Glamorgan Lose Last Game of the Season
By Edward Hall
September 23 2002
Glamorgan finished the 2002 season much the same as they had finished the 2001 season, celebrating success in the National League at Sophia Gardens. However, they could not finish with a bang, going down by 74 runs to the Warwickshire Bears.
By Edward Hall
September 23 2002
Glamorgan finished the 2002 season much the same as they had finished the 2001 season, celebrating success in the National League at Sophia Gardens. However, they could not finish with a bang, going down by 74 runs to the Warwickshire Bears.
The team were rightly given a superb reception when they came out of the pavilion, but apart from the celebratory banners and cheers from the crowd, you would not have guessed that Glamorgan were NUL champions based on this performance. All credit must be given to both sides, who fielded full strength teams. Warwickshire’s ploy of mixing their bowlers amongst their batsmen worked a treat, although at the end of the innings, there was a ridiculous situation where Tony Frost, a wicketkeeper playing as a specialist batsman, came in at number 11. While Neil Carter’s pinch hitting role did not come off at the top of the order, Dougie Brown at number 3 certainly worked. He was keen to get on with it in the first 15 overs, and was particularly severe on David Harrison and Adrian Dale, when they came on to replace an already bruised Andrew Davies. Kasper was as impressive as always, nipping out Mark Wagh, as well as Carter.
There was a steady fall of wickets through the middle of the innings, with Croft and Cosker keeping it reasonably tight. Dominic Ostler manoeuvred the field well, and only narrowly missed out on the first century by a Warwickshire batsman against Glamorgan in this competition. Glamorgan’s fielding though did show signs of sloppiness, Maynard dropping a simple chance at short midwicket, and Powell dropping the rebound of a Jonty Rhodes style chance behind him. Once Brown and Ostler had gone, Warwickshire showed their strength in depth, and how they have done well in both leagues this season, by introducing Ian Bell and Michael Powell at number 7 and 8 respectively. Bell, after struggling at first, made a breezy 31 to make sure Glamorgan were set a total in excess of 270.
The runs for Glamorgan flowed quite easily, and at 157 for 3, with Maynard and Dale working around the gentle medium pace of Powell, you could be excused for thinking Glamorgan were going to walk it. Powell though picked up the big wicket of Maynard, striking him on the toe as he played across the line, and soon had Dale caught and bowled in the same over. With Hemp, Wallace and Harrison still to come, there was still a chance, but the general feeling was that that 2 wicket over sucked the sting out of the Glamorgan batting order. All of the batsmen looked in pretty good touch, with the exception of Ian Thomas who found himself tangled up by Neil Carter, and was finally caught at the wicket for 1. Croft fell after reaching 20, and Dominic Ostler summed up the difference between the two sides when he held onto a stunning reflex catch slightly behind him at midwicket to dismiss Michael Powell.
Though Hemp played a decent cameo, the game was effectively ended when Wallace chopped onto his stumps. There was no huge celebration at the end of the game: a few champagne bottles popped, but none of the obvious emotion of last week at Canterbury. In fairness, there did not need to be. Glamorgan had finished the job last Sunday, and can now reflect on a season which has seen success, but not the promotion they craved back into the top flight of the Championship.
There was a steady fall of wickets through the middle of the innings, with Croft and Cosker keeping it reasonably tight. Dominic Ostler manoeuvred the field well, and only narrowly missed out on the first century by a Warwickshire batsman against Glamorgan in this competition. Glamorgan’s fielding though did show signs of sloppiness, Maynard dropping a simple chance at short midwicket, and Powell dropping the rebound of a Jonty Rhodes style chance behind him. Once Brown and Ostler had gone, Warwickshire showed their strength in depth, and how they have done well in both leagues this season, by introducing Ian Bell and Michael Powell at number 7 and 8 respectively. Bell, after struggling at first, made a breezy 31 to make sure Glamorgan were set a total in excess of 270.
The runs for Glamorgan flowed quite easily, and at 157 for 3, with Maynard and Dale working around the gentle medium pace of Powell, you could be excused for thinking Glamorgan were going to walk it. Powell though picked up the big wicket of Maynard, striking him on the toe as he played across the line, and soon had Dale caught and bowled in the same over. With Hemp, Wallace and Harrison still to come, there was still a chance, but the general feeling was that that 2 wicket over sucked the sting out of the Glamorgan batting order. All of the batsmen looked in pretty good touch, with the exception of Ian Thomas who found himself tangled up by Neil Carter, and was finally caught at the wicket for 1. Croft fell after reaching 20, and Dominic Ostler summed up the difference between the two sides when he held onto a stunning reflex catch slightly behind him at midwicket to dismiss Michael Powell.
Though Hemp played a decent cameo, the game was effectively ended when Wallace chopped onto his stumps. There was no huge celebration at the end of the game: a few champagne bottles popped, but none of the obvious emotion of last week at Canterbury. In fairness, there did not need to be. Glamorgan had finished the job last Sunday, and can now reflect on a season which has seen success, but not the promotion they craved back into the top flight of the Championship.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon