Glam take on in-form Stokes
GLAMORGAN come face to face with new England men’s Test captain Ben Stokes when they travel to face Durham in the LV= County Championship at the Riverside, starting today.
Stokes has been in prime form since the announcement that he is taking over from Joe Root, scoring a rapid-fire 161 off 88 balls in the draw with Worcestershire, an innings which included him hitting 34 runs in one over and a record 17 sixes in a competition innings.
So, it will be a tough task for the Welsh county, as coach Matt Maynard admitted.
He said: “It is difficult four days up in Durham, they are a very strong side. They will be a tough opposition, especially on home soil.
“Having Stokes in the side is a big boost for them. He is high class, a brilliant player.
“He showed in that innings just coming back how destructive he can be in all formats.
“We have seen him do it against the Aussies up at
Headingley a few years ago. He is a world-class player, so obviously it will be a challenge to play against him. But they have a lot of good players, with him being the icing on the cake if you like.”
But Glamorgan travel on the back of an impressive six-wicket victory against Leicestershire, and Maynard had named a 14-man squad for the trip north.
Billy Root retains his place in the squad after scoring an unbeaten century opening the batting against Worcestershire in the 2nd XI Championship encounter at Newport this week.
Timm van der Gugten returns to the squad, and he is joined by left-arm seamer Jamie McIlroy for the first time this season.
Van der Gugten has recovered from the hamstring issue that kept him out of the Leicestershire victory.
Glamorgan: D Lloyd (c), C Cooke (wkt), K Carlson, A Gorvin, J Harris, M Hogan, M Labuschagne, J McIlroy, M Neser, S Northeast, B Root, A Salter, T Van der Gugten, J Weighell.