(writes Andrew Hignell)
After their successive defeats to Middlesex at Sophia Gardens and Lancashire at Colwyn Bay, Glamorgan have slipped out of the top three in the Division Two table of the Specsavers County Championship and currently occupy fourth spot, fifth points behind third-placed Northamptonshire.
With Glamorgan's next two opponents being Worcestershire in ninth place and Leicestershire, one place below at the foot of the table, hopes are high that the Welsh county can return to winning ways and gain promotion for the first time since 2004 - a summer which saw Glamorgan finish third in the Division Two table and secure elevation into the top tier.
2004 proved to be a totemic summer for the Welsh county, as they also won the National League one-day competition, besides appearing at Finals Day of the Twenty 20 competition. At a personal level, Matthew Maynard also scored his 54th, and final, first-class hundred for Glamorgan, with Ian Thomas also posting the Club’s first century in Twenty20 cricket during the match against Somerset at Taunton.
As far as the 2004 County Championship was concerned, there were synergies with the efforts of Marnus Labuschagne earlier this summer, with Matthew Elliott playing a leading hand in securing promotion for his adopted county, with the Australian batsman being in prolific form. In all formats, he amassed 2,270 runs, and played a major hand in sequence of four successive victories during May and June.
A fifth came later in the summer at Chelmsford and in quite exceptional circumstances after Essex amassed 642 in their first innings, only for Glamorgan to stage a dramatic riposte with David Hemp guiding his side home in the final hour as they successfully chased a target of 221.
Events at the conclusion of the 2019 season could be equally dramatic with Glamorgan amongst a clutch counties, together with Durham, Sussex and Middlesex, in the hunt for promotion into Division One. Lancashire seemed assured of a place and are, at present, the favourites to win Division Two. After their final day victory at Derby, Gloucestershire have catapulted into second place, 14 points ahead of Northamptonshire who defeated Worcestershire and 19 above Glamorgan.
Should teams finish level on points in Division Two, the tie-breakers are - in order - most wins, fewest losses, the team achieving the most point points in contests between the teams level on points, most wickets taken or most runs scored.