Rudolph eyes Royal approval

GLAMORGAN skipper Jacques Rudolph is looking for a continued improvement from his side heading into today’s opening Royal London One-Day Cup contest against Gloucestershire in Bristol (11am).

After two demoralising defeats to start to the season in Division Two of the County Championship, Glamorgan rallied strongly to earn valuable points in the drawn game against Leicestershire earlier this week.

This year all the fixtures in the 50-over Royal London are in a block, so Rudolph is keen for Glam to establish some early momentum.

“I think it could help us because we will be able to keep our focus on one competition a time and I always speak about momentum,” said the South African.

“The guys are excited about playing white-ball cricket.

“It’s generally a format we pride ourselves in, so if we hit the ground running we can get a win.

“Gloucestershire are a wily team who play very well in their own conditions so we’ve got to make sure when we arrive on we know how we want to go about our business so we can get some early momentum.”

Rudolph admitted he was happy with the way new overseas signing Marchant de Lange has adapted to life with the county.

The Leicestershire game was de Lange’s best game Glamorgan so far as he continues to settle in.

“I think you saw when Timm (van der Gugten) arrive last year as another southern hemisphere bowler, in these conditions it took him two or three games to get used to what is an effective length in the UK and I think Marchant has bowled really well.

“In his first 15 overs against Leicestershire he didn’t concede a boundary and he picked up three wickets and as he learns more about his game and playing in the UK he will become really dangerous.”