Will Glamorgan make it a real Blast with T20 glory this year?
Glamorgan launch their latest bid for Vitality Blast T20 glory with a South Group clash against Gloucestershire tomorrow night in Cardiff. Here, we assess their chances and how their group rivals might fare, with Finals Day the big prize...
ESSEX EAGLES
Coach: Anthony McGrath
Captain: Simon Harmer
Last Year’s Performance: Fifth (South Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Ryan ten Doeschate (255 runs @ 51 average)
2020 Leading Wicket Takers: Simon Harmer (10 wickets @ 28.10 average), Matt Quinn (10 wickets @ 21.30 average)
Overseas players: Simon Harmer (South Africa – whole tournament), Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand – Group Stage)
Key man: Ryan ten Doeschate – Only six players have played more T20 games than the 369 appearances totted up by the Dutch international. His middleorder runs come quickly.
Blast expectations: Essex have rolled with the boom and bust of T20 cricket in the past two seasons. In 2019 they lifted the Blast trophy for the first time, but a year later the Eagles could only manage two wins to finish with the fourth-lowest points tally in the country. From that victorious side, Cameron Delport, Ravi Bopara and, for the early stages, Dan Lawrence are lost from the batting line-up, while the bowling looks weaker with Adam Zampa, Mohammad Amir and Bopara’s absences.
On paper, Essex look among the weaker sides in the South Group.
GLAMORGAN
Coach: Matthew Maynard
Captain: Chris Cooke
Last Year’s Performance: Fifth (Central Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Andy
Balbirnie (255 @ 36.42)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Timm van der Gugten (14 @ 14.92)
Overseas players: Colin Ingram (South Africa – whole tournament); Marnus Labuschagne (Australia – JuneJuly)
Key man: Colin Ingram – The hard-hitting South African has made Glamorgan his second home and after missing the Vitality Blast last year he will be keen to assert his authority on the competition again.
Blast expectations: Glamorgan have endured a tough time since reaching Finals Day four years ago, but there is reason for optimism as they aim to get back to the knockout stages. Glamorgan won three of their final four games last summer and their batting is boosted by the return of Colin Ingram. David Lloyd is back to full fitness, Marnus Labuschagne is set to be available for the entire group stage and young gun Kiran Carlson has shown signs he is ready to take the next steps in his career.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Coach: Ian Harvey (interim)
Captain: Jack Taylor
Last Year’s Performance: Semi finalists 2020 Leading Runscorer: Ian
Cockbain (399 @ 44.33)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: David
Payne (16 @ 18.68)
Overseas players: Dan Worrall (Australia), Glenn Phillips (New Zealand) - both all tournament
Key man: Ian Cockbain - Possess incredible ball-striking ability and is a player that has real fear-factor for opposition attacks.
Blast expectations: Gloucestershire will expect another strong campaign having become one of the most consistent T20 sides of the past few years. Four times in the last five seasons they have qualified for the quarterfinals and in 2020 finally overcame their knockout hoodoo by destroying Northamptonshire and earning a place at Finals Day for the first time since 2007. A strong start to the LV= Insurance County Championship suggests a squad full of confidence.
HAMPSHRE HAWKS
Coach: Adi Birrell
Captain: James Vince
Last Year’s Performance: Bottom (South Group)
Leading Runscorer: James Fuller (205 @ 34.16)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Mason
Crane (9 @ 22.00)
Overseas players: D’Arcy Short (Australia); Colin de Grandhomme (New Zealand)
Key man: James Vince - After helping Sydney Sixers win the Australian Big Bash, the Hawks skipper will be desperate to repeat that success.
Blast expectations: After a bitterly disappointing 2020 season that produced just two wins from 10 matches and a last-placed group finish, the newly-rebranded Hawks will be confident of a much-improved campaign as they look to win a third Blast title. Big-hitting opener Short should deliver runs at the top of the order and canny all-rounder de Grandhomme control and accuracy with the ball. If everything clicks, there’s every reason to believe the 2010 and 2012 winners will be contenders for a Finals Day spot.
KENT SPITFIRES
Coach: Matt Walker
Captain: Sam Billings
Last Year’s Performance: Quarter finalists
2020 Leading Runscorer: Daniel Bell-Drummond (423 @ 42.3)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Fred Klaassen (13 @ 28.76)
Overseas players: Adam Milne (New Zealand), Qais Ahmed (Afghanistan – both whole tournament)
Key man: Adam Milne - It will be 29-year-old Milne’s fourth spell at Kent - for whom he has taken 38 wickets in 28 T20 Blast matches. “He is a world class T20 bowler who has made a significant difference to our side every time he has played for the Spitfires,” Kent director of cricket Paul Downton told the club website. .
Blast expectations: The switch to the white-ball will come as a relief for a side bottom of their LV= Insurance County Championship group, despite Walker’s pre-season statement that this was the most excited he’d been about a group of players for a long time. A two-day defeat in Cardiff aside, Kent haven’t been abject, but they’ve never really been close to winning either. Milne should address the obvious lack of firepower and there’s talk of a recall for Darren Stevens in the wake of his unhinged 190 against Glamorgan at Canterbury. The 45-year-old hasn’t played T20 for two years, but brings the kind of experience that might just see the Spitfires over the line.
MIDDLESEX
Coach: Stuart Law
Captain: Eoin Morgan
Last Year’s Performance: Fourth in the South Group
2020 Leading Runscorer: Stevien Eskinazi (413 runs @ 41.30)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Steven Finn (14 wickets @ 19.00)
Overseas players: Chris Green (Australia – first seven group games) Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan – final seven group games), Paul Stirling (Ireland – opening five group matches), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand – final nine group matches)
Key man: Stevie Eskinazi. With Morgan and Stirling only available for the opening stages, Middlesex will look to Eskinazi to embrace the freedom to play his shots and repeat last year’s sparkling form.
Blast expectations: While Middlesex have underperformed in the Blast, this year’s tournament will be a welcome switch in formats after a poor start to their Championship campaign. England white ball captain Eoin Morgan returns as skipper and bolsters a brittle batting line-up alongside explosive Ireland opener Paul Stirling. Power-hitting New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell joins for the final group games, but the challenge for the rest of the batters is whether they can post competitive totals consistently once Morgan and Stirling resume international duties. Otherwise, Middlesex again have a largely youthful feel.
SOMERSET
Coach: Jason Kerr
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Last Year’s Performance: Fourth
(Central Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Tom Abell
(227 @ 32.42)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Ollie Sale
(13 @ 23.15)
Overseas players: Marchant de Lange (South Africa – whole tournament), Devon Conway (New Zealand – nine Group Stage games)
Key man: Lewis Gregory – Somerset’s T20 skipper is capable of blasting quick runs at the end of an innings and taking key wickets, both as an opening bowler and at the death.
Blast expectations: Director of cricket
Andy Hurry and head coach Jason Kerr make no secret of expecting to win every competition their team enter. This season’s Blast is no exception. But Somerset have won only ten of 24 group matches over the past two seasons, failing to reach Finals Day since 2018, and will need a much greater degree of consistency to stand any chance of lifting the trophy. Only Tom Abell and Babar Azam scored more than 200 runs in last season’s group stage and Somerset will need some of their young guns - Tom Banton, Tom Lammonby, Lewis Goldsworthy and Will Smeed - to build on some hugely promising performances.
SURREY
Coach: Vikram Solanki
Captain: Rory Burns
Last Year’s Performance: Runners-up
2020 Leading Runscorer: Laurie Evans (363 @ 45.37)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Dan
Moriarty (17 @ 18.29)
Overseas players: Hashim Amla (South Africa – whole tournament).
Key man: Will Jacks – The talented 22-year-old had a standout Blast last year, hitting 309 runs at a strike rate of almost 150 and taking 13 wickets with his off spin at only 16 runs apiece and an impressive economy rate of 6.46.
Blast expectations: Very high. Beaten by Nottinghamshire Outlaws in the floodlit final at a dew-soaked Edgbaston on October 4 last year, Surrey’s squad now looks even stronger – particularly in the early games when their England white-ball players Jason Roy and the Curran brothers are available. Injuries to quicks Reece Topley and Sean Abbott have ruled both out of the competition – a pair of untimely blows in the past week.
SUSSEX SHARKS
Coach: James Kirtley
Captain: Luke Wright
Last Year’s Performance: Quarterfinalists
2020 Leading Run Scorer: David
Wiese (281 @ 40.14)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: George
Garton (14 @ 16.5)
Overseas players: Rashid Khan (available from June 27), David Wiese (available for whole tournament), Travis Head (available for whole tournament).
Key man: Rashid Khan - The Afghanistan leg-spinner is back for his third season, having taken 24 wickets in 20 games. With Danny Briggs gone, his control and wicket-taking potential will be vital.
Blast expectations: Sussex look to have all bases covered and it will be a big surprise if the 2018 finalists don’t at least get to the knockout stages. Even at 36, skipper Luke Wright still has a lot to offer and commands enviable resources, even without Jofra Archer and with Chris Jordan’s appearances likely to be limited by England commitments. The mercurially talented Rashid Khan can be relied on to win a game or two on his own, Travis Head will bring runs and big-match experience and Ravi Bopara is too good a player not to improve on a disappointing 2020.