Wickets shared on first day at Swansea Festival
6 August 2015
Although Gloucestershire were without some of their leading players, their bowlers made Glamorgan work hard for their runs in the first day of the Swansea Cricket Festival at the St Helen’s ground.
They were indebted to their captain Jacques Rudolph, who batted for three balls short of fifty overs for his 68, and the young all rounder Andrew Salter, who has scored 73 not out and has guided Glamorgan to two batting points.
Apart from them no one else could master an accurate attack on a pitch which offered some seam movement and also turned, albeit slowly, for the spinners.
The Glamorgan total of 271 for 8 could prove to be an advantage, as the St. Helen’s pitch has always offered generous turn throughout, with the home team including three spinners.
After electing to bat first, Gloucestershire soon made inroads by dismissing Will Bragg in the first over, when a leading edge was caught at mid off.
Rudolph and Colin Ingram then added 40, but Liam Norwell struck twice in his seventh over when Ingram and Aneurin Donald- captain of England’s Under 19 one day team- were both caught at third slip from balls that seamed off the pitch.
Shortly before lunch, Chris Cooke shouldered arms and when Graham Wagg drove loosely to cover after the interval Glamorgan had stumbled to 106 for 5.
Rudolph, however, remained steadfast, playing every ball on its merit and had scored his runs from 147 balls with eleven fours before nudging Jack Taylor’s off spin to slip, where Hamish Marshall held a sharp catch.
Not for the first time this season, Glamorgan’s late order batsmen rallied to the cause with Salter and Mark Wallace adding 40 , before Salter found an unlikely ally in Kieran Bull, whose previous highest score was twelve.
The two young West Walians, with a combined age of 42, not only achieved career best scores but also shared in the highest partnership of the innings as they put on an invaluable unbeaten 85 for the ninth wicket.
The new ball came and went as Salter played some handsome strokes either side of the wicket, and as Glamorgan’s leading spinner, he would have been encouraged to see the ball turn more towards the end of the day.
He has already struck eight fours, and when the second day gets underway his first objective will be to guide his team to a total in excess of 300, and then score the 27 runs he requires for a maiden championship century.
