Lukas Carey claimed his 50th first-class wicket for Glamorgan when he trapped Benny Howell l.b.w. on the opening morning of the Welsh county’s match in the Specsavers County Championship against Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Lukas began the 2018 campaign with 48 first-class wickets to his name, and after claiming four more in the non first-class friendly against Cardiff MCCU last weekend, the young seamer from Pontarddulais reached the 50-mark by firstly bowling Chris Dent and then having Benny Howell leg before.
This is only Lukas’ 15th first-class appearance, so he has reached the fifty mark in the same number of games as the legendary all-rounder Wilf Wooller, one less game than Steve Watkin and Darren Thomas, and two fewer than James Harris, another product of the Pontarddulais club, who took a nine-wicket match haul for Middlesex in their opening Championship match last weekend against Northamptonshire at Lord’s.
However, his feat took four more games than his captain, with Michael Hogan claiming his 50th first-class wicket for Glamorgan during his 11th appearance for the Welsh county, as Glamorgan met Leicestershire at Swansea in August 2013, whilst Timm van der Gugten claimed his 50th wicket, also against Leicestershire, during his 12th game for the Welsh county in 2016.
The record though for Glamorgan is held by Austin Matthews, the Penarth-born seam bowler who raced to the 50-mark in just eight matches during 1937. His efforts did not go unnoticed by the England selectors as Matthews was playing Test cricket barely three weeks after making his first appearance for Glamorgan debut.
His remarkable elevation followed a most impressive spell of fast swing bowling against the New Zealanders in their tour match at Swansea, plus a return of 14-132 against Sussex at Hastings. As a result, Matthews was drafted into the England side for the Third Test against the Kiwi’s at The Oval.