Everything but the play: the umpires, the players going in and out, the score-keeper (and helpers) and the all-important scoreboard.

Everything but the play is included in this record of a match that was held as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain celebrations at the Hills Plymouth Cricket Club, Pentrebach. The umpires are present, spectators have taken their seats, the players go in and out, the score-keeper concentrates (aided by schoolboy helpers) and the scoreboard makes clear what's going on.

Hills Plymouth Cricket Club was named after Merthyr's Plymouth Ironworks, built on land owned by the Earl of Plymouth and run by the Hill family. Pentrebach's colliery – South Dyffryn Colliery – ceased production in 1940 but for many years before that the good coal found beneath the cricket pitch was off limits in order to avoid the problem of subsidence, which did indeed arise once the prohibition was lifted. After WWII, Hoover set up a factory making washing machines in Pentrebach, and the underwear manufacturer, Kayser Bondor, also moved in, both providing a substantial amount of employment.