A brief history of Abergavenny
A brief history compiled by Dr. Andrew Hignell (Hon. Statistician and Historian to Glamorgan CCC)Abergavenny is widely regarded by players, the Press and thegeneral public as one of the most picturesque grounds on thefirst-class circuit. Its intimate atmosphere and rural location,nestling amongst the tree-topped hills on the Welsh border, amile or so to the north of a small and friendly market town, tosay nothing of its quaint pavilion and irregular boundary, allprovide a tranquil atmosphere. The annual fixture at the groundprovides a healthy reminder of what cricket must have been likein the pre-commercial era, and for those who play, work or watchat vast, anonymous concrete stadiums, visiting the Avenue Roadground must be a godsend and a breath of fresh air. The wickethas been of the highest standard, and a host of batting recordshave been established at the pretty ground, most recently in 1995when Gloucestershire`s Anglo-Australian, hit a world record 20sixes during the Championship match with Gloucestershire.The Abergavenny club is amongst one of the oldest in South Wales.Formed in 1834, the club first played in the lush fieldsalongside the Rivers Usk or Gavenny, and during most of the 19thcentury their games were held at a variety of locations on thesegreen meadows against teams of gentlemen or traders from towns inthe neighbouring English counties. In 1884 they acquired aregular home on land owned by the industrialist Crawshay Bailey,but over time the wicket became rather poor, and the club lostfixtures as a result. A solution was found in 1896 when anapproach to the Marquess of Abergavenny, resulted in a move to afour and a half acre field off Avenue Road, called Pen-y-Pound.The Marquess was a great supporter of cricket, having beenPresident of Kent C.C.C. in 1878, and although spending littletime in the market town, he was a kindly benefactor to itsinhabitants.The club went from strength to strength after the move, so muchso, that the Marquess generously financed an enlarged pavilion.The new, improved wicket was also widely admired and in 1910Monmouthshire staged their Minor County fixture game withCarmarthenshire at Avenue Road. In 1915 the Marquess ofAbergavenny died, and much of his estate was sold for buildingland. However, Major J.R.Jacob, the Chairman and former captainof the club, helped to secure the freehold of the Pen-y-Poundground for the cricket club.Glamorgan`s amalgamation with Monmouthshire in 1935 led to theWelsh county staging second eleven, plus club and ground,fixtures at Abergavenny, and some of the club`s players were alsochosen by the Glamorgan selectors. In 1948 the ground hosted theMinor County fixture with Devon, and with Glamorgan pledging tostage first-class matches in Monmouthshire, the Abergavennyofficials hoped that their attractive home would be lucky enoughto host a Championship fixture.The superior facilities and larger pavilion at Ebbw Vale won theday, but even so, the Abergavenny club didn`t lose heart andcontinued to be the host of special Benefit matches, both forGlamorgan players as well as those from neighbouringWorcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. However, bythe mid 1960`s, Glamorgan were starting to cut back on the numberof venues they played at, and for all of its charms, thelikelihood of Avenue Road staging county cricket looked slim, andthe club had to content itself with games in the Gwent Premierand Severn Counties League.Disaster appeared to strike in 1977 as a fire severely damagedthe pavilion and completely destroyed the adjoining tea room.But as it turned out, the fire proved to be a turning point inthe history of the club as a generous grant from the Welsh SportsCouncil helped to pay for renovations and much larger facilities.These extensions happened at a lucky time, as in the 1980`s,Glamorgan also began to take cricket around the region again.Abergavenny made a formal request to stage a Sunday League game,and in 1981 the county committee allocated the match withWorcestershire to the Gwent ground.The Glamorgan officials were suitably impressed by the hard work,both on and of the field by the Abergavenny folk, and in 1982their efforts were rewarded with the Sunday match withNorthamptonshire. Local businesses also offered generoussponsorship and in May 1983 Worcestershire visited Abergavennyonce again as the ground staged its inaugural County Championshipfixture.Worcestershire and Gloucestershire have been regular vistors tothe ground, and their batsmen, as well as the Glamorgan players,have enjoyed taking advantage of the placid wicket and smallboundaries. One of the best examples was the 1990 fixture withWorcestershire. After Graeme Hick had recorded a superb 252* ,Phil Neale set Glamorgan a target of 495 to win on the final day.They ended on 493-6, and came agonisingly close to setting a newchampionship record. However, the most famous game in theground`s short Championship history came in August 1995 as AndrewSymonds hit 254 and smashed the world six hitting record, byhitting 16 sixes in his double-century, followed by four more inthe second innings. Almost unnoticed Indian all-rounder JavagalSrinath claimed 13-150 and his supreme efforts, on a groundregarded as a bowlers graveyard, were in keeping with the almostunreal atmosphere which is generated by this most idiosyncratic,and charming, of county cricket venues.For further information about the history of this, and othergrounds used by Glamorgan, you may be interested in purchasing”The Cricket Grounds of Glamorgan”, written by Andrew Hignell andpublished in 1985 by the Association of Cricket Statisticians andHistorians. For further details, please consult the A.C.S.homepage on CricInfo, send e-mail to [email protected] or write toPeter Wynne-Thomas at 3, Radcliffe Road, Nottingham.