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Glamorgan Promotion Now A Long Shot, Admits Matthew Maynard

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By Gareth James

Matthew Maynard has admitted County Championship promotion is now a long shot for Glamorgan after their defeat to rivals Worcestershire.

The Midlands county strengthened their own grip on second place in Division Two of the LV=Insurance County Championship as they won by 80 runs at New Road.

Worcestershire are now 31 points ahead of Glamorgan in the battle for the second promotion spot, behind Durham who are their next opponents in two weeks at New Road.

Leicestershire are emerging as their biggest challengers after their win over Gloucestershire leaves them 24 points behind in third, with a game in hand.

Glamorgan are back in action this Sunday at home to Yorkshire, before hosting Derbyshire, also at Sophia Gardens, on Tuesday 26 September.

Asked about Glamorgan;’s chances of winning promotion, head coach Maynard said: “It’ll be tough.

“Leicestershire have won as well so we’ve got to not worry too much about the opposition, just concentrate on taking 20 wickets and scoring more runs than the opposition.

“It was tough batting. We tried to get partnerships but the hardest thing on that wicket was to get in and bat the first 15-20 balls. No-one threw their wicket away. They were got out with some good Worcester bowling.

“It was a really interesting wicket. As Billy Root showed, you can bat on it, but he was our only batsman throughout both innings who looked relatively trouble-free.

“Timm van der Gugten is having a scan on Thursday. If it’s a little nick he might be ready for the last game but it might be more substantial. He’s led our attack terrifically and should be very proud of his achievements.”

Worcestershire’s win was wrapped up with more than a day to spare as Glamorgan suffered a first Championship setback of the summer.

Dutch international Logan van Beek completed an excellent all-round game with another four wickets to take his tally to eight in the game after his first innings half-century.

Once again all members of their four-pronged seam attack bowled with discipline on a wicket which still offered them sufficient encouragement.

Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira’s first innings knock of 74 not out was also a crucial contribution and they were able to survive a second innings collapse of nine wickets for 64 runs to collect 20 points from the game.

Billy Root batted with composure and authority in both innings for Glamorgan and his 84 not out on Tuesday was a superb effort in challenging conditions for batting, but no one could provide substantial support.

Jamie McIlroy demonstrated his potential with the ball, though he was unable to cover for the loss of Timm van der Gugten who suffered a hamstring injury on the opening day of the match.

Worcestershire coach Alan Richardson said: “The boys did themselves very proud. We put in good performances throughout the three days of cricket and stuck at the task really well.

“It ebbed and flowed, as many four-day games do. I probably always go on the pessimistic side of stuff and, if you had asked me what I want, I would have liked a 500-run lead.

“But I always felt we were slightly ahead. Glamorgan would have to bat really well. They applied themselves well at times, but we bowled beautifully.

“All credit to all the seamers. This is Ben’s debut and Logan’s first red ball game for us. They slotted in seamlessly into that four-man attack and throughout it felt like we were always causing pressure and problems.”

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