Glamorgan CCC Match Preview - 05/05/2022

The season so far:

Our hosts Glamorgan got their season off to a flyer, defeating pre-season title favourites Nottinghamshire on the opening week of the season.  They’ve subsequently followed that up with a defeat and two draws, one of which was a thrilling encounter versus Derbyshire last week where the match went down to the wire. 

These results have given Glamorgan 51 points so far, 22 ahead of Leicestershire who have recorded two draws and two defeats so far in Division Two.  A Running Foxes victory would leave the two teams quite evenly matched in the table, so that has to be our goal over the coming four days in Cardiff.

Last time we met:

We have to back to September 2019 to find the last time that the two teams met in County Championship action, with the match also played in Cardiff.  Our hosts emerged victorious on day four by 291 runs, so we will have to perform much better to emerge with a positive result this time around.

Batting first, Glamorgan recorded 435 all out with captain Chris Cooke top-scoring with 96, and Chris Wright being our standout bowler, taking 5-64.  In reply, Wright starred again, top-scoring with 60 as a lower-order rearguard action helped us from 111-6 to 263 all out.

Not enforcing the follow-on, an unbeaten century from West Indian overseas batter Kraigg Brathwaite helped Glamorgan to 251-5 declared, setting us 425 to win.  This was quickly an unlikely prospect, as the top order folded to leave us 44-4, and we eventually only managed 132 all out in just over 70 overs.

Opposition players to watch:

Australian Test batter Marnus Labuschagne is, rather predictably, the batter to watch for our opposition.  He’s scored 299 runs this season at an average of 59.80, with a century and two fifties to his name already.  Averaging 54 in his Test career so far, Labuschagne is clearly going to be a key wicket for the Running Foxes bowling attack to take in this match.

Countryman Michael Neser will also pose a threat, more so with ball than bat, and he’s taken 10 wickets so far this season, averaging a shade over 25. The 32 year old has taken over 250 wickets in First-Class cricket at a cost of 24.38, with seven five wicket hauls and a career economy below three runs per over.

Our players to watch:

Ben Mike was one of the few positives from our defeat to Middlesex, but his stunning 99 not out and 4-15 with the ball showed the potential which Mike has.  He’s currently taken 10 wickets at a cost of just 8.80 this season, making him our strike bowler so far this season.  

Opener Hasan Azad is our only centurion so far this season, with his superb 104 not out virtually single-handedly earning us a day four draw against Worcestershire in the opening round of matches. Azad is averaging just under 40 for the season so far, and is the Running Foxes top run-scorer this season, so he will be looking forward to extending his lead at the top of the Leicestershire run charts this season.