Jacques instills renewed belief

Glamorgan v Durham

May 26-29, St Helen’s, Swansea, 11:00

GLAMORGAN go in search of their first County Championship victory of the season as they roll out the red carpet for Durham today.

With the SSE SWALEC Stadium being prepared for next month’s Champions Trophy, Jacques Rudolph’s side return to action at St Helen’s in Swansea.

Glamorgan, who have not faced Durham in first-class cricket since 2004, will be bidding to get themselves off the mark but should things not go to plan for the Welsh outfit, they may be able to call on the new-found resilience they displayed in their battling draw with early pacesetters Nottinghamshire in midweek.

Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke’s marathon sixthwicket partnership, during which the duo made a stand of 226, helped Glamorgan reach 420-5 and salvage a vital draw on Monday.

“It’s quite strange,” said Ingram, who faced 427 deliveries during his 153 overs on his way to 155 not out. “While you’re out there, you get on with it ball-byball and you’re in the moment.

“But looking back, it was a long couple of days and we can be proud of what we’ve done. I really enjoyed the partnership with Chris and the longer we went on, that process became easier.

“But we still want to get on the winning side and maybe this is what we need to change momentum for us.”

Team-mate Cooke, who recorded an unbeaten 113, added: “It was good to get through the tricky spell (on Monday) with Colin. It gave us momentum going into the last day and it was just about (setting) small targets.

“The belief started to grow. They kept running in but we were up to the task.”