Labuschagne makes return as Glamorgan head to Trent Bridge

COLIN Ingram misses out as Marnus Labuschagne returns to the Glamorgan squad for the LV= County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, starting today.

Ingram deputised for Labuschagne in the draw against Durham and struck 87 in the first innings, but is left out of the 13-man squad along with wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Cullen.

All-rounder Andrew Salter will continue to open the batting with David Lloyd, while Eddie Byrom continues to recover from minor surgery. Salter took a career-best 7-45 last week against Durham – the best figures for a Glamorgan spinner since Robert Croft in 1992.

“It’s tough for Colin Ingram who’s done a lot of preparation for the campaign and showed in the first innings what a class player he is,” said head coach Matt Maynard.

“We’re fortunate we have the number one Test batsman in the world, we look forward to having him and Michael Neser hopefully fit for Trent Bridge as well.

“As a management team, we’ve got a tough decision on what eleven to put out because all our four main seamers bowled well as well as Andrew Salter, who won’t miss out because he’s opening the batting.

“It’s a very tough start to the season for us, Notts have found a winning way over the last couple of seasons, and they’ll be happy with the start to the campaign having pulled off a good victory over Sussex, but we look forward to the challenge.”

Labuschagne will reunite with Queensland and Australia teammate Neser in Glamorgan colours, with the seamer likely to play after missing the first-round draw against Durham with a side strain.

“I love playing with Marnus, he’ll be full of beans and ready to go as usual,” declared Neser.

“Marnus is a character and I’m sure he’ll make a big impact. He makes things exciting, when you’ve got a day raining, he makes the changing room enjoyable.

“He’s non-stop, cricket all year round, all day, all night, he’s very attentive to his game and very passionate about cricket - as he shows on the field.”

James Pattinson and Dane Paterson are added to the Nottinghamshire squad, while Luke Fletcher will continue to rest the hamstring injury that prevented him from bowling in the second innings at Sussex. Nottinghamshire: (from) J Clarke, B Duckett, J Evison, H Hameed, B Hutton, C Harrison, L James, T Moores, S Mullaney (c), D Paterson, J Pattinson, L Patterson-White, B Slater.

Glamorgan: (from) D Lloyd (c), C Cooke (wkt), A Salter, K Carlson, D Douthwaite, M Labuschagne, J Harris, M Hogan, M Neser, S Northeast, C Taylor, T Van der Gugten, J Weighell.