Head Coach Grant Bradburn has named a 13-man squad for the third red-ball game of the season, as we travel to Wantage Road to face Northamptonshire in the Vitality County Championship.
The Welsh county battled hard in an enthralling fixture against Derbyshire last week, with spin playing a huge part throughout the match.
Mason Crane impressed on his first-class debut for the Club, taking a memorable 4/60 in the Derbyshire first innings, as we bowled the Peakites out for 198. Seamer James Harris also impressed with Match figures of 5/62, as the Welshman looks back to his best with a red ball in hand.
Chris Cooke struck the 1000th century in Glamorgan history, during a fine stand with Harris (61*) in the Glamorgan 2nd innings. His 126* propelled the Welsh County to a commanding lead in the game.
The weather made the final day stop-start, with Derbyshire fighting to hold on for a draw, as both sides took 11 points from the fixture.
Seamers Timm van der Gugten and Harry Podmore remain unavailable due to injury, while Jamie McIlroy rests after injuring his shoulder in the field against Derbyshire.
Scottish International Brad Wheal has signed a short-term loan deal from Hampshire, and will likely be thrust straight into the action tomorrow.
Batter Eddie Byrom will continue the final stages of his rehab, and will play a 2nd XI fixture next week as part of his managed return to play.
Glamorgan sit fourth in the Division Two table, and travel to what was a batters paradise at Wantage Road last week, with both the hosts and Middlesex scoring nearly 600 runs in their only innings of the game.
View from the Camp – Grant Bradburn
“As a group, we are very proud of putting ourselves into a dominant position going into the final day v Derbyshire.
“It was a fantastic 4 days of cricket, with spin being the primary challenge, which our batters embraced extremely well in the 2nd innings, to put us in contention to push for outright points. With Jamie McIlroy’s injury preventing him from any bowling in the match, we certainly missed his miserly accuracy and swing skills, particularly on day 4.
“The vibe in the squad is exceptional, while skills are growing fast. We will reflect on not being able to clinch victory on day 4, by adapting and adjusting our preparation and selecting a balanced lineup for Northampton, aligned to our intent to play a winning brand of cricket”.
Head-to-head – Northamptonshire vs Glamorgan
Glamorgan last visited Northampton for a County Championship encounter in 2021, with the contest witnessing a victory for the East Midlands team as their batters toyed with the Welsh county’s attack on the final day of a game which the visitors had hitherto dominated. But Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh added 239 in the space of 46 overs with the home side cantering to victory with 38 balls in hand as they successfully chased what had seemed to be a daunting target of 355 in a minimum of 79 overs.
In 2020 the Northampton ground had also been the scene of a remarkable debut century by Callum Taylor, as well as a 62-ball blitzkrieg by Marchant de Lange as the all-rounder bludgeoned Glamorgan’s fastest-ever hundred in first-class cricket. But their efforts in the Bob Willis Trophy were in a losing cause as the East Midlands side won by six wickets.
Glamorgan had won by an innings and 143 runs at Northampton in 2019 with Billy Root’s career-best 229 laying the foundations for victory as the Welsh county reached a sizeable first innings total of 547 being trouncing the Northamptonshire batters thanks to some hostile seam bowling by the triumvirate of Michael Hogan, Timm van der Gugten and de Lange as the home side were dismissed for 209 and 195.
Glamorgan’s handsome victory in 2019 was their first since 2012 in Championship cricket at Wantage Road and their twelfth victory at Northampton in first-class cricket.
How to watch
A live stream of the fixture will be provided by our friends at Northamptonshire, with commentary from Nick Webb and the BBC Wales team. You can follow along and see the highlights of the fixture across the Glamorgan social media channels.