Glamorgan resume their T20 Blast campaign against Sussex Sharks at The SSE SWALEC on Thursday night and there is one Sharks batsman who could cause the likes of Shaun Tait a few headaches.
Luke Wright has always been a ‘boom or bust’ sort of player, ever since he broke into the England ODI and T20 set-up in 2007 as a precocious 22-year-old. Originally an all-rounder, he found some success opening the batting for his country, clearing the in-field in the first few overs when the fielding restrictions were in play.
Although Wright only averages 20.20 in ODIs and 18.91 in T20 internationals, this owed to his role in the side – either as an opening pinch hitter or lower order slogger – which meant he often had to sacrifice his wicket. However, Wright was close to a test call-up when England were searching for that elusive all-rounder in between Andrew Flintoff’s retirement and the emergence of Ben Stokes.
More recently, Wright has been stacking up the runs at county level for Sussex in all formats. Fresh in Glamorgan’s memories will be the Sharks’ captain’s innings of 65 in the Royal London One-Day Cup in Cardiff last month, which threatened the hosts’ victory hopes until he was spectacularly caught by a diving Colin Ingram at mid-on.
Throughout that innings, Wright displayed his natural ability to clear the ropes off any kind of bowling, no matter what the field setting. He has amassed 5,928 career T20 runs with an incredible six centuries and a highest score of 153 not out.
Combined with his useful medium-pace and athleticism in the field, Wright is a very combative and competent cricketer who will pose a danger to Glamorgan’s barely-blemished record in this season’s T20 Blast.
Luke Wright In Numbers
Career T20 Runs = 5,928
Career T20 Strike Rate = 137.00
ODI caps = 50
T20 International Caps = 51
Career T20 Sixes = 233
Career T20 Catches = 85
Career T20 Wickets = 79.