April 4th has been circled in the diary since the fixtures came out in November and with the nights now drawing out it really feels like the season. If not the summer just yet, it’s on the way.
We start by hosting a three-day practice match behind closed doors against Worcestershire on Monday 24th March. This will be followed by our annual three-day fixture against Cardiff UCCE Students on the 30th before we host Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens in the season opener.
Overseas Players
By then, all being well, Asitha Fernando will have arrived to become the first Sri Lankan international cricketer to play for Glamorgan. Ashtha’s addition will increase our player representation tally to ten out of the twelve Test playing nations. Answers on a postcard to Andrew Hignell for the original nine…
Asitha is contracted to be with us for at least the first seven County Championship games and we’ll make a decision on the make-up of our second overseas slot for the Twenty20 and beyond in due course. Colin Ingram will again be with us throughout the year, and with Australia coming for the World Test Championship Final at Lords in early June, we’re hopeful that Marnus Labuschagne may be back for a few games in the lead up to that.
Coaching updates
Richard Dawson has settled well into his role as Head Coach since joining us in February - and we are excited about him making a really positive impact. His recent experience in the international game allied to the excellent work he did at Gloucestershire in developing players will add huge value to the Club. Richard will retain his role with Welsh Fire as an Assistant Coach through August and we will announce a coaching plan for the 50 over campaign in due course. We are also in the process of appointing an Assistant Coach who will support Richard through the season.
Mark O’Leary has also joined the Club as an Assistant Coach with overall responsibility for the second team. He will be supported by the other coaches within the environment at various times. Steve Watkin has stepped down from his role as Second Team Coach during the winter to focus on developing fast bowlers through the pathway and re-engaging with talent in West and North Wales. Adrian Shaw will be engaged with working productively with the pathway players and transitioning them to senior cricket.
Scouting and Talent ID
We have widened our scouting structure over the last twelve months and are continuing to grow this to get more eyes watching cricket at different levels. Led by Hugh Morris and supported by a team of scouts, utilising a number of former Glamorgan players, we now have a presence at more schools, pathway and recreational cricket than we ever have done previously. Allied with the ability to be able to track talent through streaming and data analytics sources, we can now get a firm picture of talent in Wales and beyond while continuing to build strong relationships and foundations in this area.
Playing Squad
We welcome St Fagans Cricket Club batter Callum Nicholls who recently signed his first rookie contract. Callum joins us following several seasons of high run-scoring in the South Wales Premier Cricket League and off the back of an excellent winter playing club cricket in New Zealand. He has fully deserved his contract, and we look forward to seeing Callum gain experience and opportunities at the top of the order.
Other players who have spent time abroad over the close season include Dan Douthwaite, Tom Bevan and Kiran Carlson in Brisbane, Zain-Ul-Hassan and Eddie Byrom in Perth, Henry Hurle in Pakistan, Colin Ingram in South Africa and Will Smale and Alex Horton in New Zealand.
Women’s and Girls Cricket
Aimee Rees as Head of Women and Girls Cricket has done an excellent job in getting our first Glamorgan Women and Girls programmes up and running. We have appointed a number of staff and our programmes are now active. Former New Zealand international Rachel Priest has arrived to take Head Coaching duties of the senior Women’s side, while Mark Walton rejoined the Club from West Ham United Football Club at the turn of the year to head up the Girls Academy. We also appointed a new Physio and Strength and Conditioning Coach as we prepare for our first season in Tier 2.
Academies
This winter has been the first time we have had a Girls Academy and Boys Academy operating at the Club. All Academy players receive specialist coaching, having a mix of standard sessions and bespoke programmes covering off every aspect that will equip them to progress in the game including technical, tactical, physical, psychological and lifestyle skills.
As part of these programmes both Academy sides have been abroad this winter, spending ten days training just outside of Mumbai in India. These tours abroad are hugely beneficial for the players development as they are challenged with intense training in foreign conditions. We were provided with excellent net bowlers, operating in high quality facilities, and it was clear to see the huge benefits derived by both sets of players and coaches on the trip.
Our Pathway teams from Under 13 to Under 18 have also had full winter programmes and for the first time this summer will play as Glamorgan rather than as Wales in all fixtures, including ECB Cup Competitions. This will provide the players with a clear vision of the pathway that they are following and ensure clarity across the game.
Cardiff UCCE programme
We ensure that the programmes that our young players go through are not totally focused on cricket, to the detriment of other aspects of life. We encourage all of our players to play other sports, focus on their education and have multiple aspirations running alongside their cricket. To this end we’ve always supported the successful Cardiff UCCE programme and provide their Head Coach Michael Clayden as part of the ongoing partnership.
News that this programme is to be de-funded at the end of the season has been met with great disappointment at Glamorgan. We are committed to working with the universities to formulate a collaborative plan to keep this system going in South Wales to benefit young cricketers in the years to come.
Coach Development
While much of our development focus is understandably on our players, we have also taken steps to maximise the development of our coaches with ex-England (and Glamorgan) Head Coach Matthew Mott joining as Coach Development Lead from the start of April. Alongside his other cricketing commitments, Matthew will work with all of our coaches from professional to pathway level focusing on talent ID, mentoring and improving coaching practice throughout the Club.
Cricket Advisory Group
As we move into a new strategic period, the Board felt that we needed to have an increased lens on the cricket side of the business. As a result, in November we developed a new Cricket Advisory Group to support the Director of Cricket and CEO. This group will help give additional expertise and external perspectives on our cricket strategy and decision making moving forward. It will also allow us additional expertise as we try to put strong foundations in place for our Women’s Team who will move into Tier 1 professional cricket in 2027.
The group, chaired by board member Gareth Rees consists of:
- Gareth Rees (Chair and GCC Board member)
- Ann-Marie Smale (GCCC Deputy Chair)
- Dan Cherry (CEO)
- Mark Wallace (Director of Cricket)
- Matthew Mott (Independent advisor)
- Anya Shrubsole (Independent advisor)
Matthew has an excellent CV across both Men’s and Women’s cricket and is one of the best coaches working in the modern game. He will add great value in looking at cricket as a whole, but specifically in coaching and player development.
Anya was a key member of the England Women’s World Cup winning team in 2017, where she was player of the match. She will add undoubted expertise as we move towards a fully professional Women’s set up at the Club.
This is undoubtedly the busiest winter we have ever had at Glamorgan – and I’ve not even mentioned the ‘H’ word. We’re all looking forward to getting going again now that Spring is in the air.