by Dominic Booth
Despite a mixed start to the season, Glamorgan head into the 2017 NatWest T20 Blast in a position of strength compared to this time last year.
They're in a higher position in the County Championship than last year, they produced a positive finish in the Royal London One Day Cup – ending the campaign with three wins out of four matches – and their kingpin T20 batsman has been firing on all cylinders.
Colin Ingram will surely be relishing the upcoming Blast campaign more than any player in the Glamorgan dressing room. His 502 runs and record-equalling 29 sixes helped the Welsh county to second place in the South Group in 2016 and a home quarter-final against Yorkshire.
Under the stewardship of composed captain Jacques Rudolph, Glamorgan embarked on a streak of six consecutive victories, seven wins out of eight – all with Ingram as the protagonist. His swash-buckling style lends itself to white-ball cricket and the county will be delighted to have secured his services until the end of the 2019 season for limited overs cricket.
But the belligerent South African has proven his worth in the longer formats this year, after missing Glamorgan's entire County Championship campaign in 2016 due to a long-standing back injury. He's hit 562 runs in 13 Championship innings, at the time of writing, including a sensationally solid 155 not out to clinch an unlikely draw against table-topping Nottinghamshire.
That's not to mention his scintillating form in the Royal London One-Day Cup. Ingram almost single-handedly kept Glamorgan in the competition with 564 runs, three centuries and two fifties in just eight innings. It was an astonishing streak of impeccably consistent hitting from the former South African international, whose leg-spin also yielded seven useful wickets.
But as Glamorgan prepare for their T20 curtain-raiser against Hampshire on July 7, others will hope to match Ingram for impact on the competition, usually the Welsh county's strongest suit. Marchant de Lange has hit the ground running after his move from South Africa, David Lloyd will look to continue where he left off at the top of the order last season – his unbeaten 97 to inspire victory over Kent was a genuine highlight of 2016 – while Glamorgan have a ready made all-action T20 cricketer in the fit-again Graham Wagg.
Timm van der Gugten memorably kickstarted the 2016 campaign with a devastating spell of 4-1-14-4 to shock Surrey at The Oval last term; Glamorgan will be hoping the Flying Dutchman can do something similar this time around.
There will also be a chance for the naturally-aggressive Aneurin Donald to free his arms in the middle order. He's another whose game is best suited to the shortest format and he hit two vital half-centuries in T20 cricket last term. After an inconsistent start to 2017, the Blast could be the catalyst for the young Welsh star to shine again.
The Welsh county are faced with a tough start, as they were last season. They meet Hampshire at home before a visit to Sussex two days later. Then comes the big one, Somerset at The SSE SWALEC on a Saturday night (July 14) in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Weather-permitting it should be a cracker, a big crowd and a chance for the all-conquering Ingram to show the world his talents. If he fires, you suspect Glamorgan will have a fighting chance of another home quarter-final, maybe even an appearance at T20 finals day. They also face Sussex, Surrey, Gloucestershire and Middlesex in the Welsh capital.
Release the handbrake, fire up the engine, start the car. The Blast is back.