While Glamorgan’s 2018 Vitality Blast will ultimately be viewed as one of disappointment, given what transpired in the final few games, it was a memorable campaign for many individuals.
From the relentless hitting and leadership of white-ball skipper Colin Ingram, to the emergence of the effervescent Kiran Carlson; from the all-action Graham Wagg to the ever-improving spinner Andrew Salter.
Here are four Glamorgan players who did their reputations no harm in this year’s Blast, despite the Welsh county missing out on a quarter-final for the first time since 2015…
Is there anything he can’t do?
Starting with a modest 35 to help Glamorgan to 168 against Hampshire, most who have watched the South African in T20 cricket recently knew there was much more to come.
He followed it with an unbeaten 81 against Sussex, albeit in a losing cause. But it was during the Welsh county’s run of five successive victories through the middle of their campaign when Ingram really came to the fore.
After a bout of illness that meant he missed the clash with Surrey, Ingram smoked a straightforward 46 not out to see Glamorgan to victory over Middlesex at Richmond and then exploded into life with sensational knocks against Essex (89) and Hampshire (71*).
The Eagles innings in particular was a classic example of Ingram’s brutal hitting at its best, coming off 51 balls with 9 fours and 5 sixes.
He is just a revelation in white ball cricket and finished the campaign with 430 runs at an average of almost 54. All in a season’s work.
The title ‘most improved player’ can sometimes feel like a back-handed compliment, but it certainly applies to Carlson’s 2018 Blast campaign.
With Glamorgan shorn of overseas batting stars to offer support to Ingram for much of the 2018 season, someone needed to emerge as a reliable sidekick for the South African.
Step forward Kiran Carlson.
And yet his most important Blast innings actually came with Ingram unavailable, the diminutive Cardiff-born batsman leading from the front against Surrey to hit 58 off 32 balls and help the Welsh county chase down 194, securing a sixth successive T20 win at The Oval in the process.
Carlson did bring mature support for Ingram in their match-winning partnership against Hampshire at Sophia Gardens, the 20-year-old hitting an unbeaten 31.
Now established as a key figure in Glamorgan’s white ball side after notching 295 runs at almost 30, Carlson has a bright future.
Every team needs a Graham Wagg, the ultimate all-action competitor who will help you sneak over the line when the stakes are high.
That’s exactly what the experienced all-rounder did on numerous occasions throughout 2018 – notably after Carlson was dismissed at Surrey; Wagg stepping up with a rapid 46 not out from 26 balls, after an economical spell of 1/21 from his four overs.
Wagg did exactly the same against Essex a couple of games later, first smashing an unbeaten 53 before an exemplary spell of death bowling to pick up 1/25.
Few players are as reliable as the 35-year-old in T20 cricket and his 14 wickets in the 2018 competition meant Glamorgan didn’t miss the injured Marchant de Lange as much as they might have done.
While the Pembrokeshire-born star prefers to identify as an all-rounder – and has proven as much with his performances over the years – his 2018 campaign was all about his bowling.
He only took 11 wickets in 13 matches but his economy rate of 7.7 per over was up there with the best Blast bowlers this year.
After a couple of inconsistent seasons in the shortest form, 2018 was the year Salter stepped up and proved a bastion of control in the middle overs.
His spell of 2/16 against Hampshire at home tied the visiting batsmen in knots and Salter repeated the trick against Sussex away with 2/29 – an excellent return considering the size of the Hove boundaries.
That he wasn’t required to perform any batting heroics said about more Glamorgan’s superb middle order than anything else. Salter is now a must in the Welsh county’s white ball teams.
Article written by Dominic Booth, cricket correspondent for WalesOnline