Glamorgan thrashed Surrey by nine wickets in their NatWest T20 Blast encounter at The SSE SWALEC, with the game in Cardiff on Friday evening taking place only a few hours after the historic referendum had been held at which it was decided by a slender majority that Britain would leave the European Union.
If their batting was a reflection of their voting preferences, there were few supporters of the “in” camp in the Surrey line-up as the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals against a vibrant Glamorgan side whose home and away double, was based around some penetrative bowling and some smart fielding.
Leading the way behind the stumps was Chris Cooke, who claimed five victims and duly equalled the competition record for the most number of dismissals in a Twenty20 match by a wicket-keeper, although some would point to the fact that he also had a role in a sixth dismissal as he smartly whipped off the bails to run out Ben Foakes after an arrow-like throw from Aneurin Donald at long-on.
Cooke’s record-equalling tally included one high above his head to remove the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara, followed by another smart one standing up to the medium pace of Craig Meschede to end Rory Burns’ stay at the crease, just as the Surrey batsman threatened to cut loose.
The list below shows the other six occasions when wicket-keepers have claimed five victims in a domestic Twenty20 match:
- 5 (5cts) Matt Prior for Sussex v Middlesex at Richmond in 2006.
- 5 (5ct / 1 st) Gerard Brophy for Yorkshire v Durham at Chester-le-Street in 2008.
- 5 (3ct / 2 st) Ben Scott for Worcestershire v Yorkshire at Worcester in 2011.
- 5 (4ct / 1 st) Garry Wilson for Surrey v Hampshire at The Kia Oval in 2014.
- 5 (5cts) Niall O'Brien for Leicestershire v Northamptonshire at Leicester in 2014.
- 5 (3ct / 2 st) John Simpson for Middlesex v Surrey at Lord's in 2014.
Only two other wicket-keepers have taken more in a Twenty20 game elsewhere in the world – Upul Fernando who claimed seven catches in a domestic match in Sri Lanka in 2005/06 and Akeem Dodson who took four catches and two stumpings in a match in 2015 for the United States against Jersey.
The previous best involving Glamorgan in a Twenty20 match had been three catches which Mark Wallace made against Middlesex at Richmond in 2011, whilst Tony Frost claimed four catches for Warwickshire aginst Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in 2004.