Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2020

40 twitter: @scloverssociety Malcolm’s place in cricket’s hall of fame is assured: the first bowler to be struck for six sixes in an over in first-class cricket. Somewhat consolingly the perpetrator was the greatest all-rounder in the history of the game – Sir Garfield Sobers. Malcolm, thoroughly entertainingly, talked about playing for Glamorgan when the English game was populated by talented homebred cricketers and exciting overseas players. Back to Swansea on 31 August 1968. Sobers came in at No 7 for Notts – his appearance delayed by important equine business at the local bookmakers – with Nash one wicket away from a 5-fer. Immediately Sobers began hitting the ball to all parts of the St Helen’s ground, causing Malcolm to switch from medium pace to orthodox left-arm spin, with disastrous consequences. The fateful over was recorded for posterity by a BBC film crew which just happened to be filming for staff training purposes! Malcolm was not averse to clearing the ropes himself, hitting Somerset’s Dennis Breakwell for four consecutive sixes in an over, and compiling a championship innings against Gloucestershire that contained nine sixes. And he holds the record for the fastest hundred in the B & H Cup. No less an authority than Barry Richards rated him one of the most difficult bowlers to face on the county circuit, with his ability to swing the ball both ways. In 1969 he was Glamorgan’s leading wicket-taker when they won the County Championship without losing a match. The social side of the game, clearly also important to him, didn’t seem to affect his performances. In 1968 the Australian touring side were given a generous dose of Welsh hospitality in a local pub by Malcolm and his teammates, aided and abetted by the renowned Pontarddulais Male Choir. His 5-28 in the tourists’ first innings total of 110 was instrumental in Glamorgan’s memorable 79-run victory. And in 1976 Malcolm and his fellow bowlers treated themselves to a night out in the West End after dismissing Surrey on the first day of a match at the Oval. Somewhat jaded, having got back from the Knightsbridge Sporting Club at 4.35am, Malcolm unexpectedly found himself walking out to bat after less than an hour’s play with the score 65-6. By lunch he had a century under his belt! During his final two seasons, with Shropshire, there was a typical display of skilful seam bowling, helping the minor counties side defeat Yorkshire by 37 runs in the 1984 NatWest Trophy. That 1-16 off 12 overs was testament to his enduring accuracy and competitive instincts, even at 39 years old. Malcolm’s sporting memoir, Not Only, But Also: My Life in Cricket, written in collaboration with Richard Bentley, was published in 2018. The Society was greatly saddened by the news that Malcolm died in a London hospital on 30 July 2019. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. at the crease SPEAKERS 2018-19 BY ROGER ALLUM 1 April 2019 Malcolm Nash Former cricketer Curse of the newsreel! Malcolm Nash