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BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Glamorgan seek T20 upturn under another new coach
Glamorgan will go into the T20 season under new management for the fourth time in four years as they face Middlesex away in their opener on Sunday, 1 coach Richard Dawson, who reached the knockout stages four times in six years with Gloucestershire, follows Grant Bradburn, Mark Alleyne and Matthew Maynard in the role as Glamorgan look to progress out of their group for the first time since 2017."He brings wealth of experience and a great attitude, and we've got to use the depth of our squad, combinations of different batters and bowlers pushing for places," said captain Kiran Carlson. "There's no doubt we've under-performed since 2017 in the T20 and with the squad we have, we're hoping we can find the right balance and this year's the year."We've got to get into the rhythm of it quickly, in the past we might have started a little bit slowly so we've got to start on the front foot against Middlesex." Glamorgan go into the Blast on the back of three successive wins in the four-day county championship, but are likely to change around half the African batter Colin Ingram returns after resting while Sydney Sixers all-rounder Hayden Kerr is due to spend three months with the county as their other overseas player, after stints from Asitha Fernando, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Kuhnemann."It's about the balance of the side, but also doing simple things well, being sharp with your fielding," said Dawson."There'll be some new faces (from the Championship), we've got youngsters performing in the second team who are putting their hands up for being around the group. We want people pushing each other like in the four-day stuff."Kerr, a 28 year old left-arm seamer and middle to lower order batter, was recruited through Matthew Mott, the former Glamorgan and England coach now working with Sydney Sixers as well as having a consultant's role at Glamorgan. "Matthew Mott saw what I offered to the side in the Big Bash, he mentioned there was a chance to come over, so I'm stoked to be a part of it," Kerr told BBC Sport Wales."Coming over as an overseas pro, you're expected to do the hardest jobs so whether that's bowling the first over and the sixth over, then 17th and 19th, that's probably my role though I'm flexible and I've been really working hard with the bat as well."It's a great competition, though it's hard to compare (with the Big Bash) with the conditions, and the grounds being 15 metres smaller all round. I'm going to have to come up with different ideas to defend short straight boundaries at Sophia Gardens."Among the domestic players likely to be involved for Glamorgan in the T20 after missing out on the Championship are all-rounder Dan Douthwaite, leg-spinner Mason Crane, seamer Jamie McIlroy, and batter Will Smale, who all featured in the 2024 Blast, Douthwaite and Crane playing every game .Douthwaite is raring to go after a couple of hard-hitting innings in the second team's T20 games, following a pectoral injury which brought a delayed start to the season followed by another setback. "It's nice to be back bowling, it feels like a long time, and contributing with the bat as well. It was really frustrating to come back from a productive time in Australia, playing for Western Suburbs in Brisbane, and pick up a pec tear", said Douthwaite."I enjoyed being a bit more independent about my game, I've felt in the past I needed to be spoon-fed or told what to done, so it was cool and felt good for me as a cricketer."I'm as bad as anyone in hating watching, but being able to prep for the T20 has been the light at the end of the tunnel. It's the format where I feel I offer the most, so it's nice to be fit and firing."Carlson has captained Glamorgan to two One Day Cup successes in four years, but can Glamorgan find the magic formula in the higher standards of T20?"We found something towards the end of last year, we want to be attacking with the bat and take wickets with the ball, strangle teams in the middle and use different skills like Mason Crane," Carlson said."There's a few guys that haven't played much red-ball cricket so they'll be raring to go and they'll bring some real energy. They've been playing second-team T20 so they're used to the pace of play." After a warm-up game against Wiltshire in Swindon on Friday, 30 May, Glamorgan begin the official competition on a Northwood ground which produced a dramatic high-scoring game in 2023, Chris Cooke smashing a record 38-ball 100, before hosting Surrey and Essex Wiltshire and Middlesex are double-headers with the recently-formed Glamorgan women's team, who are also starting a new competition after reaching the third round of the T20 Cup.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Glamorgan relishing Labuschagne's two-game return
Glamorgan are relishing the prospect of Australian Test star Marnus Labuschagne arriving for two Championship games, in his sixth season with the county."It'll be good to have him involved, he knows the players, he brings energy and quality so it's great to have him back into the squad," said coach Richard Dawson."I've come up against him and met him a couple of times so I'm looking forward to working with him."Labuschagne will be able to acclimatise to British conditions prior to Australia's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's in South African-born batter has played some part in every year since his 2019 debut, apart from the Covid-hit season on 2020, although it is his briefest visit yet because of international commitments and recent paternity leave. Labuschagne reached number one status in the world ranking of Test batters at one stage after his first Glamorgan trip as he became a Test regular in the 2019 Ashes series and his games in this month's brief return are at Sophia Gardens, facing Northants on Friday, 16 May and Middlesex the following week, with South African batter Colin Ingram, 39, rested before the T20 Blast despite his continuing strong performances."Col's in great form but the lads are excited and the club's excited to get Marnus in, he'll be hungry for runs and bring something different to the changing room," explained van der Gugten, who has played alongside Labuschagne since his Glamorgan debut, revealed he had already been in contact during their win at Kent."He'll bring another energy with him. He's already been on FaceTime and he arrives in the morning [Monday], so he's keen to get involved like he always is and it'll be nice to have him around the group," van der Gugten told BBC Sport is best known for his batting ability but has also bowled seam, leg-spin and off-spin during his time with Lankan paceman Asitha Fernando, who took three wickets in the second innings of the victory at Canterbury, has two red-ball games left on his contract while Glamorgan are yet to announce plans for a bowling recruit for the T20 Blast, with batter Ingram set to return for the opener against Middlesex at Northwood on Sunday, 1 June.
BBC News
30-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Glamorgan 'a lot of potential'
Glamorgan's new coach Richard Dawson says he is coming into a team with "high potential players".The Welsh county ramp-up preparations for the new campaign with a three-day game against Cardiff UCCE starting Sunday, before beginning the County Championship season on Friday, 4 April. "It's an amazing county with a rich history, and I've coached Welsh Fire so I know the city," said Dawson who was appointed in February to succeed sacked Grant Bradburn as Glamorgan coach."It's a squad with two recent trophy wins [in the One Day Cup] and a lot of potential, so I'm looking forward to getting started," added Dawson."We've got the squad to be able to get into the T20 Blast knockout stages." England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir (on loan from Somerset) and Sri Lankan paceman Asitha Fernando are set to make official debuts against Leicestershire in the opening Championship Division Two seamer James Harris (calf) and all-rounder Dan Douthwaite (pectoral muscle) have joined leg-spinner Mason Crane (shoulder) on the injury Dawson, 44, coached Gloucestershire for five years before various roles with England and was recruited at short notice following the shock departure of Bradburn."We're really lucky to have Richard, he's coming straight off a spell with England but he's got brilliant experience coaching Gloucestershire and the England pathway so he'll be perfect for us this year," said director of cricket Mark Wallace."He's a coach who makes players better and he's got a good idea of what the squad looks like. We're also going to have some involvement with [former Glamorgan and England coach] Matthew Mott who'll help in developing our coaches, doing some work on the male and female game."After Glamorgan finished a disappointing sixth in Division Two in 2024, Dawson is keen to emphasise progression of his players, both junior and senior, rather than setting targets for the number of wins."What we're looking for is progression in how we play cricket, how we play at home and being able to take [20] wickets is going to contribute to that," he reflected."If you can get to half-way and keep players fit, then it's about how you can push through September. Hopefully the wins will come if we do those other things."Championship captain Sam Northeast has worked with Dawson in the England Lions set-up."He's pretty blunt, he's a straight talker but there's support with that, he'll put an arm round the shoulder at the right times. He's worked with a similar club to Glamorgan at Gloucestershire, so we've got to use his experience," said Northeast."Promotion is always the aim, we need a good start, we got it last year but the back-end didn't go as planned though we had an eye on the 50 overs and playing a few younger players." Bashir is likely to be the only British newcomer in early season, filling in for Crane on a three-match loan stint, albeit when pitches are traditionally least likely to be spin-friendly."Once we heard Mason was injured, it was a question of reaching out to Somerset and the ECB to see if there was the potential to get Shoaib in. I worked with him in Brisbane on the England Lions tour, he's hungry to learn and wants to play," Dawson far as overseas players are concerned, Glamorgan will have veteran South African batter Colin Ingram available throughout the season while Australian star Marnus Labuschagne may make a fleeting appearance in Lankan opening bowler Fernando has signed up for the first two months with the possibility of more, though the county could look for a different T20 bowling option."Asitha is a similar bowler to Michael Neser, he swings it and attacks the stumps so he'll be a really good addition. Hopefully he fits in well and we'll get him back at some stage later," said captain started last season with a ground record 335 not out at Lord's and passed 1,000 first-class runs, mostly scored away from home."I haven't set any personal targets because I want the squad to do well and keep the younger players growing. But my game feels in a good place and it's just about having good mental vibes."Glamorgan's limited-overs form has shown a sharp divide between the One Day Cup, which they have won twice in four years with a relatively full-strength squad, and the T20 Blast where they have not progressed out of the group stage since 2017."The 50 over comp last year was great, we really enjoyed it as a squad, so it's about trying to take that momentum and some of the good stuff we did, and use it to our advantage," said white-ball captain Kiran Carlson."We weren't far off in T20, we had a few bad losses, a few good wins and it's about finding that sweet spot, peaking at the right time."Getting the balance of a team is still something I'm learning about, it's about trying to get match-winners out there," Carlson added."It's massive to win [the One Day Cup], it gives the club a boost and it's the icing on the cake for players after a long hard season."After begining their Championship season at home to Leicestershire on Friday Glamorgan face visits to Bristol and Lord's.
