The Glamorgan players had their first taste of outdoor action this week as they participated in an intra-squad match, spread over three days at Sophia Gardens and in between the blustery showers! (writes Andrew Hignell)
One team of twelve was led by Club captain Chris Cooke, whilst his deputy David Lloyd was in charge of the other. With their Australian contingent still to arrive in the UK, the two teams were augmented by members of the Club’s Senior Academy plus others from Cardiff UCCE and a couple of triallists.
David’s team batted first with the North Walian sharing an opening stand of 52 with Nick Selman. After a watchful start, David expanded his range of strokes and seemed destined to reach three figures before, on 82, he was bowled by Andrew Salter. Billy Root and Callum Taylor then registered fluent forties prior to Team Lloyd declaring on 251-2 after 76 overs.
Michael Hogan delivered a feisty new ball spell when Team Cooke batted, with the evergreen bowler beating the bat on regular occasions besides trapping Andrew Balbirnie l.b.w. with a wicked delivery which moved in late to the Irishman. Kiran Carlson top-scored with 46 whilst Dan Douthwaite made a typically muscular 43* before the declaration came on 164-5 from 53 overs shortly before tea on the second day.
Batting for a second time, David Lloyd recorded another assertive fifty, with his 70-ball half-century decorated with 10 crisply-struck boundaries. After a delayed start on the final day, he declared on 141-3 and set Team Cooke a target of 229 from a minimum of 62 overs. They duly reached the target with three wickets in hand thanks largely to Kiran Carlson who led the run chase with a typically elegant 93. Some lusty blows for four and six by Andrew Salter and Timm van der Gugten also helped to see Team Cooke to their target with a couple of overs to spare.