Glamorgan women to make history in first game
A small piece of Glamorgan cricket history will be made on Saturday when their women's team play their first game against Sussex Sharks in Cardiff.The new side will play a 50 overs contest in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at Sophia Gardens (10:30 BST).The semi-professional side will also play T20 cricket later in the season.The Glamorgan team is due to graduate to the full professional level in 2027, and already runs a Tier One academy as part of the build-up.Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire have all been awarded Tier 1 status in 2025 with Glamorgan and Yorkshire joining them two years later.
Nine senior Wales players from the old county system will provide the basis of the new Glamorgan squad, together with 15 academy hopefuls drawn from Wales, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.Some players' jobs include teacher, solicitor, physio and radiographer, as well as a number of students.
Former Wales skipper Lauren Parfitt will captain the side. The Pontypool-born Parfitt, 31, is one of the most experienced players moving over from the Wales county side.She has been playing county cricket since 2007 and also represented the regional Western Storm side between 2020 and 2022.Parfitt was chosen to lead the side by coach Rachel Priest, a former team-mate and New Zealand player."The aim is to go as high as possible," said Parfitt."We have got an exciting squad to kickstart this new era, and want to hit the ground running in both sets of competitions. "There is obviously a little bit of the unknown in it as well, teams we haven't played against and also our own players coming in from different counties and set-ups."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
2 hours ago
- Wales Online
Ronnie O'Sullivan ‘finally' confirms next career move amid plans to quit the UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan 'finally' confirms next career move amid plans to quit the UK Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan has dropped another major announcement following his revelation that he planned to quit the UK for the Middle East, where he has his own academy Ronnie O'Sullivan is looking for a fresh start on and off the table (Image:) Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed his latest venture by stepping into the world of YouTube content creation. The seven-time world snooker champion had a reduced presence over the second half of last season after smashing his cue in frustration during a round of Championship League action in January. O'Sullivan withdrew from the Masters, which he was due to defend, and numerous other events before returning for the World Championship with a new cue. Although he reached the semi-finals, O'Sullivan often appeared vexed, voicing unhappiness with his performance and equipment. He even made the bold move of having his cue's tip and ferrule changed mid-match against Zhao Xintong. After a 17-7 defeat to eventual champion Zhao, O'Sullivan divulged his intentions to spend more time in the Middle East and be selective about future tournament engagements. Now, he's pursuing a new passion beyond the baize by setting up a YouTube channel. Sharing a link to footage of his landmark 1000th professional century at the Players Championship final in 2019, O'Sullivan announced on social media: "Finally gone and got a YouTube channel... I will be uploading all sorts here from some of my favourite shots and matches to me cooking to me meeting and chatting to some interesting people. Hope you guys enjoy it!!" However, upon visiting the channel, the only clip available was one of him hitting a 147 in practice while in Saudi Arabia before the World Championship. The 1000th century break clip appeared to have been removed. Article continues below O'Sullivan took to X to announce his new YouTube channel (Image: ronnieo147/X ) Still, the revelation was well received by his 564,000 followers. One fan responded: "Subbed already. Can't wait for more content. Good luck!" Another supporter commented: "Good luck Ron, keep grafting & playing for as long as you can." A third jokingly remarked: "Ronnie O'Sullivan cooking must be Fast Food!" Following his exit from the World Championship, O'Sullivan shared his plans to leave the UK. The Essex cueman, who has an academy in Saudi Arabia, said: "I think I'm going to be moving out of the UK this year. A new life somewhere else. "I'll still try and play snooker but I don't know what the future looks like for me really. I'm moving away soon so I'll just see how it goes. There's a lot of more important things in life to worry about than a game of snooker. "For me, it's a big part of my life, but I've got to try and figure out what my future looks like, whether it's playing or not. I'll be moving away to the Middle East but we'll see how it goes. I might be back in six months, who knows?" O'Sullivan is looking to become a social media star (Image: Getty ) Article continues below O'Sullivan, who recently split from long-term partner Laila Rouass, added: 'There are going to be a few changes in my life so we'll see how that goes.' He insisted his cue issues weren't necessarily to blame for his Crucible struggles, saying: 'I don't even know if it was the cue, the ferrule or me. There were three things. I just don't even know where the white ball's going. I'm at a loss, to be honest with you. 'I don't even know what to say. Sometimes you've got to try something different, you know? It didn't feel great before so I tried to go back to the old brass ferrule.'
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Colchester's Richardson targets more history as pro
Lewis Richardson has set his sights on creating more history for Colchester as he prepares to make his professional debut on Saturday in 27-year-old was the only Briton to come away from the Paris Olympics with a medal, winning bronze and becoming the first Colchester native to win an Olympic will make his professional bow against Dmitri Protkunas on the undercard of Fabio Wardley v Justis Huni."The long-term ambition is to become a world champion. I believe I am capable of doing so. My coach Dennis (Mullan) says he was Colchester's first national champ as an amateur," he told BBC Essex."I think I'm right in saying I'll be their first world champion."Richardson took his time to chose his next steps and settle on a his fellow Olympians such as Delicious Orie have already made their professional debuts, Richardson did not sign with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions until will fight at middleweight and thinks the paid ranks will "provide me with a great opportunity to express myself but also provide an example for the youngsters".Richardson is proud of his roots and is a familiar face at League Two side Colchester United as well as having had the same local sponsor since he was 17."I took my time. I know a lot of people were asking why I was taking so long. There is method behind the madness. I wanted a solid team behind me," Richardson said."I'm very proud to come from Colchester and Essex. I come from a traditional council estate environment, but it just shows the power of sport."And the power of having good, loving people around you so you can express yourself and be the best you can be." Wardley v Huni undercard Fabio Wardley v Justis Huni - heavyweightDillian Whyte v TBC - heavyweightPierce O'Leary v Liam Dillon - European light-welterweight titleNelson Hysa v Patrick Korte - heavyweightMike Perez v Steven Ward - cruiserweightSam Gilley v Louis Greene - super-welterweightUmar Khan v Moises Garcia - featherweightBilly Adams v Alexander Morales - super-featherweightLewis Richardson v Dmitri Protkunas - middleweight Lillie Winch v Katerina Dvorakova - featherweightJack Williams v Fernando Valdez - super-bantamweight
BBC News
21 hours ago
- BBC News
Roy's knock key for Surrey in win over Glamorgan
Vitality Blast, CardiffSurrey 149-8 (20 ov): Roy 69; Douthwaite 3-23Glamorgan 142 (20 ov): Carlson 31; S Curran 3-18, Jordan 3-31Match scorecard Jason Roy's 69 off 47 balls proved a match-winning innings as Surrey successfully defended a modest target of 150 in a seven-run victory over home side started brightly with Kiran Carlson (31) and Will Smale (26) adding 58, but Surrey's bowlers squeezed expertly and Glamorgan fell away to 142 all Curran took 3-18 on his 27th birthday, expertly backed up by Kiwi Nathan Smith (2-21) and Chris Jordan (3-31) as Glamorgan provided a series of catches on the wide square England batter Roy played a lone hand for Surrey, striking four sixes in his key knock as they were kept down to Douthwaite (3-23 in four) led a tidy Glamorgan bowling performance, while Andy Gorvin claimed two wickets, two catches and a runout. Roy's colleagues could not match his strike-rate as Ollie Pope fell early to Douthwaite and Dom Sibley, opening out on 26 after a slow start, gave Gorvin another catch in the deep off Ben 12th over from Gorvin proved eventful as Roy hoisted the first ball over long-on into the river Taff, only for birthday boy Sam Curran and Laurie Evans to hole out to Asa Tribe at long-off trying to repeat the the bowling of Gorvin, Douthwaite and Kellaway, Surrey always looked capable of posting a decent total as long as Roy was there, especially after his previous 92 against he was caught on the ropes in the 18th over off Timm van der Gugten and Surrey looked a touch below looked even more the case as Carlson and Smale (26) posted an opening stand of 58 in seven overs, before sixth bowler Chris Jordan made the breakthrough as Carlson was caught behind. Ben Kellaway (13) hit three fours off his first six balls before being caught on the boundary off Yousef Majid, and Glamorgan were exactly halfway to their target on 75-2 in 10 overs. But Smith, one of eight internationals in the visitors' ranks, applied the brakes to Glamorgan's chase as Smale chipped a catch and Colin Ingram was caught at deep cover for bowled tightly before taking a key outfield catch as danger man Douthwaite (14) got under a slower ball from Sam Curran, with Glamorgan unable to find the shorter straight boundaries. Wickets fell regularly through the second half as Surrey's hopes soared, and Glamorgan could not regain any momentum before being bowled out off the final ball of their innings, the result looking inevitable in the closing stages.
