The first thing about Wales as a test nation is that they would not be expected to compete with England in the beginning (or ever regularly). They would be a new Test nation but the point is that they would be the best prepared of any new Test nation.
Wales would look to be competetive with Bangladesh, Zim, the Associates, West Indies and New Zealand (based on sim pop levels and sporting rivalry).
A few points on Glamorgan being a weak county
The quality of players has probably declined slightly since the 1990s but there are other reasons that are positive why Glam can be seen as a weak county.
- Highest number of players born within thier immediate geographical area (maybe excl. Yorks)
- No Kolpak players
- No foreign players playing on an ancesteral British passport
- So by far the most localised team filled by players from the actual region rather than imports
There also seems to be a train of thought that all Welsh national team players would have to be born in Wales. I dont see why one standard should be for England and another for Wales. There would be a number of foreign born players available to bolster the squad.
In the last 3 years alone England have given debuts in either Test or ODIs to 8 players born outside England itself. Geraint Jones, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Simon Jones, Jamie Dalrymple and Ed Joyce. Thats a pretty big number for such a short period of time and obviously Wales would add a player or two in a similar fashion.
An area that at the beginning would strengthen the squad is the joint nature of the England and Wales Cricket Board (now ECB). England and Wales are currently linked as a whole and complete entity. There is nothing to seperate them as they are singular. This would make many non-British born, ECB qualified, British passport holders available for Wales (if they so chose).
They have qualified for Wales as Wales is part of the current Board that they have qualified for and they carry a British passport rather than an English one (which obviously doesnt exist) and as they were born outside of England they are not by birth English.
If Wales became a Test nation then any current player fitting the bill could declare themselves available for selection. Obviously after the initial declaration then future players would have to reside in Wales before qualifying as the split will have happened.
That opens up a large pool of players that were available for the England and Wales team but would now be available for England
or Wales.
An All Welsh Team would look something like this
David Hemp FC 13711 runs @ 36.66
ODIs 17 games bat av 29.20
Born in Bermuda but played Welsh schools and has played for Glamorgan since 1991. Represented Bermuda in the 2007 WC.
Mike Powell FC 9852 runs @ 39.88
Called up due to injuries to Englands 2004 NatWest squad but didnt play.
Ben Wright England U 19s
Batsman and occasional seamer that was born in England but has been at Glamorgan for a while and played for Wales.
Daniel Cherry Former England U17
Has had a diappointing career but has a FC double hundred to his name.
Gareth Rees
Only at the beginning of his career he averaged mid-30 in FC cricket.
Mark Wallace wkt ECB Academy 2003-03
Ryan Watkins
Average career stats but a useful allrounder.
Darren Thomas England A 98/99 FC 504 wickets @ 31.79
Experienced seam bowler and hard hitting batsman
Robert Croft 21 Testss and 50 ODIs
Simon Jones 18 Tests and 8 ODIs
Huw Waters England U 19s
Welsh born fast bowler that is dubbed the 'new Simon Jones' and has had a good start to his career.
There are also a number of talented young players coming through like James Harris.
Now if you added 2-3 foreign born British passport holders to that team (esp batsmen) you would have a very tidy group that would certainly be capable of competeing against the lower level Test sides. If its good enough for England (3 from the last test against WI and 4 0f the WC squad were born outside the UK) then its certainly good enough for Wales. Also maybe a certain G. Jones would be available
.