Glamorgan travel to Kent for their next match in the Specsavers County Championship, with their four-day match scheduled to start at 11am at Canterbury on Sunday, May 1st (writes Andrew Hignell)
The weather was the only winner in the match against Derbyshire where 138 overs were lost to a combination of bad light, rain, sleet, hail and snow as practically the full gamut of weather phenomena were unleased over the 3aaa ground at derby, and in front of a hardy band of spectators whose dress resembled that of Polar explorers as an icy blast of Arctic air made its way south across the country.
Glamorgan now head to the Garden of England for their next contest in the Specsavers County Championship, and to an area which traditionally misses the worst of the heavy rain brought by frontal systems from the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, Kent have already been affected by the inclement weather with all four days of their opening Championship match of the summer against Worcestershire at New Road being washed out, whilst for the past few days, they – like the Glamorgan players at Derby – have been dodging the wintry showers at Grace Road where their game with Leicestershire ended all square.
Kent now return from the East Midlands to their headquarters in Canterbury for their first home game in the Championship, and with the hope that the weather will be more favourable to their efforts as well as those of their opponents who have also been frustrated by the weather in the past week or so.
The Championship games for the past four years between the two sides at Canterbury have all ended in draws, with last summer’s contest witnessing a fine rear-guard action led by David Lloyd who, with last man Michael Hogan at the other end, batted out the final over to guide Glamorgan to the safety of a draw.
Kent gained revenge on their visit to Cardiff in September 2015 as they recorded a comprehensive victory by 316 runs over Glamorgan, but last summer also witnessed the two sides lock horns in an enthralling Twenty20 match at Tunbridge Wells, where a superb performance with both bat and ball by the effervescent Graham Wagg saw Glamorgan clinch victory by one run.
Glamorgan’s most recent Championship victory on Kent soil came in September 2011 as the two teams took part in a pink-ball trial under the Canterbury floodlights, with a fine century by Stewart Walters guiding the Welsh county to an emphatic eight-wicket win.