Glammy out to get up and running
GLAMORGAN travel to Leicester for their third contest in the Specsavers County Championship with both counties keen to hit back after a flat start to the campaign.
The two counties have each lost their opening pair of games, with the latter losing to Nottinghamshire by ten wickets and then last weekend, being defeated by an innings and six runs away to Gloucestershire.
The Welsh county also travel to Grace Road looking for their first victory of the summer, besides erasing the memory of their dramatic collapse in their closing Championship match of last summer at Leicester, when they lost their last six wickets for just ten runs in the space of 26 balls.
Glamorgan’s most recent victory in a Championship match at Leicester came in quite dramatic circumstances in May 2010 after the Welsh side had conceded a first innings deficit of 53 runs. Yet within 24 hours, Glamorgan’s seam bowlers had turned the game on its head as they dismissed Leicestershire for 71 with both James Harris and David Harrison taking four wickets in a masterly display of new ball bowling.
Openers Gareth Rees and Mark Cosgrove then bludgeoned 198 runs inside 34 overs as Glamorgan romped to a tenwicket victory. Cosgrove is now the Leicestershire captain but the Australian will be missing this match following a onematch suspension imposed by the ECB.
Leicestershire are their without their captain, the aforementioned former Glam stalwart Cosgrove, who misses the game against his former county due to the suspension picked up on the eve of the new season, while Colin Ackermann, Richard Jones and James Burke are ruled out through injury.
Meanwhile in-form Ben Raine has called on Leicestershire to kick-start their season.
The all-rounder has produced two good personal performances so far, which has placed him top of both the batting and bowling averages, but said that personal accolades mean nothing if it is not in a winning cause.
“I’ve been over the moon with my two performances but haven’t contributed to a team victory yet,” said Raine. “I’ve worked hard over the winter and am reaping the rewards at the moment, but in cricket you’ll always have good and bad days so I have to keep working hard.”
“We were expecting better results but we’re confident.”