Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie is hoping to ‘pay Glamorgan back’ after signing as their overseas player for this year’s Vitality Blast.
Balbirnie is available to play in all ten of the club’s group stage matches, with the competition to start against Worcestershire Rapids tomorrow at Sophia Gardens.
“First and foremost, it’s great to be able to play in a quality competition for a really good and exciting team. It’s obviously a unique time where teams can’t really bring over their big overseas players from Australia and South Africa, so there was a door open there for Irish players. So fortunately, it was done last week and I was able to come over.
“Hopefully I can pay Glamorgan back. They brought me over and hopefully I can pay them back with some good performances.”
Balbirnie bats in the number three position for Ireland, a spot usually filled at Glamorgan by Colin Ingram who unfortunately is unlikely to feature for the Welsh county this year due to travel restrictions.
“Predominantly I’m a batter. I’m a top-order batsman and I like to score my runs quickly and get off to a good start, so I’d like to think I’ll be able to do that here and, like I say, give Glamorgan some wins.
“I’ve seen some of his [Colin Ingram] scores over the past few years. I’ll do my best, they are massive boots to fill and contributing to wins is what I’m here for, and hopefully I can do that.”
Glamorgan completed their Bob Willis Trophy match against Northants on Tuesday, a short turnaround before playing Worcestershire Rapids tomorrow but Balbirnie believes a swift start is needed in a condensed tournament in order to build momentum.
“The guys have just finished a four-day game yesterday and are straight at it tomorrow in the T20 stuff so we’ve got to hit the ground running.
“Games come thick and fast but we’ve got to make sure we get off to a winning start tomorrow and go on a roll because if you can get a bit of momentum, with the games coming so thick and fast, hopefully something special can happen.”
Balbirnie is no stranger to Wales having spent three years in the capital studying for his degree and playing for Cardiff MCCU.
“I had three great years here. I love the city. I had a lot of friends here and friends that I’ve been able to meet up with, so it’s been great."