The Player from Ponty | thetwelfthman

The Player from Ponty - the life of Glamorgan cricketer Bernard Hedges.

The book grew out of my relationship with Andrew Hignell of Glamorgan. He is the County Club's archivist, historian and scorer. He is also the curator of the Museum of Welsh cricket based at the SSE SWALEC stadium in Cardiff.

He has written widely on the history of the game in Wales including a biography of Wilfred Wooller (Skipper) and an illustrated history titled 'Cricket in Wales'.

Along with Welsh sporting publishers St Davids Press he had already published two books under the same themed title, 'Lucky Jim Pleass- the memoirs of Glamorgan's 1948 County Championship winner' and @The History of Blaina Cricket Club'.

He encouraged me to write the story of my father's sporting life dealing with the period of significant changes in the game from 1950 to 1967. Writing the book became an opportunity not only for me to understand more of my father's cricketing career but also a chance to explore the rise of the one day game, the end of amateurism and the attractions of what was still England's National Game.

One of the things I discovered about the Welsh cricketers who played for Glamorgan in the 1950's was how they influenced a generation of Welshmen that followed them. Read what some influential Welsh personalities have said about my father:

Gareth Edwards:

As kids, we grew up playing all sorts of sport in the street. We had stringent rules with 6 ball overs and every player in our imaginary teams had to bat; whether it was Hedges or Parkhouse for Glamorgan or Peter May for England.

My childhood friend Huw Llewelyn Davies and I got taken to the Arms Park, St. Helens or the Gnoll by his father who was reporting for the radio. We enjoyed watching our heroes and it made it all the more important that they were a Welsh side. There was an affinity between sportsmen themselves as well as between them and the supporters. We all lived so close together.

The most important part of a visit to the cricket was when we could get out on the field ourselves. It allowed us to dream of being sportsmen. We wanted to be part of that. It was exciting. They were great moments. Bernard and all the Glamorgan boys were part of that.

Tom David:

As a youngster growing up in Pontypridd, everybody knew of Bernard Hedges.

He was the first sporting star to come out of Rhydyfelin. I met him on a couple of occasions as a very young boy. He was a lovely man; an absolute gentleman.

I was aware he was a talented rugby player at 15 years old and he played football as well. He was an all-round sportsman but what a fantastic cricketer. I have always been proud to say I knew him whenever I get involved with discussions about cricket. He was an inspiration to all of us who played sport in the town.

Neil Kinnock:

Bernard Hedges was part of my growing up years in Tredegar. With Gilbert Parkhouse, Allan Watkins, Jim McConnon and the other stars of the 50’s and early 60’s he was an inspiration to a generation of cricket-mad Welsh kids. That was partly, of course, because he was such a steady batsman with great footwork who could weather any attack and punish every loose ball, and a marvellous fielder in a team which excelled in that vital part of the game. Every team in every sport needs a Bernard Hedges to make it whole.

But our admiration was particularly strong because we knew that he was a “valley boy” who had played on the same testing pitches as we did on wet Wednesday evenings and had no special coaching or fancy equipment. That made Bernard really special.

On the couple of occasions that I met him – in Ebbw Vale at a Pakistan Eaglets match and at the Arms Park - he was really kind to me and the rest of the autograph-hunting lads when he probably wanted to get away for a pint. Truly, he was a hero who lived up to my expectations on and off the field.