Madsen misses out on milestone as Glamorgan bowlers rally at Derby

FORMER Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen fell short of a notable milestone as Glamorgan’s bowlers hit back on the third day of the match at Derby.

Madsen was dismissed three short of what would have been his 20th first-class century for the county and his second of the season on a day when sleet and snow disrupted play.

Ben Slater made 62 and Wes Durston 43 before Derbyshire lost four wickets for 33 runs with offspinner Andrew Salter and fast bowler Michael Hogan each taking three wickets.

“It was a bit cold on the spinners fingers but we got through it and in patches we did well,” said Salter. “I think that’s one of the coldest days I had to field in and I don’t think I’ve had to come off for snow before!

“I’m pleased to get three wickets, it wasn’t the most comfortable of feelings to start with but I managed to get some rhythm.”

But Glamorgan’s advantage was whittled down by an unbroken last wicket stand of 42 between Tom Poynton and Andy Carter to take Derbyshire to 331 for 9 at the close.

Glamorgan’s pace attack would have hoped for cloud cover but despite bitterly cold conditions, play started under blue skies and there were few problems for Slater and Madsen in the first hour.

Both batsmen profited from some inconsistent bowling with Slater completing his third consecutive fifty at Derby, following two in the final match of last season, from 110 balls.

Madsen moved to his half-century from 87 balls and the pair had added 103 when Slater went back and across to Andrew Salter and was lbw for 62.

It was a disappointing end for Slater who had driven the ball impressively and Neil Broom went cheaply two overs before lunch when he offered no shot to van der Gugten and was bowled.

But Glamorgan allowed Durston to get away after the interval as he dominated a stand of 59 in 14 overs before he tried to cut David Lloyd and was caught behind.

That sparked a collapse that saw Matt Critchley edge Salter’s arm ball to slip and Madsen surprisingly bowled as he came down the track to the spinner when he looked certain to follow his 150 at Bristol last week with another hundred.

When Tony Palladino was caught behind down the leg-side off Michael Hogan with the new ball, Derbyshire were still 103 runs behind but sleet and driving rain halted play and it took until 6pm to get the game back on with 29 overs lost.

Glamorgan secured maximum bowling points when Luke Fletcher top edged a hook at Craig Meschede but Derbyshire earned a third batting point through an edge to third man from Carter.

The big paceman hit Salter for two big sixes before bad light ended play with Derbyshire 46 runs behind.

“A little bit disappointed to fall short but in terms of the game situation it was important to make sure we batted through the morning session without too much damage,” Madsen said on reflection.

“Tomorrow we can have a really hard go at them and potentially there’s still an opportunity for us to get a result out of this.

“We played a pre-season game in Taunton three or four years ago which was minus two with the wind chill but this is definitely the coldest I’ve played in.”