Glamorgan travel to Northampton for their next contest in the Vitality County Championship which is scheduled to start at the Wantage Road ground at 11.00am on Friday, 19 April. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Glamorgan last visited Northampton for a County Championship encounter in 2021, with the contest witnessing a victory for the East Midlands team as their batters toyed with the Welsh county’s attack on the final day of a game which the visitors had hitherto dominated. But Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh added 239 in the space of 46 overs with the home side cantering to victory with 38 balls in hand as they successfully chased what had seemed to be a daunting target of 355 in a minimum of 79 overs.
In 2020 the Northampton ground had also been the scene of a remarkable debut century by Callum Taylor, as well as a 62-ball blitzkrieg by Marchant de Lange as the all-rounder bludgeoned Glamorgan’s fastest-ever hundred in first-class cricket. But their efforts in the Bob Willis Trophy were in a losing cause as the East Midlands side won by six wickets.
Glamorgan had won by an innings and 143 runs at Northampton in 2019 with Billy Root’s career-best 229 laying the foundations for victory as the Welsh county reached a sizeable first innings total of 547 being trouncing the Northamptonshire batters thanks to some hostile seam bowling by the triumvirate of Michael Hogan, Timm van der Gugten and de Lange as the home side were dismissed for 209 and 195.
Glamorgan’s handsome victory in 2019 was their first since 2012 in Championship cricket at Wantage Road and their twelfth victory at Northampton in first-class cricket. As far as the game in 2012 was concerned, Glamorgan won by three wickets thanks to a composed innings by Jim Allenby, plus a breezy knock from John Glover, which saw the Welsh county successfully chase a target of 351 on the final day.
As far as Glamorgan’s bowling records against Northants are concerned, they are dominated by the performances of legendary bowlers Don Shepherd and Johnnie Clay. ‘Shep’ holds the record for best figures in an innings for Glamorgan against the East Midlands side having taken 9/47 when bowling seam-up at Cardiff Arms Park in 1954, whilst Johnnie returned match figures of 15/86 at Llanelli in 1935 - the summer when the off-spinner was called up to make his England debut against the South Africans at The Oval.