Head Coach Grant Bradburn has named a 13-man squad for our first home game of the season, as we welcome some old faces to Wales when we take on Derbyshire in the Vitality County Championship.
The Welsh county had a historic week at Lord’s, with red ball skipper Sam Northeast smashing the highest-ever score at the iconic venue, surpassing Graham Gooch’s 333 when he made 335* on Saturday.
Our mammoth innings of 620/3 saw composed half-centuries from Billy Root, opening the innings for the first time, and Vice-Captain Kiran Carlson.
Northeast was then well supported by a fine century from Colin Ingram, as the two shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 299.
The bowlers put in some hard graft on a pitch that offered little and showed encouraging signs to keep the hosts to three an over across 200 overs, and Bradburn was thrilled with the team's efforts.
Seamer Harry Podmore, Eddie Byrom and Timm van der Gugten are unavailable for selection with injuries, though it is hoped all will become fit to play at stages over the first four Championship games.
While on-loan seamer Craig Miles has been recalled by Warwickshire, Miles made an immediate impact at Lord's and we remain hopeful of a return pending availability.
We took 13 points from the Home of Cricket and we sit 2nd in the Division Two table, while the visitors Derbyshire saw their first game of the season abandoned due to the inclement weather.
View from the Camp – Grant Bradburn
“Lord’s Cricket Ground is always a special occasion, and our opening game of the Championship will remain memorable for us all, particularly for Sam after his superb historic innings.
“As a team, the time on task in round 1 has proved so valuable in putting ‘new era’ plans into action and grass time into the legs.
“There were so many positives that we brought back on the team bus, including more points than the opposition, and we all look forward to performing for the 1st time this season on our home stage at Sophia Gardens”.
Head-to-head – Glamorgan vs Derbyshire
The first-class season began last week with the effects of Storm Kathleen playing havoc with a number of matches including Derbyshire’s opening contest at Derby with their game against Gloucestershire being washed out without a ball being bowled. In contrast, Glamorgan did not lose any playing time across their four days against Middlesex at Lord’s with Sam Northeast enjoying a memorable visit to the St John’s Wood ground with a majestic and record-breaking 335*. The Welsh county’s red-ball captain has now scored 515 runs since he was last dismissed in a Championship match.
Last year’s game at Cardiff between Glamorgan and Derbyshire – during the final week of September – ended in a draw with Colin Ingram top-scoring with 82 whilst Luis Reece scored a hundred in each innings, emulating what he had also done at Derby earlier in the summer against Glamorgan as he become the first-ever batter in county history to score four successive hundreds in a season against the same opponents.
The Welsh county secured an emphatic innings victory in 2022 when they welcomed the Peakites to Cardiff with David Lloyd – now the Derbyshire captain - scoring an unbeaten 313 as his team posted 550-5 before declaring. A five-wicket haul by Kiwi spinner Ajaz Patel saw Derbyshire follow-on 297 runs in arrears before a stand of 128 in 37.5 overs between Wayne Madsen and Leus du Plooy steadied Derbyshire’s second innings. Their stand ended when James Harris, during an exemplary post-lunch spell, saw Madsen chop a short ball onto his stumps, before Glamorgan took the new ball with Michael Hogan ending the contest as Timm van der Gugten caught Sam Conners on the long-leg boundary.
How to watch
A livestream of the fixture will be provided, with commentary from Nick Webb and the BBC Wales team. You can follow along and see the highlights of the fixture across the Glamorgan social media channels.