Malcolm Nash - a tribute

31 Jul 2019 | Cricket

Glamorgan County Cricket Club is saddened to hear of the death overnight of Malcolm Nash, its former player and captain.

Malcolm passed away last night in hospital in London after being taken ill at a function at Lord’s Cricket Ground, will always be known as the bowler struck by Sir Garfield Sobers for six sixes in an over during the match with Nottinghamshire at Swansea in 1968. What is often forgotten is that Nash was not bowling in his usual style, and instead was experimenting with slow left-arm as the visitors were approaching a declaration.

Indeed, he should really be remembered as one of the finest new ball bowlers from the late 1960s until the early 1980s, and a man skillful enough with the new ball who was rated by Barry Richards, the legendary Springbok batsman, as one of the most difficult bowlers he faced whilst playing county cricket with Hampshire.

Chief executive, Hugh Morris, said: “Malcolm was a true Glamorgan legend whose exploits have gone down in club folklore. 

“His name is connected with that of Gary Sobers and St. Helen’s but he was a fantastic cricketer who was an integral part of the club’s history and the side that lifted the County Championship in 1969.

“He was also a larger than life character who always had the best interests of the club at heart and continued to be involved closely with the Club after his retirement.

“Malcolm will be sorely missed by everyone at Glamorgan and throughout the cricketing world and we extend our deepest sympathies to his friends and family.”

Malcolm was born in May 1945 into a well-known cricketing family in Abergavenny where his father was a leading member. Malcolm followed in his father’s footsteps and when in his early teens, he made his debut for the club’s XI.

He also attended Wells Cathedral School in Somerset where he honed his cricketing skills, besides developing into a useful hockey player. His skills in that sport were good enough for him to win Under21 honours with Wales.

Malcolm made his 2nd XI debut for Glamorgan in 1964 before joining the county’s staff two years later. He made his first-class debut against Cambridge University at the Arms Park in 1966 and the following year he made his Championship debut against Yorkshire at Harrogate and had it not been for a dropped catch would have had Geoff Boycott as his maiden wicket.

August 1968 saw Malcolm become a member of the Glamorgan team which defeated the Australians at Swansea. Later that month, and at the same ground, the left-armer had his own place in the record books when experimenting with left-arm spin as Nottinghamshire were building towards a declaration.

Visiting captain Garry Sobers, had been frustrated by his team’s slow progress, and in a the space of a remarkable over, captured by the cameras of BBC Wales TV, the names of the West Indian all-rounder and the Glamorgan bowler entered the annals of the game.

Malcolm owed his success as a left-arm bowler to having the priceless knack of being able to move the ball both ways. Opposing batsmen were therefore unsure whether the ball would swing in or out, and he invariably dismissed several top order batsmen when the shine was on the ball.

His skills were clearly in evidence in 1969, when under Tony Lewis’ skilful captaincy, the Welsh county lifted the Championship crown, with Malcolm spearheading the Glamorgan bowling, and ending the daffodil-golden summer as the Club’s leading wicket-taker with 71 wickets at just 18 runs apiece.

He was also a highly effective and miserly bowler in limited over games, and Malcolm frequently delivered his allocation of eight overs in the Sunday League straight through and at a minimal cost. His figures of 8-4-8-1 and 8-4-8-2 against Lancashire in 1973 and 1980 have still not been surpassed.

Besides his accurate bowling, Malcolm was a forthright batsman, capable of producing an explosive innings. Indeed, in 1976 he become Glamorgan`s first centurion in the Benson and Hedges Cup, with a boundary-laden 103 against Hampshire at Swansea and also that summer a century before lunch off just 61 balls in the Championship match against Surrey at The Oval.

Indeed, Malcolm enjoyed the social aspects of life on the county cricket, in these days when mixing with opponents after play was de rigeur, but as a true professional, he always gave 100% on the field.

Malcolm was a good enough cricketer to win a place in the Test Trial in 1976, and the following year was in the Glamorgan side which played in the 1977 Gillette Cup Final against Middlesex at Lord’s. In typical fashion, he removed Mike Brearley with his first ball and saw Man-of-the-Match Clive Radley shortly afterwards dropped in the slips.

His tally of 991 wickets in first-class cricket for the Welsh county puts him in fifth place in the Club’s all-time list of wicket-takers. A measure of his achievement is that since Malcolm’s departure from the county game in 1983, only Robert Croft has surpassed Malcolm’s aggregate.

A man of strong opinions, Malcolm had a shrewd cricket brain and led the Welsh county with a sense of pride and purpose during 1980 and 1981. He led from the front and in his second match in charge, against Gloucestershire at Bristol, he returned figures of 5/58 and 6/72 as Glamorgan won by seven wickets. After being released in 1983 by Glamorgan, Malcolm played in Minor County cricket for Shropshire and was in their team which defeated Yorkshire at Telford in the 1984 Gillette Cup.

Half a century after `that` over at Swansea, Malcolm was still content to recall the events of that afternoon at St. Helen’s. It had featured prominently in his memoirs “Not Only, But Also” written in conjunction with Richard Bentley and published in 2018 by St. David’s Press. He was also doing the rounds of Cricket Societies and other organizations reflecting on the six deliveries against the West Indian, as well as the other highlights of his illustrious career as a Glamorgan cricketer.