No braver cricketer has come from England or Wales than Hugh Morris, who fought long battles on and off the field before dying aged 62.
Morris was a defiant opening batsman for Glamorgan, and in three Tests for England, before defying cancer for more than 20 years – and as the patron of a cancer charity he was awarded an MBE.
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Morris was one of only two Test cricketers born in Cardiff, both of whom attended public schools in England. Whereas Maurice Turnbull attended Downside, Morris went to Blundell’s, where his grandfather had been a pupil, on a sports scholarship, with rugby then a stronger suit than his cricket.
By 22, Morris had not only played first-class rugby as a fly-half for Aberavon – he said he was too slow for the highest level, but he would never have shirked a tackle – but had also retired from rugby, because he had been appointed Glamorgan’s captain at that tender age. Glamorgan’s cricket had dissolved into a complete mess, and Morris lasted three years before resigning in 1989. Yet, defiant, he was to come again.
As a left-handed opener, he concentrated on his batting and won three England caps in 1991, after a prolific summer in 1990 when he scored 10 centuries and the highest number of runs in a first-class season for Glamorgan. The timing was not auspicious. His first two Tests were against the West Indies attack of Curtly Ambrose, Patrick Patterson, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall.
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Morris in 1989, during a rich few years of run-scoring – Getty Images/Ben Radford
One of cricket’s more famous photographs is of Morris twisting in mid-air, like a scarecrow being blown away, to avoid a West Indian bouncer. He had been brought up on slow Welsh pitches, before bowling machines, and although he had captained England Lions as they are now called, Test cricket was a huge step up. Yet he fought, and his opening partnership of 112 with Graham Gooch in the Oval Test went a long way towards England levelling the series at 2-2 – this in the context of England having won only one Test against West Indies in the previous 20 years.
His third Test, against a slower Sri Lankan attack at Lord’s, was modestly successful and some thought he had done enough to earn selection on the tour of New Zealand that winter. But the England selectors opted for a young Worcestershire batsman, Graeme Hick, and, less justifiably, recalled Allan Lamb for one last tour.
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Morris returned to the Glamorgan captaincy in 1993 as a tested leader, and immediately won the county’s first title since 1969. It was the Sunday League, and Glamorgan were boosted by the presence of Viv Richards. Although past 40, Richards was still a champion in the field and instilled belief in players who had no habit of winning.
Although he gave up the captaincy after the 1995 season to allow his friend Matthew Maynard his turn, Morris was an integral part of the Glamorgan side which won the County Championship in 1997. It was a superb team, founded on their opening pair of Morris and Steve James, backed by Maynard’s strokeplay, while Waqar Younis opened the bowling with Steve Watkin, and the team was coached by Duncan Fletcher, soon to be seconded by England.
And on that high note, after Glamorgan had won the championship by defeating Somerset in Taunton, Morris retired. He still had several seasons in him, but the job of technical director at the England and Wales Cricket Board had been created, and he was the man for this job.
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Morris oversaw a highly successful period for English cricket, though not without crisis – Getty Images/Shaun Curry
His career at the ECB went from strength to strength until he was appointed the first director of England cricket, when he worked with the captain Andrew Strauss and the head coach Andy Flower: three left-handed batsmen of great resolution; and perhaps, as such, they came at problem-solving from a different angle.
England, in any event, won three Ashes series while Morris was operating quietly behind the scenes as director: those of 2009, 2010-11 and 2013. And again he left on the highest note, departing straight after the last of those triumphs to become Glamorgan’s chief executive.
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Throat cancer, meanwhile, had struck in 2002 when he was only 38. While shaving he had discovered a lump on the left side of his neck. It alarmingly led to several operations which removed part of his neck. The smile became lop-sided, yet it remained, defiant.
He was in remission from 2007 until the cancer returned and invaded more parts of his body. He carried on working, and lived to see a Glamorgan revival under Maynard’s head coaching, with more of an emphasis on Welsh cricketers. In 2021, Glamorgan won their seventh title, the 50-over competition.
At Sophia Gardens three gates are named after Glamorgan captains: Wilf Wooller, who won the county’s first championship in 1948, Tony Lewis, who won the second in 1969, and Morris, who won so much admiration for his bravery.
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