Cricket in Wales
Cricket is a popular sport in Wales; it started in the late 18th century, and has been played in Wales ever since. All cricket within Wales is regulated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), making it effectively part of the English cricket system. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is Wales' only first-class county team, and Welsh players are eligible to represent England as Wales does not currently have its own Test cricket team or cricket body. Cricket is played within the Welsh schools system, and is considered one of the country's main summer sports . History. Cricket, as a sport, has its origins in England, with its first known set of rules written in 1744. The earliest definite reference to cricket in Wales is in 1763, when it was played at Pembroke. The first recorded match was played at Llanegwad in Carmarthenshire. The first club to be mentioned is Swansea, in 1785. By around 1800, matches were also being played in the north, specifically in Holywell; there are records of further matches in the Hanmer area in the 1820s. With the development of the railways and better transport links, the game of cricket began to  spread slowly across Wales and by the 1830s the first interclub fixtures were regularly played. On 5 May 1845, Cardiff Cricket Club was inaugurated, and after three years using the rented field at Longcross, now the location of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, the team became associated with the Cardiff Arms Park. Both the Arms Park and St. Helen's, in Swansea, were cricket venues before they became associated with rugby union. By 1850 cricket had become a popular activity in many schools, and this in turn helped cricket to be adopted as a working-class sport rather than one associated  with the gentry as it was in England. 1859 saw the first match between select English and Welsh teams, when the All England XI played a South Wales XXII. The South Wales team were victorious and this led to the first attempt to form a first-class team in Wales. Although county teams were later formed, most were short lived; but in 1888 Glamorgan County Cricket Club was formed, which would become the most important first-class team in Wales. Glamorgan entered the Minor Counties Cricket Championship in 1897 and was joined by other county teams from Wales: Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire  and Denbighshire. In 1921 Glamorgan became the first county team to gain first-class status, and was the 17th member of the County Championship. From its earliest days Glamorgan refused to designate a county headquarters, playing its matches at both St. Helen's in Swansea and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, to try to remain neutral between the two main cities of the county. In 1975, St. Helen's Ground in Swansea held the first international game to be played outside the usual Test venues of England, hosting a One-day International between England and New Zealand. Domestic competitions. In men 's cricket, Glamorgan County Cricket Club is the only Welsh participant in the England and Wales County Championship. They also play in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the T20 Blast. Wales National Counties Cricket Club also play in the English National Counties competitions, for county teams that do not have first-class status. In women's cricket, Wales currently play in the Women's Twenty20 Cup, and previously competed in the Women's County Championship. Within the regional domestic structure, Wales is represented by the Western Storm regional hub. Welsh Fire represent Wales in both the men's  and women's competitions of The Hundred. Two Welsh cricket leagues have received ECB accreditation: the North Wales Premier Cricket League and the South Wales Cricket League. Cricket grounds. Glamorgan play at the following grounds: Penrhyn Avenue in Colwyn Bay, St. Helen's in Swansea and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. On 8 July 2009 Sophia Gardens held its first Test match, when it hosted the first match of the 2009 Ashes Series. The game ended in a draw. Governing body. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created  on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB), the National Cricket Association (NCA) and the Cricket Council. They are full members of the International Cricket Council. Cricket Wales is the governing body of cricket in Wales. It is an umbrella partnership body comprising the Welsh Cricket Association, Glamorgan Cricket, Wales National Counties Cricket Club, the Welsh Schools Cricket Association and Sport Wales. National team. Welsh men's and women's cricket teams have played matches on a number of occasions. Generally however, Wales do not field a team in international competition, with players  instead playing for England. The following Welsh people have played Test cricket for the England men's cricket team: Johnnie Clay, Robert Croft, Jeff Jones, Simon Jones, Tony Lewis, Austin Matthews, Hugh Morris, Gilbert Parkhouse, Pat Pocock, Greg Thomas, Matthew Maynard, Maurice Turnbull, Cyril Walters, Steve Watkin and Allan Watkins. Lynne Thomas is the only Welsh cricketer to have played Test cricket for the England women's cricket team. Recently there have been calls for Wales to be represented by its own national team, as in other sports, in the same way that Scotland is. There has been criticism of  the England and Wales Cricket Board using only the England name even though it selects Welsh players such as Simon Jones and Geraint Jones, both of whom were instrumental in England regaining the Ashes from Australia in 2005. The only Welsh cricketer to captain England on a major tour abroad was Tony Lewis in 1972–73. Notable Welsh cricketers. The following Welsh people have played Test cricket for England: Popularity. Cricket has always struggled for attention in Wales, where rugby and football are the two most popular sports. The lack of a national team has also meant that cricket has a  harder time capturing the popular imagination in the way the Welsh national rugby and football teams often do. In 2005 the ECB concluded a commercial arrangement with Sky, giving it the exclusive television rights for live Test cricket in England for four years (the 2006 to 2009 seasons). This deal, which took live Test cricket for home England matches away from terrestrial television for the first time generated substantial future revenues for English cricket, but was criticised by many England cricket supporters and others. The Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual award voted by the  Cricket Writers' Club for the best young cricket player in England and Wales, and has been awarded since 1950.