Bernard Hedges - The Player From 'Ponty'

978-1-902719-566
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‘Bernard was a true sportsman and played the game with an honesty and sense of fair play that stood out ... He was a good player but more than that he was a good bloke, easy company and willing to do anything for anyone.’
Don Shepherd, from his Foreword

‘Bernard Hedges was an inspiration to a generation of cricket-mad Welsh kids. That was partly, of course, because he was such a steady batsman who could weather any attack and punish every loose ball and a marvellous fielder ... but our admiration was particularly strong  because we knew that he was a 'valley boy' who'd had no special   coaching or fancy equipment. That made Bernard really special. Truly, he was a hero who lived up to my expectations on and off the field. Every team in every sport needs a Bernard Hedges to make it whole.’
Neil Kinnock

‘As kids we grew up playing all sorts of sport in the street, including cricket and, when it was my turn to face the bowlers, I often chose to be Glamorgan's Bernard Hedges.'

Sir Gareth Edwards

The Player From 'Ponty' is the biography of Bernard Hedges, the talented sportsman from the valleys of south Wales. Hedges played rugby for Pontypridd and Swansea, represented a Great Britain side at football, and became a widely respected professional cricketer with Glamorgan between 1950 and 1967 who:

           · Scored 17, 773 first-class runs - Glamorgan's 7th all-time top run scorer.

           · Hit Glamorgan's first one-day century, v Somerset in 1963, in the Gillette Cup.

           · Is one of only six Glamorgan players to score 2,000 runs in a season - 2,026 in 1961.

Bernard's journey from his early days in Rhydyfelin – the eldest of eight children raised in a small council house – to the local grammar school, his National Service days, and to his professional career with Glamorgan is lovingly revealed by his son Stephen, who tells the story of a man who epitomised sport's 'unsung hero' by showing great grit and determination to make the most of the sporting talent he had.