Glamorgan welcome Durham to Sophia Gardens for their opening match in the LV=Insurance County Championship with the four-day game scheduled to start at 11am on Thursday, April 7th.
This will be Durham’s first visit to the Cardiff ground since August 2018 when they completed an innings victory inside three days after a return of 5-28 by Chris Rushworth saw Glamorgan – led by Michael Hogan – dismissed in their second innings for 111.
Durham also beat Glamorgan by an innings last summer at Chester-le-Street, with the Welsh county’s most recent victory in a four-day contest between the two teams coming at Swansea in 2017 after an enterprising declaration by Paul Collingwood set Glamorgan a target of 266 from 51 overs on the final afternoon. Despite the loss of early wickets, a watchful century by Nick Selman saw Glamorgan to a three-wicket victory.
In all, Durham have previously played seven Championship games at Glamorgan’s headquarters in Cardiff with the first, in May 1992, seeing Durham win by an innings and 104 runs thanks to hundred by Paul Parker and Wayne Larkins, Tony Cottey struck a defiant second innings century, but an eight-wicket haul by visiting seamer Simon Brown saw his side to victory.
This win in 1992, plus their success by an innings and 30 runs in 2018, have been the only occasions when Durham have been victorious in a first-class match at the Cardiff ground. Between 1997 and 2003 Glamorgan defeated Durham in four successive Championship encounters at Sophia Gardens, with their winning run starting in 1997 with a victory by an innings and 2 runs. This was followed in 1999 by a seven wicket win, then in 2002 by a win by five wickets before another victory by eight wickets in 2003.
The game is also set to see two of the most successful bowlers in recent seasons, neither of whom have ever played in Test cricket, go head-to-head as Chris Rushworth – with 564 first-class wickets to his name for Durham – opens the bowling for the visitors with Michael Hogan – having 412 first-class wickets for Glamorgan – doing the same for the home county.