This week has seen the return of first class cricket to Neath. Glamorgan County Cricket Club have hosted two of their Royal London One Day Cup games against Lancashire CCC and Hampshire CCC at the ground.
In this episode we hear from Museum of Welsh Cricket volunteer David Battersby who gives us a brief outline of List A and other games played at the ground. We also hear from Life Member of the club Kevin Grant with his memories of his involvement as player and administrator with Neath CC. We also hear briefly from Darren Davies of Neath Round Table who have assisted the club in preparing hospitality for these, the first Glamorgan games to be held at the ground for 27 years.
For those wanting a little more history find below a more detailed piece written by Dr Andrew Hignell and reproduced on the Cricker Archive website:
Like many of Glamorgan's grounds' The Gnoll is the home to both Neath Rugby and Cricket Club. The name of the ground is likely to have been a derivation from the word 'knoll', meaning a small round hill, as the first building in the area was situated on the circular mound at the western end of the hill known as Cefn Morfydd to the north of the town.
By the 17th century a castle and country house had been built on the hillside, and from 1710 onwards it became the home of the Mackworth family, who were wealthy industrialists and owned the town's copper works. In 1811 the Gnoll Estate was bought by Henry Grant, who later became the first mayor of the town. Grant sold off some of the land for building purposes, and allowed ball games to be played on the fields below Gnoll House.
The first record of cricket being played in Neath dates back to the mid 1840's, and in 1848 a cricket club was formed, with The Gnoll being its base. During the middle of the 19th century, more housebuilding took place on Grant's land, but he refused to sell the cricket field, and the club went from strength to strength. A number of quite prestigious fixtures were held over the next few years as Alex Cuthbertson, a local solicitor, helped to arrange three-day fixtures in 1855 and 1856 between an Eleven of All-England and a XXII of Neath and District.
However, the Neath club encountered money problems, and in the early 1860's looked like going out of existence. They were thrown a lifeline in 1863 as J.T.D.Llewelyn, the cricket-loving industrialist and landowner of Penllegaer House, paid off their debts, agreed to personally pay for the use of the Gnoll and reformed the club under the name of Cadoxton Cricket Club. The 'new' side took its name from a small hamlet to the north of the town, yet there was nothing small about Llewelyn's ambitions, as Cadoxton C.C. became the M.C.C. of South Wales.
Indeed, in September 1864 he was instrumnetal in arranging a cricket week which had as its highlight a challenge match between a Glamorganshire XI and a side representing Carmarthenshire. However, perhaps the most famous of these early games took place in May 1868 when a XXII of Cadoxton challenged the United South of England. W.G. Grace was in the English side, yet for once in his career, he bagged a pair, dismissed in both innings by George Howitt, Cadoxton's guest professional.
In 1871 Neath RFC was formed and the south-western part of the sports field was devoted to rugby, with cricket being played in the north-eastern half. A rugby grandstand was built and seating was also provided alongside the cricket pavilion as the Cadoxton club continued to be the premier gentleman's side in South Wales, and played with success in the newly-formed South Wales Challenge Cup.
In 1897 the Neath Football Club and Athletic Association took over the affairs of CadoxtonC.C., but this proved to be a short-lived organisation, as in 1904 the cricket club re-formed under the name of Gnoll Park C.C. However, there were se<