#3 Emrys Davies

Davies (on the left) And Dyson

The left-handed batsman, who played in the Glamorgan top order for around 3 decades between 1924 and 1954, is one of the best players to have played for the county. In a long career, he scored heavily for Glamorgan and is the 2nd highest run scorer in its history, with a tally of 26,102 runs.

Davies was a handy bowler as well and claimed 100 wickets in a season twice during the course of his career with Glamorgan. In total, he played 612 games for Glamorgan and holds the record for the 2nd highest number of appearances for the county. His epic 287 not out, scored in 1939 was a long-standing club record before it was broken in 2000.

There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest ever batsmen in Glamorgan's history.

#2 Don Shepherd

Don Shepherd

The Welshman is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers to have ever played county cricket and in a career that lasted around 22 years (1950-1972), Don Shepherd emerged as Glamorgan's highest ever wicket-taker with a tally of 2174 wickets.

The right arm medium fast bowler started off a traditional swing bowler, who could move the ball either way but a few years into his career, he developed the off cutter and that proved to be his most devastating weapon as a bowler.

Shepherd picked up in excess of 100 wickets in a season on 12 occasions and remains the most successful bowler to have never got a call-up to the national team. He had a first-class bowling average of only 21.32.

#1 Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad

Former Pakistani great Javed Miandad is one of the greatest batsmen to have played the game and it was during the peak of his powers between 1980 and 1985 that he played for Glamorgan. In the 1990-81 season, Miandad scored 2289 runs for the county and that remains the 2nd highest season's tally for any batsman in Glamorgan's history. Like he did for Pakistan on many occasions in international cricket, Miandad helped Glamorgan to improbable victories and became a much loved overseas player.

While his overall record for Glamorgan has not been recorded, an innings that stands out is the one he played against Essex in 1981. Having been set to score 325 to win in just over 5 hours, Glamorgan slumped to 44 for 4 but Miandad scored a peerless 200 not out to take them within 13 runs of victory. However, regular fall of wickets cost Glamorgan the game.