Glamorgan v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Monday 30 August – Thursday 02 September
11am start
Essex resume the LV= Insurance County Championship campaign when the team travel to Wales to meet Glamorgan in Cardiff on Monday.
It is the third time this season that Essex have made the trip across the border and they will be hoping that the change of format from limited-overs cricket to the four-day variety will be more conducive in helping them return with a favourable result.
Two white-ball matches, in the Vitality Blast and Royal London Cup, ended with the home side victorious on both occasions so Essex will be hoping to make amends as they undertake red-ball cricket.
It will be the first time since July 11 that the team have competed in the 4-day format but even that match was abandoned after just a single day when a Derbyshire player tested positive for COVID-19.
Hear from McGrath:
Although his side are unable to challenge for the Championship title, Head Coach Anthony McGrath insists that the remaining four matches still carry a lot of importance.
“It’s obviously disappointing that we are not involved in the top division and although we played some good cricket at times, we just were not consistent enough which cost us our place in the top-tier,” he said.
“But each player has personal pride to play for, not only in his own performances but also that of Club. Essex will always prepare properly and go out to try and win whatever game in whatever competition we are involved with so playing in the second tier for the last few weeks of this season is no different.
“We have been used to arriving at this stage of the season and watching Essex challenging for titles but it’s not to be this time around.
“Our players are professional sportsmen and they thrive on the challenge to win games, and will be mindful of not letting either themselves or the Club down.
“It’s important that we finish the season as strongly as we can. The conference system was put into place for this year and nobody yet knows what will happen in 2022. It could be retained or we will return to two-division cricket so it’s important that we finish the season as strongly as in preparation for whatever is eventually decided for next year.”
Injury/Absentees News:
There are no new injuries concerns with Jamie Porter (side strain) and Shane Snater (hamstring) both returning to fitness after missing part of the Royal London Cup campaign.
Dan Lawrence also returns after being released by England following the third Test against India and back is in contention for a place in the Essex starting XI.
Squad:
Opposition:
Glamorgan finished their 10 matches in Group Three of the qualifying round in third place having recorded two wins and six draws to accrue 127 points. Lancashire and Yorkshire took the two Division slots from the section with 150 and 149 points respectively.
Both of the Welsh county’s successes came in low-scoring contests in Cardiff. They beat Kent with the match lasting just two days after the visitors scored 138 and 74 with the hosts replying with 197 and 19 without loss to secure a 10-wickets win in two days.
The other victory took a day longer in another contest where the ball mastered bat. Lancashire scored 173 and 164 whilst Glamorgan totalled 150 and then 188 for 4 to cross the finishing line with a day and 6 wickets to spare.
Three Glamorgan batsmen have passed 500 Championship runs so far this season, headed by Kiran Carlson with 790, ahead of David Lloyd (607) and Chris Cooke (544).
Pace bowlers Michael Hogan and South Africa-born Michael Neser have taken a combined tally of 51 Championship wickets this summer. Neser’s 23 scalps have been claimed an average of 16.78 and Hogan’s 28 victims @ 23.64.
One to Watch:
Right-hand middle-order batsman, Kiran Carlson is enjoying a superb season for his county. With a number of their players drafted into the Hundred, the 23-year-old took on the responsibility of leading the side in the Royal London Cup. It proved a fine appointment with the Cardiff-born lifting the trophy as Glamorgan beat Durham in the final.
Back in 2016 at the age of 18 years, Carlson becomes the youngest player to score a first-class century for Glamorgan in Essex’s final home match of the season at Chelmsford.
So far this season, he has blossomed in the red-ball format scoring 790 Championship runs @ 65.83.
Head-to-Head:
The teams last met in the County Championship back in 2016 when the fixture ended as a draw. Graham Napier returned 5 for 82 in the Glamorgan score’s first innings of 260. Essex responded with 313 thanks to 80 apiece from both Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara, whilst Timm van der Gugten claimed 5 for 90.
In Glamorgan’s second trip to the middle, Will Bragg posted an unbeaten 161 out of 386-6 declared to set the visitors 334 to win.
Essex lost their first three wickets for 46 and when opener Nick Browne was dismissed after scoring 71 , Essex were in trouble at 122 for 5. But Jesse Ryder (25*) and Ryan ten Doeschate (22*) prevented any further damage and with the score on 160 for 5, Glamorgan called off the hunt.
This match was the penultimate match of the season and bonus points secured Essex promotion into Division One.
In the 138 Championship clashes to date, Essex have won 45 of the contests and lost 27 matches.
Potential Milestones:
Simon Harmer needs 6 more wickets to reach 300 first-class wickets for Essex.
Adam Wheater requires 3 more victims to reach 150 first-class dismissals for Essex. He currently has 135 catches and 12 stumpings.
Ryan ten Doeschate requires a further 159 runs to reach 10,000 first-class career runs for Essex. He has also claimed 189 wickets for the county.
How To Watch:
Our Live Stream service will be available across all four days of this game from 11am, which also includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the day.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
