Glamorgan welcome Gloucestershire to Swansea for their annual match in the LV=County Championship at the St.Helen's ground, with the contest starting at 11am on Thursday, August 6th (Gates open at 10am).
Glamorgan take a break from their hectic schedule of matches in the Royal London One-Cup as they return to action in first-class cricket and looking to return to winning ways after successive defeats during July in the competition, losing both to Essex at Chelmsford and to Division Two leaders Lancashire at Colwyn Bay.
These defeats followed a period in May and June where Glamorgan won four consecutive Championship matches and as a result of this sequence they begin the game against Gloucestershire in third place in the table 68 points and a game in hand behind leaders Lancashire and 36 points behind Surrey who remain in second place in the table. Gloucestershire meanwhile are currently in fifth spot 28 points behind the Welsh county.
Over the years, Glamorgan's annual Championship matches at the ground overlooking Swansea Bay have produced some enthralling and thrilling contests - not least the contest between Glamorgan and Gloucestershire at the St. Helen's ground in 2012, where despite the loss of 109 overs, there were some subtle twists and turns as Glamorgan won by 26 runs on the final afternoon. The architect of the Glamorgan victory had been Robert Croft who claimed 4/13 in the space of 23 balls to see the Welsh County to a deserved victory.
Glamorgan had also been victorious in 1997 on Gloucestershire's previous visit to Swansea in the year when the County title came to Wales. In that contest eighteen years ago, the home side were set on the road to victory by an outstanding 173 from Hugh Morris, with Matthew Maynard also making 98 and Tony Cottey posting an unbeaten 76. Dean Cosker also chipped in with a seven-wicket match haul as the Welsh county won by ten wickets
Glamorgan were defeated by Essex last summer at Swansea, with Monty Panesar claiming eleven wickets in the contest, but in 2013 the Welsh county won by an innings and 37 runs against Leicestershire at St.Helen's, with Murray Goodwin scoring 178 whilst Michael Hogan claimed 5/43 before Dean Cosker and Andrew Salter span Glamorgan to victory with the evergreen left-arm spinner claiming 4/88. .