Glamorgan meet the students of Cardiff UCCE in a three-day friendly at Sophia Gardens starting on Sunday, 30 March at 1100 am. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Having drawn their three-day practice match against Worcestershire, Glamorgan now focus their attention on their pre-season friendly against the student team, drawn from the Universities of Cardiff, South Wales and Cardiff Met.
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, Will Smale, Ben Morris and Asa Tribe, all using the scheme as a stepping stone into county cricket. Following the end of the 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 which Glamorgan won by the handsome margin of 140 runs.
Last year’s match between the two teams at Sophia Gardens ended in a draw after multiple interruptions from the weather but with Glamorgan firmly in the ascendency with the students on 63-7 in their second innings and just five runs ahead. The contest in 2023 was also ravaged by rain with the students winning by three wickets after Glamorgan, who could have opted for further batting practice, deciding to declare on the final afternoon and set the students a target of 274 from 51 overs. They duly won with five balls in hand thanks to a cultured century from Xavier Clarke, the younger brother of Joe, the batter-keeper for Nottinghamshire and the Welsh Fire.
The friendlies against the students between 2012 and 2017 were classed as first-class matches but, like the earlier matches from 2001, they are now classed as ECB friendlies so the Welsh county’s players will therefore have to wait until their game against Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens starting on 4 April before their performances with bat and ball, and in the field, will enter the first-class record books.
The game against Cardiff UCCE will however see Alex Wharf standing as one of the umpires as the former Glamorgan and England all-rounder officiates his first competitive match after being elevated onto the ICC’s elite panel of umpires.