Cooke Relishing Important T20 Period

6 Jul 2016 | Cricket
Chris Cooke is relishing a crucial trio of T20 matches, as the Welsh county continue their NatWest T20 Blast campaign against Sussex Sharks in Cardiff tomorrow (Thursday) night, from 6.30pm.

Cooke, who sat out Glamorgan's County Championship draw with Sussex this week with a minor back injury, said the next three games represented an 'exciting' time for the team, as they seek to secure a quarter-final spot.

Glamorgan follow the T20 against the Sharks with a visit to Richmond on Friday night to take on Middlesex, before heading back to The SSE SWALEC on Sunday afternoon for a top-of-the-table clash against Gloucestershire.

"It's exciting," said Cooke. "As players these are the games you want to play in and we've got three big games coming up.

"We've had a bit of a break from the white ball stuff but the boys will be training hard and having a couple of nets ahead of the first game tomorrow (against Sussex). All three teams are riding pretty high in the table, so it's a really important period for us."

Cooke has taken over the wicket-keeping gloves from Mark Wallace in white-ball cricket and is expected to make his return to the side, along with South African batsman Colin Ingram and Australian quick Shaun Tait.

Glamorgan secured a valuable draw earlier this week with Sussex and beat the Sharks convincingly, by 84 runs, in their Royal London One-Day Cup encounter a month ago – a game in which Cooke top-scored with a blistering 80.

He added: "I think that (the four-day draw) gives us confidence and we had a good win over them in the 50-over stuff, so the boys are in good spirits at the moment."

On Tait, Cooke believed the 33-year-old Aussie could replace Dale Steyn in adding raw pace to Glamorgan's potent T20 attack, which has been all-important in earning the Welsh county five wins from their first seven games in the competition.

Cooke said: "I haven't faced him in the nets yet, only against him last year when he was playing for Essex. He was pretty quick, so I'd much rather he was on our side than play against hiim. But it's great to have him here."

The three-match stint finishes on Sunday at The SSE SWALEC, when local rivals Gloucestershire travel to Cardiff. Glamorgan have won both their white-ball matches against Gloucestershire this season and will be hoping to make it thre wins out of three on Sunday afternoon.

Cooke was wary of the visitors however, with the likes of Michael Klinger and Hamish Marshall in their batting lineup.

"Gloucestershire are a good white-ball outfit, we know that," added Cooke. "They obviously won the 50-over competition last year and they've got some dangerous players. But hopefully, with the weather set fair, it'll be a great day of cricket for the families and let's hope we can get a win."

Glamorgan's match against Sussex Sharks on Thursday night gets underway at 6.30pm. Secure your seats by clicking here.

On Sunday, Glamorgan Cricket are offering a special discounted price for families. A family of four can watch the match £30. Redeem the offer by clicking here.