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Match Preview: Glamorgan v Gloucestershire

14 August 2020

Gloucestershire will be hoping to make it two Bob Willis Trophy wins in a row when they cross the Severn Bridge to take on Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.

Following on from an enthralling encounter at the Bristol County Ground against Warwickshire, Richard Dawson’s side will be looking for a repeat of the last first-class match played against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens that Gloucestershire won by nine wickets.

“The last match reinforced what we did last year which is taking four-day cricket to the last session of the last day and trying to squeeze in a win,” Richard Dawson said.  “That shows a work ethic, a resilience and a never say die attitude to keep playing which is very pleasing.”

“There are areas that we still need to sharpen up on. We want to be able to put up a big score in the first innings to make life easier for ourselves. We’ve had players get fifties but we haven’t had a century yet and we want to change that very quickly.

“In our second game our bowling attack improved. We bowled in partnerships and although one player got the majority of wickets, as a collective, they did exceptionally well.”

Ryan Higgins will be a name that strikes fear into the Glamorgan dressing room having taken a career best 11/96 against Warwickshire. His figures with the bat also improved, he notched his first half-century of the season last weekend alongside the confident looking Graeme van Buuren who seems to be adapting very quickly to the number three spot in the batting order.

Ben Charlesworth showed supporters once again why there is so much hype around the 19-year-old with a fourth first-class half-century in just his twelfth match. Fellow opener Chris Dent will be hoping to get back amongst the runs after two single digit scores in the last outing.

Tom Lace, who signed for the Club earlier this week, adds more batting options and variation given his ability to open and slot in anywhere in the top four.

“He’s a top order batsman who had success last year. He adds batting depth and brings more competition to the squad which is very positive. It shows that we want to keep on improving as a team and a squad,” Dawson said.

Gloucestershire’s 14-man squad to face Glamorgan:

George Scott’s first-class debut for Gloucestershire showed plenty of promise with two wickets and 61 runs. He adds to a Gloucestershire pace attack that already includes an in-form Matt Taylor and potentially David Payne who missed last week’s match due to an upset stomach.

Speaking on squad rotation and player selection Dawson said:

“We asses things every week, we’re not really looking at rotating because that requires having a big enough squad to be able to.

“If it comes to a stage where guys have played a lot of cricket and have huge workloads then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there but hopefully we’ll be heading to Cardiff tomorrow with a fully fit squad.”

Glamorgan started the Bob Willis Trophy with a loss to Somerset and an unlikely draw at Worcestershire. Saturday provides an opportunity for the Welsh side to get a win in their first match at home this season.

Billy Root and Chris Cooke have been the top scorers for Glamorgan to start the season, Root being the only player among the two sides to make three figures in an innings.

Six players have taken three or more wickets in a balanced bowling attack. Graham Wagg has rolled back the years taking five wickets and making a half-century in their last match at Worcester.  

Since Dawson took charge of The Shire in 2015, Gloucestershire have beaten their neighbours in the County Championship five times: two of those wins were at Sophia Gardens. The Cardiff venue has played host to Dawson’s side on ten occasions in all competitions with Gloucestershire coming out on top six times and losing just twice.

The match will be played behind closed doors but will be available to stream on the Gloscricket Match Centre and the Glamorgan website.

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