Glamorgan welcome Gloucestershire to Sophia Gardens, Cardiff for their opening match in the LV=Insurance County Championship with the contest scheduled to start at 11.00am on Thursday, 6 April. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Gloucestershire have won three of their last four games at Cardiff, with the West country side being victorious by ten wickets in 2021, despite Hamish Rutherford and David Lloyd sharing an opening stand of 136. The game though swung in Gloucestershire’s favour thanks to 71, plus 3/44 from all-rounder Tom Price and a second innings haul of 6/43 by Zafar Gohar as the Welsh county were dismissed for 124.
Gloucestershire were also the victors at Cardiff in 2018 with Craig Miles – now with Warwickshire – taking eight wickets and Jack Taylor posting 112. The contest between the two teams in 2017 proved to be a high-scoring draw with Kiran Carlson scoring a superb 191 as he came within nine runs of being both the Club’s youngest centurion and double-centurion.
Glamorgan’s most recent victory against Gloucestershire in four-day cricket at Cardiff came in 2013 as the home side won by eight wickets with Jim Allenby taking 4/16, having also posted 85. Chris Cooke and Murray Goodwin also registered half-centuries to set up what was the fourth successive victory on Welsh soil for Glamorgan against the West Country side, as they had defeated Gloucestershire by 26 runs at Swansea in 2012, as well as at Cardiff in 2011 by 189 runs, and in 2010 by an innings and 4 runs.
This is the opening first-class game of the season for the Glamorgan team, and it is likely to be a memorable one for Timm van der Gugten who goes into the match with 199 first-class wickets to his name for the Welsh county.