Glamorgan meet the students of Cardiff UCCE in a three-day friendly at Sophia Gardens starting on Saturday, 1 April at 1100 am. (writes Andrew Hignell)
After their successful five-match tour to Zimbabwe during mid-March, and their three-day friendly against Somerset at Taunton, the Welsh county complete their pre-season programme with the three-day friendly against the student team, drawn from the Universities of Cardiff, South Wales and Cardiff Met, providing Glamorgan’s professionals with ideal preparation ahead of the County Championship season which commences with the home game against Gloucestershire starting on Thursday, 6 April at the Cardiff ground.
In recent years, the students from the various University Cricketing Centres of Excellence have played under the umbrella of the MCC, with several of the undergraduates, such as Glamorgan’s Dan Douthwaite, using the scheme as a stepping stone into county cricket. Following the end of this sponsorship deal with the MCC, the students’ team has reverted back to its original name, as used in the inaugural contest between the two teams back in 2001.
Glamorgan won this contest by the handsome margin of 140 runs with opening batsman Alun Evans scoring 137. The Glamorgan batsmen also had a field day in the drawn contest in 2004 with Michael Powell posting an imperious 201, whilst David Hemp made 138 as the Welsh county amassed 586-9. The following year, Glamorgan made 603, but the contest ended in a draw, with their most emphatic victory coming during 2011 when they won by 281 runs as the students were dismissed for 46 with seam bowler Huw Waters claiming 5/6.
Like this year’s contest, these friendlies against the students between 2001 and 2011 were not classed as being first-class matches. This changed in 2012 with their games against Glamorgan until 2017 being conferred with first-class status. This changed in 2018 so the Welsh county’s players will therefore have to wait until their game with Gloucestershire before their performances enter the first-class record books.