Friends Provident T20
Glamorgan 94-9 (20 overs)
Essex 95-1 (13.1 overs)
Essex won by 9 wickets
Having lost 2 successive games in the past week, Glamorgan really needed to win this game to stay in contention in the South Group of the Friends Provident T20. However their worst display of the season so far in any competition saw them capitulate to the visitors in a one-sided match that could not really be described as a contest.
Jamie Dalrymple won the toss and decided Glamorgan would have first use of the wicket on a balmy summer’s night in Cardiff. David Harrison replaced James Harris in the home starting eleven, while Essex fielded a strong and experienced team which included no fewer than 6 international players.
Cosgrove and Allenby made the usual solid start for Glamorgan, reaching 39-0 at the end of the power play. Cosgrove is a powerful batsman who wields a heavy piece of timber; however, his bat is not the only timber he carries, for he is truly a fearsome size and his girth seems to be increasing week by week. His efforts in the field never cease to amuse the home supporters for whom he has become a folk hero, not only due to his substantial corpulence but his undoubted cricketing skills.
Sadly he is not the fastest runner between the wickets either, and was run out literally half way down the wicket for an entertaining 24 with the score 47-1. Allenby followed soon afterwards, caught at long on for 25, somewhat spoiling Glamorgan’s fine start, and leaving the team needing a period of rebuilding at 52-2. When Maynard and Dalrymple were dismissed in the same over by Masters, Glamorgan’s innings at 53-4 was frankly in a mess at the halfway stage.
Mesmerising Pakistani legspinner Danish Kaneria now entered the attack, and bowled an extremely rare double wicket maiden, removing Brown and Wallace in consecutive deliveries, Glamorgan were now in a real crisis at 57-6. With Gareth Rees, Glamorgan’s most consistent batsman in this competition, and the experienced Robert Croft at the crease there were still hopes of retrieving the situation However, Rees was dismissed, followed quickly in the same Bopara over by Cosker, leaving Glamorgan 65-8 with only genuine tailenders Harrison and Tait remaining to partner Croft and attempt to get through the final 5 overs of the innings. Incredibly after their fine start, 8 wickets had fallen for only 18 runs, and it would be an understatement to describe this tragedy merely as a collapse.
By putting together a partnership of 28 runs, the second highest of the innings, Croft and Harrison did manage to bring about a mini-recovery, and indeed Harrison lasted until the penultimate delivery of the innings before being bowled for 8 by Wright with the total 93-9. Last man Tait could only add a single from the final ball for a dismal final total of 94-9, leaving Croft not out on 22. A number of Essex bowlers had outstanding final figures from their 4 completed overs: Daneria 2-11, Bopara 3-13, Masters 2-18.
Even though the wicket had seemed extremely slow and difficult for the batsmen to score on, it had to be admitted that this was a dreadfully lame effort by Glamorgan against tight – but apart from the wizardry of Kaneria – not very fearsome bowling. It would need exceptionally tight bowling and fielding from the home team, as well as a minor miracle, for them to get back on the winning trail in this particular game.
Glamorgan opened their attack with the pace of Tait and Harrison, which was a surprising change in their previous successful pattern of opening with Robert Croft’s crafty off-spin. Cook and Bopara got Essex off to a flyer as Glamorgan failed to bowl sufficiently straight, dropped an early catch and gave away unnecessary runs in the field. Having seen the part Kaneria had played in causing Glamorgan’s batting problems, it seemed perverse that Dalrymple had not stuck to his usual strategy of turning early to his spin bowlers, undoubtedly the team’s greatest strength in this competition, and particularly so as his pace bowlers were putting on such a poor show. At the end of the power play, Essex were 50-0, and it seemed as if Glamorgan had already given up this game as a lost cause, which was very disappointing for a substantial crowd who had turned up expecting better.
Indeed, it was too late for Croft and Cosker, Glamorgan’s best bowlers over many years, to save this game by the time they were eventually introduced. When Bopara was eventually out off Cosker’s bowling for 42, Essex were 73-1 and needed only 22 runs to win from 62 remaining deliveries. Cook and Flower proceeded to knock off the required runs with few if any problems, with 9 wickets and over nearly 7 overs still remaining, Cook having made 42 not out.
This was Glamorgan’s worst display in the competition so far in what has up to now been a very good season. Hopefully this is not the start of a downward spiral, but rather a temporary aberration, and they will return to winning form soon. However, there is a strong case not only for a rethink in team tactics after this feeble surrender, but also for some changes in personnel to freshen up the team. Glamorgan still have a good chance in the FP T20 if they can put this result behind them and face the remaining games with a positive attitude.
Peter Davies
Swalec Stadium Cardiff
