Rudolph plotting an improved campaign
GLAMORGAN captain Jacques Rudolph wants to put right the county’s woes from 2016 with a solid start to the new season, which gets underway at Northamptonshire today.
The Welsh county finished eighth in Division Two of the County Championship last year in a campaign beset by injury and early season struggles.
But Rudolph will again lead a vibrant young Glamorgan side, complemented by the signing of South African international paceman Marchant de Lange on Tuesday.
The experienced skipper was also buoyed by the return of fellow compatriot Colin Ingram, the T20 hero from last year who will play four-day cricket in the United Kingdom for the first time since 2015, after recovering from a back injury.
And for Rudolph, the new season is an opportunity to regain confidence and momentum with that blend of youth and experience.
“You can easily carry the confidence of one competition into another,” said the 35-year-old.
“If we have a good first three fourday games, we can carry that confidence into the 50-over competition.
“County cricket is all about momentum; sometimes you go through little troughs where individually or as a team you struggle. But it’s important for us to keep (our focus) on an even keel for as long as possible.”
Rudolph also lauded the homegrown talent in his squad, with Welsh youngsters Aneurin Donald, Owen Morgan and Lukas Carey among those to break through in 2016. All are expected to feature against Northants.
“We’ve got a good squad,” added Rudolph.
“We’ve got a good batch of young Welsh talents, but we have to start well and carry on with that momentum.
“I don’t think last season was a full reflection of where we are as a team. The year before we finished in the top four.
“Last year we lost three early games and during the season there were three more games when we got in winning positions but lost. And if’d we won those, we’d have finished in the top four again.”
Injuries are again a worry for Glamorgan as the new season gets underway, with pace trio Michael Hogan, Timm van der Gugten and Graham Wagg all set to miss the Championship opener.
The Welsh county have announced the loan signing of Middlesex seamer Harry Podmore, who joins for his second stint, as cover.
Podmore, 22, played two first class matches for Glamorgan last season before featuring prevalently in Middlesex’s T20 campaign.
“Although we’ve added Marchant de Lange to the squad, we’ve suffered some injuries to our bowlers, so the bowling department needs strengthening in the short term,” said director of cricket Hugh Morris.