Head coach Matt Maynard has named a 13-man squad for the visit to Canterbury as Glamorgan face Kent in the Vitality Blast on Wednesday, 14th August.
Ruaidhri Smith makes his second consecutive squad after an impressive display on Sunday against Surrey, taking 3/21 from his four overs, while Kiran Carlson is still receiving treatment on his side strain and has travelled with the team to continue working with the medical team and the staff are hopeful he will be available for Friday’s game against Essex.
“It was great to see Ruaidhri get back on the field and even better for him to be straight back in the wickets column. I’m delighted for him. He’s a really skilful white-ball bowler in particular, and to remove their three best batsmen, including Finch for a duck, showed exactly what he can do.
“He’s got talent with both ball and bat, as well as fielding ability, so once he gets fully back into a game rhythm we are really excited about what he can bring.
“Kiran is still recovering from his injury and while we are hoping he’ll be good to go Friday we won’t rush him back if he’s not 100% fit. He’s not been able to fully maintain good form throughout the season but he is a tremendously talented young player and we fully back him to get to the level he wants to and should reach.”
Fakhar Zaman will be making his penultimate appearance for the Welsh side, while Shaun Marsh made his return to action for Glamorgan after a 13-month spell away with injury and national team duties.
“Fakhar hasn’t quite had the impact he’d have wanted to do with the bat but he has continued to work hard, even with only a few games left, and he’s desperate to do well for us.
“He’s shown something with the ball that many people thought he might not have, but he really wants to get that big match-winning score for Glamorgan.
“Shaun obviously didn’t have the greatest day in the Surrey game, but we know Shaun has an incredible amount of quality and talent and he’s shown that over the years in domestic and international cricket.
“He’s been working hard ever since he’s arrived and I back him to get himself going.”
Last year’s fixture against Kent was washed out at Sophia Gardens but the trip to Canterbury in 2017 was more successful as Glamorgan came out on top by 25 runs. The hosts sit 3rd in the South Group, with six wins and three losses to their name, but have started to lose momentum after winning their first five games, losing three of their last four.
“Kent are a quality outfit across all departments, there’s no doubt about it. Bell-Drummond, Crawley and Kuhn are great top-order batsman, and Billings is an England-quality player who’ll be desperate to make an impact.
“They’ve got serious pace in Milne and Viljoen, guys who can crank it to 90mph quite easily. Mohammed Nabi might be one of the most impactful players in the tournament so far – he’s so skilled with both bat and ball. We saw it on the TV against Surrey when he won the game in a quarter of an hour.
“We are underdogs heading into their territory but we fully believe in ourselves, and we just need that one win to change momentum and get some steam building up before we head to Colwyn Bay and the last stages of the season.”
