With the opening LV= County Championship match against Durham under a week away, head coach Matt Maynard has praised his side’s effort during pre-season and is targeting promotion to Division One in the red-ball format.
The Welsh county have come close to promotion in recent years but have fallen short during the final matches of the season and it’s something Maynard is hoping to put right this year.
“Enthusiasm levels in the squad are high. It’s been a long winter; the boys have worked really hard, and we just can’t wait to get out there on 7th April against Durham,” said Maynard.
“We want to maintain some of the four-day cricket we’ve played over the last two or three years where I think we’ve been very competitive in certain aspects. But we need to maintain that for longer throughout the season.
“We fell off in September last year, so we want to try and really push to try and get Division One status for 2023.”
The squad has been strengthened over the winter with five new additions. They include all-rounder James Harris, who returns to the Club after 10 years away and batters Eddie Byrom and Sam Northeast.
Northeast, who signed from Hampshire, has particularly started the season in fine form having already reeled off two half-centuries in the warm-up matches and Maynard believes he can push Glamorgan’s promotion bid and earn England recognition.
“Sam Northeast looks an amazing player,” said Maynard. “We’ve had one or two of our younger players come and say, “my god.”
“He’s a real eye-opener of a player with some of the shots he plays. We’re obviously hoping for big things from Sam, he’s a highly respected player and if we can get him close to that England side this summer that would be fantastic.”
“I think having worked with Sam this winter and seeing what he’s capable of, he’s certainly one of the best players to have not won an England cap that I’ve worked with, if not the best.”
“He’s been brilliant in our dressing room; he’s settled in really well and he’s very knowledgeable about the game. I think he’s going to be a terrific addition, regardless of the amount of runs.
“People always look at that but just his involvement around the team has been really powerful. He’s a senior player and he acts like a senior player with his habits and the way he goes about his training are what you want from a senior player.
"It's also great to have James Harris back at the club. James has been back on loan by periods but again he’s a player we feel can lead our attack in future.
"He’s worked hard on a little couple of things within his action during the winter. Where he’s not quite at his best as yet, a few games under his belt and I’m sure he’ll be leading our attack."
Having won the Royal London Cup trophy last year and with two young captains at the helm in David Lloyd and Kiran Carlson, Maynard is hoping to use the success as a springboard this season for his side to compete across all formats and bring more silverware to Wales.
“I think success can breed success,” said Maynard. “You’ve got to be careful that you don’t get complacent, that you keep your heads down and keep a level head and that you continue to work hard to try to better your game.
“I think the squad of players that we have at the moment are very much of that mindset. They are very level-headed; nobody gets too far ahead of themselves. We’ve got two great leaders in our captains, David Lloyd, and Kiran Carlson, who play the game in the right way and lead in the right way.
“It’s really exciting times for the Club, we want to push on and work a little bit harder to try and get more success because there’s nothing better than being in a dressing room when you’ve won a trophy.”