Seventh wicket stand puts pressure on Glam
WHEN Gloucestershire lost sixth wicket during day two of Glamorgan’s penultimate County Championship clash of 2018, they were only 24 runs ahead, but Jack Taylor and Ben Charlesworth then shared a potential unbeaten match-winning partnership of 143 for the seventh wicket.
Their combined efforts left the visitors with a sizeable lead of 147.
When play was abandoned for the day with 16 overs remaining, Taylor was unbeaten on 98, two runs short of the sixth century of his career, with Charlesworth a solid partner at the other end on 65.
Another two runs would also set up a new record for the seventh wicket for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan, surpassing the previous one created by Alf Dipper and Albert Waters at the Victory Road Ground in Cheltenham 95 years ago.
Twenty eight overs were lost during the morning session, and when play resumed at 1.25, Taylor and Ryan Higgins added a further eight runs before Higgins was bowled by Hogan off the inside edge for 18.
Charlesworth, a 17-year-old all rounder was again released by his school, St Edward’s in Oxford, to play in his fourth championship game after scoring an unbeaten 77 and taking three wickets in Gloucestershire’s last game against Middlesex. A compact left hander, he began with a couple of edged boundaries, but then settled to play some elegant strokes through the offside.
Taylor, renowned for his attacking strokeplay, remained steadfast for the early part of his innings, accumulating mostly in singles and the occasional boundary, taking 128 balls to reach his fifty.
Charlesworth however, should have been out after making 33, but was dropped at backward point off Hogan, and went on to reach his fifty from 104 balls with nine boundaries.
Glamorgan were handicapped by the absence of Ruaidhri Smith, who was off the field throughout the second day suffering from a side strain, and with the flat pitch not offering any assistance to the bowlers, Gloucestershire’s seventh wicket pair continued to pile on the runs.