Glamorgan travel to Kent for their next match in the Rothesay County Championship, with their four-day game scheduled to start at 1100am at Canterbury on Friday, 9 May. (writes Andrew Hignell)
The Welsh county remain at the foot of the Division Two table following a thrilling draw against Derbyshire who ended nine wickets down against Glamorgan for the first time in Wales since 1963, and in a game which saw a superb contribution on the final day by Ben Kellaway who recorded career-bests with both bat and ball. Kent are 26 points ahead of them in fourth place in the table after being beaten by Middlesex at Lord’s – like Glamorgan in the previous round of games in April – with the home side successfully chasing 365 on the final day besides overcoming a mid-innings wobble to win by two wickets.
Glamorgan’s most recent visit for a Championship match at Canterbury came in 2021 and ended in a rain-affected draw. The game though is most remembered for a remarkable assault on the Glamorgan batting by Darren Stevens, as the 45 year-old bludgeoned 190 off 149 balls, striking 15 sixes and as many fours. His furious fusillade completely changed the complexion of the game after Kent had plummeted to 128-8 with Michael Neser taking 3/5 in 15 balls, whilst Timm van der Gugten delivered a miserly spell of 4/15. But this was the prelude for Stevens’ hurricane hitting during a record ninth wicket stand of 166 in 27.1 overs with West Indian Miguel Cummins who contributed a solitary single during two hours of restrained defence.
Over the years, Glamorgan have fared very well in white-ball cricket at the St. Lawrence ground with their title-winning victories over Kent in 1993 and 2002 being the stuff of modern-day Canterbury tales. As far as red-ball matches are concerned, all five of their Championship victories at Canterbury have come in recent times – 1980, 1992, 1997, 2011 and 2017.
Their most recent victory in 2017 came as Michael Hogan completed a ten-wicket match haul to see Glamorgan to a stirring five-wicket win, and all after Kent had secured a first innings lead of 73 following 152 by Joe Denly. Batting for a second time, Kent’s batters had few answers to the Australian’s bowling with Michael claiming 6/43 as the home side were dismissed for 115 before Nick Selman led the run chase with an assertive 70.
As far as batting performances for Glamorgan in Championship cricket at Canterbury are concerned, David Hemp’s unbeaten 171 in 2005 is the highest score at the ground for the Welsh county, although Chris Cooke also made 171 at the ground in 2014 before being dismissed just as he seemed poised to beat David’s score. The match in 2016 saw Glamorgan record their best-ever sixth wicket stand against Kent as David Lloyd and Graham Wagg added 215 in a noble rear-guard action, with each batter making hundreds. Their sturdy efforts however could not save Glamorgan from defeat as, for the second time in the match, Kent’s openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tom Latham shared a century opening stand as they eased to an emphatic victory by ten wickets.
The game at Canterbury in 2014 saw Chris Cooke and Dean Cosker add a record 118 for the eighth wicket, whilst in 2005 a quixotic tenth wicket stand between David Hemp and Huw Waters added 118. The latter’s ramrod-straight defensive strokes almost drove Kent’s captain David Fulton to distraction as he bowled a series of gentle lobs in an effort to break the tailender’s concentration. Huw’s three and a quarter hour vigil was eventually ended by Simon Cook – now Kent’s Director of Cricket – but his doughty efforts could not prevent Glamorgan from following-on and eventually losing the match by an innings – one of eleven defeats in Glamorgan’s twenty-five Championship matches at Canterbury.