Kent reach 330/8 at the close of the first day at Canterbury

Some believe that sport and politics should never mix, but in each case, there have been some important comings and goings in recent days, following the General Election last Thursday, as well as changes over the weekend to the management of the England cricket team. In the world of Glamorgan CCC there have been some in's and out's in recent days, with the signing of Wayne Parnell for the NatWest T20 Blast, plus the return of on-loan Andy Carter back to Nottinghamshire. In his absence David Lloyd returned to Glamorgan's line-up with Graham Wagg sharing the new ball with Michael Hogan as the visitors looked to exploit a green-tinged surface.


The pair duly delivered a frugal opening salvo with the first run not coming until the sixth over as the pair beat the outside edge on several occasions. The sequence of dot balls ended as Joe Denly pulled a short ball from Wagg to the mid-wicket ropes. In the left-armer's next over Daniel Bell-Drummond edged through the slips before greeting the introduction of Craig Meschede by square-cutting his first delivery to the ropes. Three balls later he repeated the stroke before Denly added two boundaries himself as he cover drove and off-drove Meschede in his third over.


Bell-Drummond also cover drove Meschede as Kent eased to the 50-mark in the 15^th over before Denly struck successive fours against Hogan when the fast bowler returned at the Nackington Road End. Denly also pulled Hogan for four but the bowler gained immediate revenge as the batsman edged the next delivery into Jacques Rudolph's hands at third slip.

68/1 saw Brendan Nash join Bell-Drummond and both batsmen secured boundaries by pulling short deliveries from Hogan and Lloyd, with the latter also being square-cut for four by Nash, who then repeated the stroke when Wagg returned shortly before lunch as Kent moved into three figures.

Dean Cosker also had a short spell at the Pavilion End before the interval and was both straight driven and pulled by Bell-Drummond as the opener completed a 95-ball fifty. Nash also cut Cosker to the ropes in the final over of the session.

Having reached 125/1 at lunch, Kent were looking to continue their serene progress as Craig Meschede and Michael Hogan resumed the bowling. But after a series of singles, Brendan Nash edged a flamboyant drive against Hogan into Mark Wallace's gloves as the Australian claimed his second scalp with Kent on 134. Sam Northeast soon got his bearings as he steered Hogan through backward point, but Daniel Bell-Drummond reverted back to a more circumspect style as he defended stoutly against Hogan.


It was Meschede who claimed the third wicket - and Glamorgan's first bowling point as he dismissed Northeast leg before with the total on 145. Fabian Cowdrey was off the mark clipping Meschede to square-leg for four before Bell-Drummond came out of his shell as he firstly flicked Lloyd to the boards at mid-wicket before off-driving Wagg for four.


The opener then steered a loose ball from Wagg through extra cover but with the total on 190 Cowdrey edged a delivery from Lloyd into Wallace's gloves as Kent lost their fourth wicket. His departure prompted the arrival of Darren Stevens who opened his account by twice biffing Meschede over the head of mid-off.


Bell-Drummond moved into the nineties by pulling Lloyd for four before nurdling Meschede to third man. He then pulled Meschede to mid-wicket to reach his century from 179 balls shortly before the interval.

Kent had reached 222/4 by tea and with the assertive Darren Stevens having joined centurion Daniel Bell-Drummond, the home side were looking to capitalise on their position after having opted to bat first on the well-grassed surface. Each struck boundaries through the off-side straight after the interval. Stevens also despatched Craig Meschede over the head of backward point for four before drilling him through extra cover.


Bell-Drummond was then struck a blow on the helmet as he was hit on the head by a bouncer from Lloyd and the blow appeared to unsettle the opening batsman as shortly afterwards Glamorgan took the new ball at 80 overs with Kent on 277/4 and with his second delivery Hogan trapped Bell-Drummond l.b.w. for 123.


Stevens responded by square-driving Wagg to complete a 75-ball fifty, but next ball Wagg had him deftly caught by Jacques Rudolph at leg-slip as Glamorgan secured their second bowling point with the home side on 289/6. Sam Billings opened his account with a glance to fine-leg for four followed by a sumptuous cover drive for four against Wagg and a pulled four off Hogan. Calum Haggett also pulled Wagg for six before Billings off-drove the left-armer besides nurdling him for four. However, Meschede had the last laugh as shortly before the close, Billings miscued a pull with Chris Cooke completing the catch at point.

Hogan then struck in the final over of the day as Haggett edged into the slips where Jacques Rudolph at third slip held a good catch to leave the home side on 330/8 and feeling that they should have scored more as the new ball had yielded 4/53.