Glamorgan will continue their promotion bid as they travel to Manchester to meet Lancashire in their next game in the Rothesay County Championship with the contest at Old Trafford scheduled to get under way at 1100am on Tuesday, 29 July. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Glamorgan’s five-wicket victory over Kent on Friday afternoon at Cardiff has seen the Welsh county storm into second place in the Division Two table, 34 points behind leaders Leicestershire who defeated Derbyshire by 189 runs, with the Peakites slipping back into third place. For their part, Lancashire are in fourth place in the table, 21 points behind Glamorgan, having thrashed Gloucestershire by nine wickets at Cheltenham College with Tom Hartley achieving the rare feat of scoring a century and taking ten wickets in the match.
As far as matches against Lancashire are concerned, Glamorgan’s most recent visit to Old Trafford came in 2021 when the match, staged behind closed doors because of COVID restrictions, ended all square after several days of inclement weather. The match had been branded as Anderson versus Labuschagne as the stalwart England bowler went up against the golden boy of Australian cricket. It duly took the bowler just five balls to dismiss the Australian run-machine on an opening day shortened by rain to just 39 overs. Pugnacious half centuries by David Lloyd and Dan Douthwaite, plus further lusty blows from Timm van der Gugten saw Glamorgan to 344 before rain washed out the third day and leaving both teams to scrap for bonus points on the final day as the game ended in a draw.
Glamorgan’s last success at Old Trafford came in 1993 when 95 from Adrian Dale plus 55 by Matthew Maynard steered the side to a seven-wicket victory. This win thirty-two years ago is one of seven victories recorded by Glamorgan in 38 Championship matches at the Manchester ground with their other successes coming in 1946, 1951, 1957, 1965, 1968 and 1989.
21 of the games have ended in draws and in addition to the contest in 2021, the sequence includes the game in August 2015 when the Welsh county’s players experienced one of the perverse features of Manchester’s microclimate in that more rain often falls during August than in February. Over five hours play was lost in this contest with Glamorgan being forced to follow-on during the final day before Jacques Rudolph and Chris Cooke skilfully guided their team to the safety of a draw.
The visit to Manchester in 2013 had also ended all square, but saw both Murray Goodwin and Gareth Rees post forthright hundreds, with Murray’s 194 remaining the highest individual innings for Glamorgan on Lancashire soil. As far as the bowling records are concerned in the contests against the Red Roses, Waqar Younis’ return of 7/25 at Liverpool in 1997 is the best in an innings for Glamorgan in Lancashire, whilst Steve Watkin’s figures of 13/159 in the nine-run victory at Old Trafford in 1989 remain the best match figures for the Welsh county in Lancashire.
As far as personal milestones are concerned, Colin Ingram has 871 first-class runs to his name this year, and at a very healthy average of 72.58. Only eight other batters in both Divisions of the Championship have amassed more than the evergreen southpaw who goes into the game at Old Trafford 129 runs away from reaching 1,000 runs yet again.