Rain and bad light frustrates Glamorgan at Cardiff

The papparazi who have been following the Duchess of Cambridge recently have had in the past few days their much sought after glimpse of a future royal with photographs of Princess Charlotte and her proud parents. Those present yesterday at the SWALEC Stadium had their own glimpse of names to follow in the future with promising performances from a pair of teenagers - leg-spinner Matt Critchley and wicket-keeper Harvey Hosein.


Glamorgan fans were also delighted by another relatively new face in their line-uop as Andy Carter delivered a series of probing spells which complimented those of his fellow seam bowlers, especially after a ball change after lunch which preceded the clatter of timber, as Derbyshire nosedived from 172/4 to 205 all out. Carter's efforts also helped to compensate for an element of rustiness in his early spells by Michael Hogan who by his closing salvo looked to back to his waspish best. Their combined efforts meant that Glamorgan ended day two of this already truncated contest 121 runs in arrears with the target of establishing a launch-pad for a sizeable lead before looking to dismissing Derbyshire's inexperienced batting line-up for a second time.


This scenario however was based on the prospect of a further 192 overs and a couple of rain-free days, but the weather gods were set to thwart Glamorgan's ambitions as heavy rain fell over the Welsh capital overnight and into the early morning. The net result was further frustration and steady rain which led to umpires Alex Wharf and Nigel Cowley delaying the start scheduled for 11am before deciding that play would start at 12 noon with just eight overs being lost from the day's allocation.


Colin Ingram made his intentions clear as he drilled the second ball of the day, delivered by Alex Hughes, through mid-on from four but to the last ball, Will Bragg was caught behind by Hosein. Ingram then straight drove Footitt before , with the total on 95, becoming the second batsman to be caught behind as the left-arm seamer found the outside edge of his bat.

Chris Cooke and Mark Wallace duly joined forces with the former cutting Hughes for four, but shortly afterwards, the heavens opened and the players left the field.

The rain continued to fall as the players took an early lunch at 12.45pm and with further pulses of heavy rain, no play was possible during the afternoon session as mopping up operations continued in between the downpours.

Tea was taken at 3.10pm with the precipitation still falling from the leaden skies.

Rain continued to fall until 5pm with the umpires deciding that the contest would resume at 5.50pm. Glamorgan duly declared on 103/4 but as the Derbyshire batsmen were preparing to take guard, the light deteriorated and the umpires took the players off the field before a ball had been bowled.

Bad light soon turned to heavy rain as the umpires called off play at 6.10pm.