Sleepless In The Swalec As David Miller Jets In To Give Glamorgan Blast Off

David Miller has jetted in to the Glamorgan squad for Wednesday night’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final clash with Leicestershire Foxes at The Swalec Stadium.

The South African batsman arrived on an overnight flight from Johannesburg on Wednesday morning, just hours after playing match in his homeland.

The big-hitting left-hander arrives having been involved in the two-game South Africa A against India A series which finished on Tuesday.

Miller is the only addition to the squad which recorded a first home win of the campaign against Middlesex last week to finish top the south group.

The South African signed for Glamorgan on a short six match spell earlier in the competition, scoring 117 runs in four innings at an average of 57.50, which included a man of the match performance on debut against Gloucestershire in Bristol.

Jacques Rudolph, who captains Glamorgan for the final time in Cardiff after announcing his retirement from the game at the end of the season, believes his side are more than capable of defeating Leicestershire to reach Finals Day at Edgbaston.

“I’m very pleased with where we are as a squad. There’s been a great attitude at training, the guys have been meticulous the way they’ve gone about their business so I really believe if we rock up tomorrow with the right attitude we can have a good day.”

This the second consecutive season Glamorgan have reached a home quarter-final in the NatWest T20 Blast. Last year the Welsh County suffered a disappointing loss to Yorkshire Vikings in front of a record five figure crowd, but Rudolph is confident his side will learn from past mistakes.

“It’s obviously a massive game for us and I think the disappointment of last year against Yorkshire will give us quite a lot of inspiration to make it right this year,” said Rudolph.

“I think there are lessons to learn from last year. I did feel we were a little bit subdued in our team as a collective but if there’s good energy and purpose to what we do we stand a good chance of winning.”

Three times T20 winners Leicestershire Foxes are in a good run of form, winning their last four games in the competition including victories over Notts Outlaws, Yorkshire Vikings and last year’s champions Northants Steelbacks.

“They are a very dangerous team” added Rudolph. “They have quite a few X-factor players with experience in Clint McKay and Mark Cosgrove but the one thing we’ve done well this year is not focus too much on the opposition.”

With four home group stage matches abandoned due to the weather, Rudolph is hoping a large home crowd will be on hand to help cheer his boys to victory.

“Hopefully all the people who couldn’t attend the rained off game will be here tomorrow. It’s always special for us a squad to play in front of a big Cardiff crowd. I think tomorrow hopefully that kind of energy will get our boys going.”

 

Glamorgan (14-man) squad to face Leicestershire: Rudolph (c), Carey, Carlson, Cooke, De Lange, Donald, Hogan, Ingram, Meschede, Miller, Morgan, Salter, Selman, Wagg.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *