20 Jul 2015 | Cricket
As the summer holidays begin for many, the Royal London One-Day Cup swings into action. Over the past few years, the competition and it previous incarnations have been happy hunting grounds for Glamorgan. With the side narrowly missing out on a knockout place last year, and going all the way to the Lord's final in 2013.
This year's competition sees the same format as last year, with all 18 counties divided into two groups of nine, with the top four from each group progressing to the quarter final stage.
Captain Jacques Rudolph will be hoping to emulate last seasons batting form, which saw him top the run scoring charts for the competition without having played a knockout match. Rudolph's 575 runs in the RLODC, left him nearly 100 runs clear at the top of the table.
Last season also saw solid returns from the experienced duo of Michael Hogan and Dean Cosker, as both finished the campaign with 14 wickets. Whilst the competition is sometimes given lower status by those sides still in the T20 Blast, many sides take the format very seriously and are entirely focussed on reaching the traditional Lord's final.
Glamorgan's RLODC season starts this Sunday (26th July) away to Nottinghamshire. This is a repeat of the final from 2013 where Glamorgan were beaten by the Outlaws at Lord's, and revenge will be on the players minds come the weekend.
The four home matches in this season's competition see Glamorgan take on Kent, Essex, Hampshire and Sussex. Kent were semi-finalists last year, and will also be out to avenge the recent 1 run defeat in the T20 Blast, whilst Hampshire languished at the bottom of their group last year.
Sussex also failed to make it out of the group stages last year, but will be boosted by their good T20 Blast record this season. The south coast side are always a ferocious one-day side, and with their two convincing victories over Glamorgan in the T20 Blast this year they have given plenty of warning as to their talent.
The Sussex match on 5th August will take place at St Helens as part of the ever popular Swansea cricket festival. Where Glamorgan will also playGloucestershire in a four day match during the week.
Essex are always a dangerous limited overs side, and have the power of Jesse Ryder to call upon, but their fortunes this year may hinge on whether they are able to secure a quarter final place in the T20 Blast later this week.
This season also sees a trip to Edgbaston to take on last year's runners-up Warwickshire, where Glamorgan will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last years rain affected 7-wicket defeat. The Birmingham outfit will also be able to call on the services of the recently retired Jonathan Trott to bolster their batting ranks.
With 8 games played in well under a month, the Royal London One-Day cup is a competition that it is vital to start well in. Glamorgan will hoping to continue their good record in the format starting this weekend against Nottinghamshire.