Positive Croft heartened by ‘winning draw’
HAVING lost a game that they were winning for long periods against Gloucestershire last week, Glamorgan took on Essex lacking belief. Robert Croft admitted as much in a Q and A during lunch on the first day.
“Confidence has been low and by our own admission there’s too many of us not performing, junior and senior players, and it’s the role of every player and every coach to try and turn that around,” the head coach told the county’s most loyal supporters.
“Losing the first game here (against Leicestershire) affected confidence and we’ve missed Colin Ingram (who is injured), but I’m not in the business of excuses and our performances from every player and coach are not good enough at the moment – we have to dig deep.”
As Glamorgan suffered yet another top-order collapse in the afternoon session of that first day there was a real concern that, even though they were cognisant of the problem, they had not yet found a way to solve it.
“They managed an under-par 260 in their first innings thanks to some late-order runs from Craig Meschede and Andrew Salter.
From there it was a much more positive Glamorgan performance, by far their best of the season so far, and that it came against tabletopping Essex will have given them even more pleasure.
Speaking at the end of the match, Croft talked about how important it was to look at the positives that came out of this game after so much talk of where they had gone wrong in the last six weeks.
“We have reflected on what went on in these four days and we have talked about what we have done wrong this season but I think it was important for us to acknowledge what we did right during this game,” he said.
“It will be a gentle reminder to us all about what we need to do when we come round to the next Championship match at home against Kent.”
Some may have felt that Glamorgan were over-cautious in their decision to bat on to a total of 386 for eight declared on the final day, but Croft was keen to justify the call even though Essex held out for the draw.
“We decided to bat the opposition out of the game this morning and give them no chance of winning – and backed ourselves to get the wickets,” he said.
“The pitch was very flat at the end.We didn’t quite get there, but we have come out of this game with far more confidence and far more belief.
“I think to get another five wickets on that pitch as it was towards the end, you probably would have needed another 30 or 35 overs.
“And then when you do you need a heap more runs or you are taking far more of a gamble. I just thought from where we have been and the fact that we haven’t won many matches, it was important that we came out of this game psychologically on top, and I think we did.”
Croft was keen to praise Will Bragg, who made his career best score of 161 not out, an effort that the coach hailed as the batsman’s best for the county.
He also expressed his pleasure at how well Timm van der Gugten has performed since he arrived – the Netherlands fast bowler claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in county cricket in this match.
This was not a win for Glamorgan, but after so much doom and gloom over the past month and a half, a “winning draw” gives some real succour to the club.
Essex were grateful to opener Nick Browne for staving off defeat with the left-hander’s gritty 71 taking up 161 balls before he fell lbw to Graham Wagg.