Glamorgan meet Gloucestershire in the next round of matches in the Rothesay County Championship with the contest at Sophia Gardens scheduled to get underway at 1100am on Sunday, 29 June. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Glamorgan remain in third place in the Division Two table after their stirring draw against leaders Leicestershire at Grace Road, whilst Gloucestershire are eleven points behind in fourth spot after their eventful draw against Derbyshire at Bristol. The two teams met at Bristol during April with the match ending in a draw after the Welsh county had followed-on 161 runs in arrears, despite a fine 103 by Colin Ingram. The southpaw was to the fore again during the second innings when, with the help of rain and bad light, Glamorgan salvaged a draw.
It had been a completely different story when the West Country side visited Cardiff last September as the One-Day Cup champions for 2024 met the winners of the T20 competition, with Glamorgan victorious by 192 runs after a double-forfeiture on the third day had seen Gloucestershire being set a target of 382 to win. They were never in the hunt as the Welsh county’s bowlers steadily worked their way through the visitors batting line-up to round off the 2024 season with a resounding victory – one of seven which they have recorded against Gloucestershire at their headquarters.
Gloucestershire’s visit to Cardiff in 2023 had been for the opening game of the four-day season with Kiran Carlson and Billy Root each posting centuries to guide the Welsh county into a lead of 223 runs. With batting conditions far easier in Gloucestershire’s second innings, Marcus Harris made 148 with his deft placement and perfect timing catching the eye.
Glamorgan’s bowlers, however, stuck to their task and whittled away at the visitors’ line-up as Gloucestershire began the final day 134 runs ahead with five wickets remaining. But Graeme van Buuren dispelled any thoughts of a home victory as the visiting captain compiled a patient hundred and, with a lusty half-century from Tom Price, he saw his team to a lead of 330 before declaring forty minutes before tea as the contest ended all-square.
The West country side had been victorious by ten wickets in 2021, despite Hamish Rutherford and David Lloyd sharing an opening stand of 136. The game however swung – or more appropriately spun - in Gloucestershire’s favour thanks to a second innings haul of 6/43 by Zafar Gofar – now with Middlesex - as the Welsh county were dismissed for 124.
This will be Sam Northeast’s 50th first-class match for Glamorgan, whilst Zain ul Hassan requires just six runs to reach the personal landmark of 1,000 first-class runs for the Welsh county. Chris Cooke also needs a further 45 runs to pass the milestone of 8,000 first-class runs for Glamorgan.