Glamorgan
Sport was an important part of life in Glamorgan, and the county produced several individuals and teams of note. One of the first recorded team sports in Wales was bando, a variant of bandy. The game was very popular in Glamorgan between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before losing in popularity to rugby football. The most notable team to carry the name Glamorgan, is Glamorgan County Cricket Club. Although cricket had been established in Glamorgan since the creation of Cardiff Cricket Club in 1819; county team Glamorgan CCC did not form until 1888. The team gained first-class status in 1921, and still play under the name of Glamorgan. In the first hundred years, the only Welshman to captain an England major tour abroad was Tony Lewis, Glamorgan captain 1967–72.
Ian Smith (English cricketer)
Smith's first-class debut came during a 1985 Zimbabwean tour of England, a match which Glamorgan drew in spite of a near double-century from the opposition's representative powerhouse, Zimbabwean-born Graeme Hick. Though Smith made his debut in the County Championship at the front end of the 1985 season, he became more of a force during the second half, in spite of a couple of his appearances during the season being cut short by external factors. Having finished the 1985 season in twelfth place in the County Championship, Glamorgan crumbled the following season, picking up just two victories from twenty-four games in the whole of 1986, and finishing bottom of the County Championship, while Smith participated in just one of these victories.