Glamorgan travel to New Road to play Worcestershire in their next game in the LV=Insurance County Championship with the four-day match getting under way at 1030am on Sunday, 3 September. (writes Andrew Hignell)
This could be a decisive game in determining who, together with Durham, will be promoted into Division Two of the competition for 2024, with second-placed Worcestershire meeting third-placed Glamorgan. The Welsh county start this important match fourteen points behind Worcestershire who, after Glamorgan’s draw at Derby, leap-frogged above them by recording their fourth victory of the season by clinching a 110-run victory over Gloucestershire during the final hour of their match at Cheltenham College.
Both teams will also be keeping an eye on the games involving Sussex (at Durham) and Leicestershire (who are at home to Gloucestershire) as they are seven and nine points respectively behind the Welsh county in fourth and fifth spot with each having a game in hand over both Worcestershire and Glamorgan and with further victories they could also enter the promotion race during the closing weeks of the first-class season.
Glamorgan won a thrilling game last year at Worcester as they successfully chased a target of 332 after Colin Ingram had laid the foundations for victory by patiently compiling a century during a four and a quarter hour stay at the crease until being trapped l.b.w. by a ball from Barnard which kept wickedly low. He received stoic support from Billy Root who the following day took centre-stage and manoeuvred Glamorgan to victory after the home side had taken the new ball at the start of play with the visitors still needing 100 runs. With the left-hander adopting a positive approach, he saw his side to victory shortly before lunch on the following besides ending unbeaten on 99.
Their previous visit to the ground in 2019 saw the Welsh county beaten by 155 runs, after Daryl Mitchell, the home team’s vastly experienced opening batter, had completed a chanceless century to leave Glamorgan needing 312 to win. They were dismissed however inside just 39 overs after Nick Selman edged the second ball to slip, before Kraigg Brathwaite was run-out. Things went from bad to worse as David Lloyd was bowled via pad and boot, before Billy Root skewed a ball to backward point which struck Ed Barnard, only for the fielder to clutch onto the rebound. With their tails up, the home bowlers continued to take wickets at regular intervals, with the end to the game coming as the Cathedral bells were striking 5pm.
Glamorgan were victorious at New Road in June 2017 as they recorded a nine-wicket victory. Such an outcome had looked unlikely earlier in the match as Glamorgan ended the first day’s play on 76-6. But an action-packed second day saw the contest turned on its head as firstly Jacques Rudolph and Chris Cooke added 168 for the seventh wicket before the riposte continued in a spirited fashion as Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey added 124 for the ninth wicket with a flurry of savage blows. Michael Hogan then took 5/38 as Worcestershire’s batsmen capitulated to leave Glamorgan celebrating a victory inside three days.
There are several personal landmarks looming as well for Glamorgan’s players in this match at New Road with Kiran Carlson going into the contest with a seasonal aggregate of 888 runs in first-class cricket and needing a further 112 runs to reach the landmark of 1,000 runs in a season for the first-ever time in his career.