A diminutive outside half in the classic Welsh mode, he learned his rugby at Glanafan Grammar, in Port Talbot. He won three Wales Schools caps at U15 level against England (twice) and the Scottish Borders in 1953 and went on to play six times for Wales Secondary Schools.
He played against the touring Eastern Transvaal High Schools, France and England in 1955 and Yorkshire, France and England in 1956. He was also a member of the young Welsh Dragons team that went to South Africa in 1956.
The team played eight matches and won six and drew another, with Rees one of the stars of the side in tandem with Clive Rowlands at scrum half. He did his National Service with Rowlands in the RAF, where he was a radar mechanic, before heading to Loughborough University.
Despite missing the final three games in South Africa with injury, his form on that trip had some experts tipping him as the natural successor to Cliff Morgan in the Wales No 10 jersey.
He made the first of several appearances as a teenager for Aberavon against Pontypridd in February 1957 before joining Llanelli in the 1959-60 season. He eventually settled in at Maesteg, a club he captained in the 1961-62 season, before joining Leeds RLFC in September, 1962.
In the autumn of 1961 he was in the Probables team in a Welsh trial opposite Cliff Ashton. He scored two tries in a 20-3 victory and was picked for the opening game of the 1962 Five Nations campaign against England at Twickenham.
He found himself playing opposite Richard Sharp in a game that ended as a 0-0 draw. Kel Coslett, who with Rees was one of four Welsh backs making their debut, missed five kicks at goal in a swirling wind.
Rees went on to drop a goal in the 8-3 home defeat to the Scots in the next round before losing his place in the wake of a 3-0 triumph over France at the Arms Park. At the beginning of the next season he turned professional.
At Leeds, Rees was settling into the team when he suffered a serious injury in an unsavoury match against Oldham. Two players were sent off and Rees, twice felled after parting with the ball, was taken to hospital with his nose broken in two places; the bleak winter of 1962-63 meant an extended lay-off for all clubs and hence he missed few matches.
Injuries blighted his time in rugby league and he eventually retired from all rugby in 1965 to concentrate on cricket and playing for Glamorgan. He had made his first-class debut for Glamorgan at the age of 17 against Somerset at Weston-Super-Mare while still at school in 1955.
A brilliant cover fielder, he eventually played 216 games for Glamorgan between 1955 and 1968, being awarded his county cap in 1963. He scored 7,681 runs, took 113 catches, scored two centuries and 36 half-centuries. He was controversially given out ‘handled the ball’ against Middlesex at Lord’s in 1965, only the second time it had happened in first-class cricket.
He played against all the major touring teams for Glamorgan – South Africa in 1960 and 1965, Australia twice in 1961 and in 1964 and 1968, Pakistan in 1962 and 1967, West Indies twice in 1963 and in 1966, New Zealand in 1965 and India in 1967 – and was the highest scorer in both innings (48 and 47) when the Welsh county beat Australia by 36 runs at St Helen’s in 1964. He then scored 33 in the first innings in the 79-run win over the Aussies in 1968.
He holds the distinction of scoring the first boundary at Sophia Gardens when it became the new home of Glamorgan cricket in 1967 when he opened the battling in the inaugural game there. He twice went onto the field as the 12th man for England in Test matches, the first time against Australia in 1964 at the same Headingley venue at which he was playing rugby league for Leeds during the winter.
After ending his professional sporting career he became a sports officer for Afan Borough Council. The Welsh Rugby Union offers since condolences to the friends and family of Alun Rees.
Alan Henry Morgan Rees (Cap No 670 – 3 caps) B: 17.02.1938 in Port Talbot; D: 17.03.2022 in Morriston. He is survived by his wife, Val, and his two daughters.Â
