Croft praises work of Glam’s bowling attack
GLAMORGAN head coach Robert Croft has hailed the work ethic of his bowling attack following their impressive opening Specsavers County Championship win over Gloucestershire.
The six-wicket triumph at Bristol was the first time the Welsh county have opened their campaign with victory since they upset Surrey at The Oval four years ago, and it was thoroughly deserved.
The tone was set on the opening day when South African Marchant de Lange delivered his best first-class bowling figures of 5-62, backed up by young Pontarddulais seamer Lukas Carey, who looks to have benefited from time on the ECB’s development programme over the winter.
A century on debut for Australian signing Shaun Marsh and another from all-rounder David Lloyd put Glamorgan in firm control, but it needed some patience and plenty of toil on the final day in the face of a spirited home rearguard.
“It was a tough four days of cricket,” said Croft.
“We dominated the match, but the fightback from Gloucestershire on a very flat wicket was commendable.
“I thought the effort and commitment to our cause right throughout the day, particularly by our big fast bowlers, was beyond belief.
“Right from ball one through to the end they put in the same amount of effort. The ground (at Bristol) doesn’t give up wins easily, historically it’s a very flat pitch and you have to be very good to get a win and we were in this game.”
Glamorgan are on the road again this week when they head to the ‘Home of Cricket’ to take on Middlesex at Lord’s.
“To try and avoid the potential butterflies of playing at Lord’s would be wrong,” added Croft.
“We go up on Thursday to train, so that gives people extra opportunity to get accustomed to the environment.
“Our style of play is one we pride ourselves on and we will try and impact that on the game again.
“It depends what type of pitch we get, we will see how our fast bowlers are feeling after this hard four days’ of graft, but we are lucky we have a pod of seam bowlers we can all be proud of.”