Hogan set to reach 100 not out for Glam
HEAD coach Matt Maynard has named a 13-man squad for the visit of Sussex to Sophia Gardens today, (behind closed doors), for Glamorgan’s opening home game of the 2021 LV= County Championship season.
Twelve of the 13 who travelled to Yorkshire keep their place in the squad, with Roman Walker replacing Jamie McIlroy (side strain).
Billy Root and Chris Cooke both hit centuries at Headingley, as Glamorgan looked set for a potential upset before a heavy snow storm on the afternoon of the third day denied them the chance to push for a famous victory.
James Weighell could make his first Glamorgan appearance, should he be selected, with Walker also in line for a potential first-class debut after a series of T20 appearances in 2019 and a singular List A game, where he famously hit the winning runs at Hove against this week’s opponents.
Walker took 6/105 across two innings for the 2nd XI at Taunton Vale in the three-wicket win last week.
Michael Hogan will likely make his 100th first-class appearance for Glamorgan against Sussex, having gone past 600 first-class career wickets last year. Hogan currently sits on 382 wickets so far Glamorgan, having returned match figures of 4/82 at Headingley last week.
Sussex come into the game having secured a creditable draw at Old Trafford against Lancashire, with Tom Haines scoring 155 out of 301 in their first innings, before snow interrupted proceedings in Manchester.
“It was a nice start for us. A good performance, but not a complete one. It’s a really encouraging sign and we’ve still got a lot of things we can work on. I think the ceiling is pretty high for this group of players,” said skipper Cooke.
“It’s very difficult to bat at this time of year, but the top order showed really good intent. They got good balls but it’s a difficult place to start, opening up at Headingley in April, but a lot of good signs still.
“We know quite a lot of their players, and then a few players we haven’t seen. We just want to keep doing what we do, stick to our A-game, and hopefully that’s enough over the four days.
“Home and away doesn’t make a lot of difference without fans, but we know the conditions and wicket here pretty well, and we are all really excited to be back home in the glorious Cardiff sunshine over the next four days.
“It was a bit tricky up in Yorkshire, with the travels, hotels, showering after games, recovery, so it’ll be nice to have the home comforts and hopefully those one-percenters will be in our favour.
“James Weighell is a good bowling all-rounder, he’s settled in really well, he can offer a lot and I’m sure he’ll be hungry to prove a few people wrong and make Cardiff his home.”
Glamorgan squad: Chris Cooke (c/wk), Andy Balbirnie, Kiran Carlson, Tom Cullen, Dan Douthwaite, Michael Hogan, David Lloyd, Billy Root, Nick Selman, Callum Taylor, Timm van der Gugten, Roman Walker, James Weighell.