Glamorgan start their first-class campaign at Lord’s on Friday, 5 April as they meet Middlesex in the opening match of the Vitality County Championship. (writes Andrew Hignell)
This will be the 100th time that Glamorgan have played Middlesex in first-class cricket with their inaugural meeting coming in 1931. Since that time, Glamorgan have been victorious on ten occasions, with five of their successes coming at home – at Cardiff Arms Park in 1950, at Swansea in 1959, 1969 and 2009, and at Sophia Gardens in 1991. Glamorgan have also won on four occasions in Championship matches at Lord’s – in 1952, 1954, 2010, 2011 – as well as the game at Southgate in 2000.
As far as their back-to-back victories at Lord’s in 2010 and 2011 were concerned, the first came by 78 runs and was set up by some probing spells of seam bowling by David Harrison and Huw Waters. In 2011 James Harris took an eight-wicket haul whilst a century from Ben Wright plus 87 by Will Bragg helped to lay the foundations for a nine-wicket victory.
This is also the sixth time that Glamorgan have begun their Championship season at the historic ground in St. John’s Wood. 1952 was the first occasion with the Welsh county, under the captaincy of Wilf Wooller, winning by 131 runs. The second was in 1984 when Middlesex secured a comprehensive ten-wicket victory, whilst in 1992, 2008 and 2009 the matches were drawn.
Middlesex however have been victorious in the last three meetings between the two teams in Championship cricket, winning in 2019 at Cardiff by 256 runs, before completing a home and away double in 2022 with a victory by an innings and 82 runs at Cardiff followed by a ten-wicket win at Lord’s.
This year’s game could see a historic landmark being achieved on the hallowed turf at Lord’s as 997 hundreds have so far been scored in first-class matches for the Welsh county. The first was made in the Club’s inaugural season in the County Championship in 1921 as Billy Spiller, the Cardiff policeman and former Welsh rugby international, scored a century against Northamptonshire at the Wantage Road ground. The most recent was Sam Northeast’s 166 against Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens last September so the third hundred in first-class games during 2024 will see the 1,000th being recorded for Glamorgan.