Glamorgan wicketkeeper Tom Cullen has been entertaining a small village in Wiltshire with tales from the Welsh county during the Covid-19 pandemic, writes Alun Rhys Chivers.

The village of Potterne, which has fewer than 2,000 residents, might be almost a two-hour drive from Sophia Gardens but thanks to Cullen its residents can claim to know more than most about Glamorgan.

That is because Cullen, who has spent the past six seasons juggling his commitments at the Welsh county with playing for Potterne Cricket Club, has been conducting interviews with his county teammates for his local club's private Facebook page.

The likes of Billy Root and Dan Douthwaite have been quizzed by Cullen to provide a welcomed distraction from lockout life.

"They're a small community and they're just cricket mad, cricket nuts," said Cullen, who enjoyed a breakthrough season with Glamorgan last summer.

"They love it and can't get enough of it. At the moment with cricket not being around, there's not really that much in the community for them to do.

"When they look forward to cricket for six months and then it's not there, it can be quite challenging down there."

Cullen, who has been assigned to Neath this year, made his Glamorgan debut in 2017 before impressing last year in the absence of regular wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.

The 28-year-old scored four half-centuries in nine Championship matches for Glamorgan in 2019 and, while his county ambitions behind the stumps have been put on hold, he has seemingly found a new niche behind the microphone.

"They absolutely loved it. It really put a smile on a lot of people's faces," said Cullen, who has also interviewed former Glamorgan batsman Aneurin Donald, who is now at Hampshire, as well as Yorkshire's Harry Brook and has started to post his interviews on his Instagram stories for Glamorgan fans to enjoy

"I just wanted to help out in any way I could. I just thought why not do some interviews with some county cricketers? If they can't get to cricket, I thought I'd try and bring cricket to them.

"Then I thought, if it's engaged that side of the community, why not then try and engage the Glamorgan support base and community?

"Ultimately, that's who else I play for. It's just trying to bring cricket to the supporters and fans of our club."

Amongst the team-mates Cullen has lined up for further interviews are Kiran Carlson, Lukas Carey and a second chat with Douthwaite.

"I'm hoping to get through as many of the Glamorgan players as I can," he said.

"It's just providing some live interaction for the fans who aren't necessarily getting cricket at the minute. It gives them a chance to stay involved in it and something to look forward to."

Along with some light relief away from playing, Cullen and his fellow cricketers also realise the need to stay in shape, although all forms of cricket have been suspended until at least July 1.

"We're very privileged people, we have to remember that," he said.

"There's a lot more people out there that are doing it a lot tougher in the world today.

"The fact, in lockdown, that our main objective is that we're keeping fit, to keep bowlers getting out and doing some bowling and preparing for a season we don't know when it'll come - if that's the worst we have to go through then that's not a harsh reality to go through.

"I guess, when you train so hard for six months, especially the guys who've been training in the UK this winter, through WhatsApp groups and fitness groups, you see that the guys have worked so hard to build on last year's performances.

"It's not the greatest outcome but it is what it is.

"Human life is more important than anything else at the minute, but obviously we have to remain hopeful that we might be playing on July 1 and we've got to work towards that and make sure we're going to be in the best space possible because, if we are playing, we've got a responsibility after the season we had last year to make sure we're building on that."