Glamorgan’s stunning ten-wicket victory at Sophia Gardens over Middlesex on Sunday afternoon was their first for fourteen years against the London-based club in first-class cricket – one of many acheivements and records to tumble during three days of dominance with bat and ball by Sam Northeast and his team (writes Andrew Hignell)
The game was the first-ever in which Glamorgan had enforced the follow-on against Middlesex. The 102 previous encounters between the two teams have seen the fate befall Glamorgan on fourteen occasions, but Sam was the first-ever leader of the Welsh county to be in a position to ask Middlesex to bat again.
It duly led to Glamorgan recording their eleventh victory against Middlesex and their largest-ever by the margin of wickets with Matthew Kuhnemann claiming career-best figures of 6/53 with his subtle left-arm spin and a match return of 7/75 - the best by an overseas bowler in their first appearance for Glamorgan, surpassing Ezra Moseley’s match analysis of 7/152 against Essex at Swansea in 1980.
For the record, Glamorgan’s other Championship victories over Middlesex took place in 1950 at Cardiff Arms Park by 86 runs, in 1952 at Lord`s by 131 runs, in 1954 at Lord`s by 22 runs, in 1959 at Swansea by 2 runs, in 1969 at Swansea by 3 wickets, in 1991 at Sophia Gardens by 129 runs, in 2000 at Southgate by 2 wickets, in 2009 at Swansea by 22 runs, in 2010 at Lord’s by 78 runs and in 2011 at Lord’s by 9 wickets.
The victory over Middlesex was the third in succession in the County Championship, following victories over Kent at Canterbury as well as Northamptonshire at Sophia Gardens. The most recent time Glamorgan recorded three successive victories came in 2015 during the winning sequence below:
18, 19, 20, 21 May - beat Essex at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff by 89 runs.
31 May, 1, 2, 3 June - beat Northamptonshire at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff by 10 wickets.
15, 16, 17, 18 June - beat Surrey at Guildford by 7 wickets.
22, 23, 24, 25 June – beat Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff by 137 runs.
The ten-wicket win over Middlesex was also the third in succession when victory was achieved with a day to spare. This had never been previously achieved by the Welsh county with two other seasons when Glamorgan had recorded a pair of successive victories with a day to spare. These were
• 1949 - June 11 and 13 beating Somerset at Neath by 115 runs before June 18 and 20 June defeating Kent at Swansea by ten wickets
• 1957 – June 5 and 6 defeating Leicestershire at Coalville by an innings and 52 runs before June 12 and 13 beating Somerset at Swansea by nine wickets
In 1997 Glamorgan clinched the Championship title by beating Somerset on September 18, 19 and 20 at Taunton before winning the opening match of the 1998 with a day to spare as they defeated Gloucestershire at Bristol by 141 runs.
It was also the fourth time when Glamorgan had enforced the follow-on in successive matches – the others being:
- 1933 v Lancashire at Swansea (draw) and v Worcestershire at Llanelli (won by an innings and 84 runs).
- 1957 v Leicestershire at Coalville (won by an innings and 52 runs) and v Somerset at Swansea (won by 9 wickets).
- 2022 v Derbyshire (won by an innings and 24 runs) at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff and v Sussex (match drawn) at Hove.