2007 Season Preview: Glamorgan

2006 in a Nutshell:

Next to bottom in Division 2 of the Championship with only victories over Gloucestershire and Derbyshire to cheer about. Overseas players James Franklyn and Australian opener Mark Cosgrove (below) underachieved, with left armer Franklyn rarely seeming to be 100% fit or willing to give 100%. Cosgrove’s explosive early season batting tailed off.

Mark Cosgrove batting versus Ireland early season 2006

A solitary victory over Ireland (what ever happened to them?) in the 50 over group was followed up with a Twenty 20 campaign which started brightly but drizzled out under the Sophia Gardens lights against Gloucestershire. Relegation in the pro 40 was a ‘kick in the teeth’ for the Champions of 2002 and 2004. A tie at home to Durham, caused by Robert Croft failing to run in his bat like every schoolboy should, meant that the last day of the season was spent getting humiliated by Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in the Pro 40 play off live on Sky.

Even the most fervent Welshman was glad to see the back of Glamorgan's 2006 season.

2007 Prospects

Glamorgan face a season of much travel as Sophia Gardens is redeveloped

(http://third-umpire.blogspot.com/search/label/Ashes%202009).

Home games are scheduled for Swansea, Colwyn Bay, Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale and Cresselly in Pembrokeshire (get the sat nav out Surrey fans!)

It is difficult, even for the most optimistic fan, to see anything other than another season of treading water. Seven years of financial losses have meant that the club has no choice but to go down the international cricket road, but that means short term pain before long term gain.

In Division 2 of the Championship, it is difficult to see Glamorgan being near the two promotion spots. Mid table is the best that can be hoped for with batting heavily reliant on David Hemp, Mike Powell and Jimmy Maher. The bowling resources are plentiful but, once Simon Jones is back in the England fold, it is hard to see enough new ball penetration.

The club’s days as ‘white ball’ specialists seem a lot longer than three years ago, but last year’s limited overs failures need to be rectified. On their day, Glamorgan are still an effective one day unit, and could well press for promotion from the Pro 40 Division 2, but being in the semi final spots of the Friends Provident South Division is unlikely.

Twenty 20 may give the club its best chance of brighter days in mid summer. A Leicestershire style ‘team of no stars’, with fast scoring batsman and sprightly fielders, may well be supplemented by a short term overseas signing. Officially, the club are still putting a financial package together to bring over New Zealander Brendan McCullum, who proved such a hit last season.

Batting:

A gloomy Welsh winter contemplating an absence of overseas players for Glamorgan, was turned on its head in early Spring with the news that a generous benefactor (Dr James Hull) was prepared to put up a sizeable sum to bring Australian left hander Jimmy Maher back to the club following a spell at Durham. It transpires that a meeting in a Sydney hotel between the said benefactor, Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell and England assistant coach Matthew Maynard, proved to be the significant event with former Glamorgan hero Maynard stressing the need for a club to have an ‘overseas’ to lift standards.

With Maher unavailable until mid May, a curious sequence of events sees Matthew Elliott (below) return to the club for the first month of the season. In a cricket version of chaos theory, Pakistan’s early exit from the World Cup meant than Younis Khan was available full time for Yorkshire and, hence, they had no room for Elliott. Step forward the daffodil!

Matthew Elliott drives through the covers
for Glamorgan at the Rose Bowl in 2005

With one Australian opening the batting all year, the bulk of the remaining runs will need to come from skipper David Hemp and Mike Powell. On his day Powell is a class act, as exemplified by back to back double centuries in last year’s scorching July heat.

Of the rest, pint sized opener Dan Cherry really needs to nail down a place and can be grateful for some good scores at the tail end of 2006 for a contract extension.

Nicky Peng, recruited from Durham, is in the last year of a two year contract. He looks classy at the crease, but needs a big year, and an improvement on a career batting average of under 24, if he is to continue in the professional game.

Bulky all rounder Ryan Watkins shows much with both bat and ball but will need to prove his worth with at least one facet of his game if he is to fulfill much promise. Much the same can be said of Richard Grant – both in size and ability.

Bowling:

Simon Jones’s return in a pre season friendly at Hove on April 2nd covered more column inches than a whole round of championship matches in some newspapers. Nonetheless, it was a sight for sore Glamorgan and England eyes, and everyone, especially those who witnessed his last breakdown early in 2006, will be keeping everything crossed for him.

Numerically, the club’s seam bowling resources look healthy. Alex Wharf has recovered from injury, and youngsters Huw Waters and James Harris have much promise. Adam Harrison has proved injury prone and needs a good season’s bowling, whilst his older brother David is an effective performer with new ball. Unfortunately, he has come back from an MCC tour of New Zealand with a back injury.

Seasoned spin twins, Robert Croft and left armer Dean Cosker, will be expected to twirl away for many overs. Croft is still probably the best orthodox off spinner in the domestic game and need 52 wickets for a career first class haul of 1,000. Barring injury, he may well achieve this in 2007.

In summary, the bowling seems plentiful but often lacks penetration, and it seems as though the club may, should resources allow, go for an overseas bowler later in the season to supplement the attack, as opposed to another batting option.

Probable Championship side:

Matthew Elliott / Jimmy Maher
Dan Cherry
David Hemp (capt)
Mike Powell
Nicky Peng
Ryan Watkins
Mark Wallace
Robert Croft
Alex Wharf
Simon Jones
David Harrison

That leaves Ben Wright to push Peng hard for a middle order place, with Grant and Mike O’Shea needing to take every opportunity. Bowling wise, left arm spinner Dean Cosker will play more as the season goes on, with the likes of seamers Huw Waters, Adam Harrison and James Harris all likely to feature in preference to journeyman Andrew Davies once injuries and, hopefully for England’s sake, a Test Match recall for Simon Jones happens.

Key Man:

Probably, David Hemp (below). With his Bermudan World Cup exploits now documented for the autobiography, he will need to use all of his experience in his first full year as captain, and that of the seasoned Maher and Croft, to get the best out of several young, talented, but ultimately unproven, cricketers. Furthermore, as the most naturally gifted of the home grown batsman, 1,000 championship runs from the No.3 spot is a minimum.

David Hemp at Taunton in 2006.
He will need to spend plenty of time at the crease in 2007.

Rising Star:

Last year’s prediction of Huw Waters was spot on. Although lacking a yard in pace, Glamorgan have, at last, found a natural successor to Steve Watkin, as shown by a super ‘five-for’ against Somerset in August.

This year, I’m plumping for middle order, right handed batsman Ben Wright. I witnessed a classy 68 not out for England under 19s against their Indian counterparts at Cardiff last July, and Ben followed this up with a 72 on Championship debut versus Gloucestershire in September.

Captain and Coach:

David Hemp took over the reigns towards the end of the 2006 season after veteran off spinner Robert Croft felt as though he could take the side no further.

Hemp led the side to a fine victory over West Indies A at Ebbw Vale as deputy for Croft, but, that apart, is largely unproven as a leader. In a sense, he was the default selection as the ‘next most senior’ home based player. Likely to be a calmer influence than Croft (he’s more Michael Vaughan than Nasser Hussain), the younger members of the squad should relish the opportunity to take more responsibility.

Coaching wise, Glamorgan have opted for promotion from within, probably for financial reasons as much as anything else.

John Derrick’s association with club has ended after nearly twenty years as player, coach, and, last year’s poisoned chalice, Director of Cricket. The post has been discontinued after one year, with Adrian Shaw, wicket keeper in the 1997 Championship season, taking over as first team coach. Former England seamer, stalwart Steve Watkin takes over as Performance Director.

Postscript (9th April 2007)

Simon Jones (below) continued his pre season rehabilitation against Worcestershire at New Road on Easter Monday. In the same game, 'rising star' Ben Wright (see above) hit a superb 86 not out.

Simon Jones 'on his way back',

bowling for Glamorgan on Easter Monday 2007

Glamorgan: Season Review 2006.

Off field celebrations at securing an Ashes Test at Sophia Gardens were in sharp contrast to a dismal season in all forms of the game. With captain Robert Croft throwing in the towel, rumours of dressing room disharmony abounding, and financial worries leading to a ‘no overseas’ policy for 2007, the short term future is not great for Glamorgan fans.

When giving any form of appraisal in the workplace, it is good practice to start with the positives, and then focus on the areas for improvement. Unfortunately for Glamorgan C.C.C. in 2006, the latter type of feedback would take far longer than the first.

Overseas, overweight and over here?

Simon Jones in (pre-development) Cardiff

Things didn’t start so badly. Michael Kasprowicz and Matthew Elliott were signed up well in advance of the season. Simon Jones (above), too, was expected to continue his rehabilitation by playing regularly for Glamorgan during the first half of the season.

Then, however, for reasons of international commitment and injury respectively, both Australians were more likely to see the inside of New South Wales rather than its older namesake. Furthermore, Simon Jones played throughout April but then broke down again on May Day in a C&G game versus Ireland.

Mark Cosgrove in Colwyn Bay

As a batting replacement for Elliott, burly Mark Cosgrove (above) certainly looked the part early on. Hard hitting and aggressive, he hit a century on debut and inspired a victory at Derby with a superb 233. After returning to Australia mid season for an A team tournament, Cosgrove rarely hit such heights again.

Kasprowicz’s replacement was New Zealander James Franklin. Useful with the bat, he almost single handedly won a Twenty 20 encounter at Edgbaston; his seam bowling was a major disappointment and hardly ever seemed fit.

Underperformance the dominant force

In theory, Division Two of the County Championship should have proved easier following the 14 defeats in Division One in 2005. It scarcely seemed so. Only basement club Somerset was worse in the four day game and even they completed a two day drubbing of the Welsh county at Swansea in June. The two victories over Derbyshire and Gloucestershire were isolated moments. Northants only won 3 Championship games, two of them against Glamorgan.

The batting often buckled when the pressure was on. Supporters lost count of the different pairs of openers used. Dan Cherry just about justified a one year extension to his contract with some workmanlike performances towards the end of the season, but it was only Mike Powell and David Hemp who passed 1,000 runs for the year. All rounder Ryan Watkins needs to justify his place in one department at least, although he manfully debutised as an opener on several occasions. Nicky Peng, recruited from Durham, was injured for the second half of the season and has much to prove in 2007.

The bowling was hardly any better. David Harrison looked effective in patches, but Alex Wharf has gone backwards and Andrew Davies got a one year contract extension for reasons unknown to many. Out of the younger crop, Huw Waters looks head and shoulders above the rest (predicted here pre season), taking a splendid 5 for 86 at Taunton in August.

2006 beneficiary Darren Thomas was released. Whilst his commitment could never be faulted and his lower order hitting was very effective, “Ted’s” seam bowling had become a shadow of that which earned him England ‘A’ recognition.

No white ball comfort any more

Whilst Glamorgan’s Championship form has always moved in fits and starts, Welsh fans have usually taken comfort from performances in one day cricket. It was only two years ago in 2004 that the National League was wrapped up with 3 games to spare and, together with a Twenty 20 finals day appearance in that year, justified the claim that they were the best white ball side in the country.

That boast now lies in tatters. The C&G South Group was a disaster, with a solitary victory coming over Ireland. Twenty 20 offered early hope in the group stages. New Zealand wicket keeper, Brendan McCullum, played as a specialist batsman as cover for Cosgrove, and helped inspire victories in each of the first three games. It was downhill from there, however, and the campaign fizzled out live on Sky versus Gloucestershire.

Just when it couldn’t get any worse it did. Seventh place in Division One of the Pro 40 meant an end of season play off versus Shane Warne’s Hampshire, and there was only ever going to be one winner in that. The play off would never have involved Glamorgan if skipper Robert Croft had run his bat in versus Durham when only one run was needed to win. With Croft run out, the game was tied and it proved a costly error.

Change at the top

By now, Croft was clearly considering his position and eventually resigned after the home Championship defeat to Northants in September. Described as a ‘professional Welshman’ by former England colleague Alec Stewart, it is difficult to imagine what a proud man like Crofty would have found more heartbreaking; Glamorgan’s woeful displays or ‘losing the dressing room’ in that fashionable parlance. He stepped down with dignity intact. To quote another former England captain, Nasser Hussain, after he had resigned, it seemed as though he ‘couldn’t go to the well any longer’.

As a replacement, David Hemp is the obvious, if uninspiring, choice. He has his work cut out. Short term financial pressures mean that Chairman Paul Russell has already announced that there’ll be no overseas players in 2007. With a young squad lacking in confidence and experience, it’s going to be a difficult few years for Glamorgan as they languish in the wilderness of Division Two in both competitions.

Some hope?

Medium term, the ‘International’ development of Sophia Gardens, or whatever it’ll be renamed under a ‘Brit Oval style’ sponsorship deal, should secure regular pay days long after the Ashes Test of 2009. Unfortunately, it is difficult to stop students of Welsh cricket from drawing the conclusion that the team is suffering in the short term as a consequence.

The decline in membership numbers (and crowds in general) goes on, with only the very loyal, or those hanging on for Ashes Test tickets, continuing to subscribe. The club needs an injection of new life amongst the coaching staff, with Director of Cricket John Derrick’s position surely untenable. An adjustment of coaching responsibilities is more likely though.

The one hope for the Welsh cricketing public is the half a dozen or so younger players making their way through the academy. Keep an eye out for batsman Ben Wright and quick bowler James Harris.

Player of the season:
Mike Powell (below) 1,300 Championship runs at over 51, including back to back double hundreds in mid season, briefly revived talk of international honours.

Mike Powell passes the 200 mark at Cheltenham in July

High: 10 wicket victory over Gloucestershire at Cheltenham in scorching July heat, made possible by 299 from Mike Powell and 13 wickets from Robert Croft, probably still the best orthodox off spinner the domestic game has.

Low: Absolutely spoilt for choice, although the last day humiliation at the Rose Bowl in the Pro 40 play off in front of the Sky cameras took some beating and summed up the previous 5 months – sloppy fielding, wayward bowling and careless batting, all giving the impression of a thoroughly broken team.

This article was originally written in October 2006.

A preview of Glamorgan's 2007 season, with David Hemp at the helm and Jimmy Maher as the 'overseas', will follow soon.