13 May 2015 | Cricket
Glamorgan will start their T20 Blast campaign at the Kia Oval on Friday with the belief that they can qualify for Finals Day after the disappointment of failing to go through by a run last year.
They were coasting to victory against Lancashire Lightning before Jordan Clark's triple wicket maiden changed everything.
We feel that we are just as strong as we were last year, says coach Toby Radford.
We are a well balanced squad, very competitive and looking forward to starting at the Kia Oval in front of a big crowd.
Three experienced batsmen, Jim Allenby, Murray Goodwin and Stewart Walters have left the club since last season, and Glamorgan will miss Allenby's runs-last year he was one of the leading batsmen in the competition with 543 runs at an average exceeding 60. They have been replaced by Colin Ingram, Craig Meschede and the overseas signing Wayne Parnell.
Ingram had a highly successful one day season in South Africa last winter added Radford.
His two years with the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League as well as the experience he gained playing for South Africa will be a big advantage.
Meschede, a loan signing this season from Somerset, is also an useful acquisition, having already scored a championship century this season and impressed with his medium pace bowling.
Parnell will certainly strengthen the bowling, but Radford emphasises the South African is a genuine all rounder, and allied to his skill as an international opening bowler is his ability to score runs quickly in the middle order.
Mark Wallace will replace Allenby as Rudolph's opening partner, a role the long serving Glamorgan wicketkeeper has filled many times, but too often he has been moved up and down the order and not been allowed to settle as an opener. The team should not be short of runs, with Chris Cooke, Ingram and the all rounders following the left handed combination of Rudolph and Wallace.