About 50 Glamorgan cricket club members attended a meeting in the Mochyn Du in Cardiff last night to discuss recent developments at the club which culminated in the sacking of captain Jamie Dalrymple and the resignation of coach Matthew Maynard. County chair Phil Russell and vice-chair Nigel Roberts were also both in attendance, although they said they were there to hear members’ views.
There was near universal disapproval of the steps taken by the club management, as well as a certain amount of anger. Matthew Maynard had been at Glamorgan for over 25 years, and is not only very popular among Welsh cricket followers, but as near as there is to a local legend. His resignation was forced by management going behind his back to appoint a Director of Cricket above him, and sacking Dalrymple as captain and bringing in South African Alviro Petersen. The bringing in of Petersen as captain was almost met with near unanimous disapproval, largely because it has meant that there can be no place at the role for the club’s best player (and most exciting entertainer) Mark Cosgrove, who has been discarded as the overseas player. Several people asked why, if Dalrymple were to be replaced as captain, Cosgrove could not have been appointed.
It was agreed that it is the current management regime at Glamorgan that is to blame for the mess at the club, and that it is not just a PR disaster the club faces, but a genuine crisis. The integrity and honesty of Phil Russell and Chief Executive Alan Hamer were questioned by several of those present.
The consensus was that Phil Russell should resign from his position as club chair, and a petition was started to that effect.
The Glamorgan committee is meeting tonight and Nigel Roberts agreed that he would convey the feelings of club members to the committee.
Any one wanting more information, to sign the petition, or to get involved in the campaign should contact Colin Locke [email protected]
