Summer’s Gone

In the end, it simply wasn’t to be. To the much regret and sorrow of casual observers and well-intentioned acquaintances, the passing of the English summer has been greeted with the muted, anti-climactic sigh. It is remiscent of the deep-rooted anguish that accompanied the failure of Las Ketchup to compose a follow-up in a similar ilk to that of 2002′s seminal ‘Ketchup Song‘. But, while we can almost comprehend the Spanish popster’s lack of an Ivor Novello award, perhaps Glamorgan’s eventual misfortune in pursuit of promotion to LV= County Championship Division One is not equitable in terms?

The end of the 2009 season has come around as quick as the beginning. Amid the broken pseudo-promises of barbecue summers and unbridled drama of this year’s Ashes series, the Welsh dragon was awoken from its extended slumber. Leading from the front, it was arguably beyond the wildest optimist to believe that Jamie Dalrymple could have coerced his troops into a position whereby they would be fighting for promotion at the final skirmish of the battle. The odds were stacked against the Dragons after the near-misses against Essex and Gloucestershire, but it was still possible.

As it came to pass, Northamptonshire’s demolition of Leicestershire ended Glamorgan’s hopes before Essex pulled off a stunning victory at rivals Derbyshire to secure the last promotion berth alongside Kent. But that did not stop the Dragons having one final swansong of the summer against Surrey at The Oval. Having conceded 430 in what appeared a batting friendly track (how the Aussies would have relished it), the Dragons hit back hard. Think of a Batman film loaded with animated onomatopoeias.

THWACK – Gareth Rees – c Batty b Logan – 154
KABLAMMO – Mark Cosgrove – run out – 175
CRIKEY! – Jim Allenby – b Herath – 137
BISH BASH BOSH – Mark Wallace – lbw b Herath – 139
WAAAAAAAAAAAA – 702/8d at 4.83 runs per over

An opening partnership of 315; a club-record partnership for any wicket against Surrey was backed up by a sixth wicket partnership of 240; a new Glamorgan record partnership for a sixth wicket beating the 230 put on by Willie Jones and Len Muncer at Worcester in 1953. Alas, Dalrymple’s declaration came just 16 shy of the county’s all-time record of 718-3 v Sussex at Colwyn Bay in 2000. That innings came in at 4.4 runs per over – fast enough?

The game may well have petered out into a draw, but it was purely academic at that stage. And there was still yet attention required for a final Pro40 match against Derbyshire. Limited overs cricket has been poorly executed by the Dragons at the best of times over the course of the 2009 season, but Tom Maynard again underlined his credentials with a match-winning performance to secure a five wicket win. Strangely, the club’s two wins was enough to finish with three teams below them in the last ever Pro40 table.

In terms of the LV= County Championship, there are a number of factors that Glamorgan Dragons could point to as to why promotion eventually proved so elusive. Rain interruptions over the months were countless if not ruddy annoying, while equal blame can be attached to bad luck, running out of time, and Danish Kaneria’s gamesmanship at Cardiff. His absence next season could see Essex coming straight back down, but that’s for the cricketing gods to decide. Meanwhile, the presence of Sussex could present a stiff task but there is no reason why the Dragons cannot consolidate and push on in 2010 to bigger and better things. The players are gelling nicely and Matthew Maynard has got the squad to a place where a nice little nucleus has been established. It’s now a matter of finalising the ins and the outs.

Mark Cosgrove will definitely return as an overseas player; the future of Garnett Kruger unresolved. But it could be the unfortunate case that Simon Jones does not return, with Hampshire lurking in the shadows like a 1920s vagabond. Where’s Sean Connery and Kevin Costner when you need them…

23-26 September @ The Brit Oval, London
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Surrey 430 and 309-7
Glamorgan 702-8
Match drawn

14 September @ County Ground, Derby
Pro40 Division Two
Derbyshire 214-9 (40)
Glamorgan 215-5 (38.5)
Glamorgan win by 5 wickets

It’s not over, not over yet…

Turns out that Karl Marx was more or less right. Perhaps not in terms of his political ideology, because that’s hardly proved to be a great success, but the German’s assertion that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce” is an indisputable truth oft observed. If there was a script for this type of thing, it would be reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock horror; blood curdling screams and screeching violins wafting persistently into the Glamorgan Dragons dressing room. Just one more wicket. JUST ONE MORE WICKET.

Admittedly, this time it was a lot closer against Gloucestershire as the game meandered towards an absorbing, thrilling climax on a mild Saturday evening in the ‘Diff. Despite a battling performance by William Porterfield and Alex Gidman, the spin twins of Jamie Dalrymple and Robert Croft hacked it back to set up a tense final handful of overs. Three misplace deliveries would have squared the scores; one wicket would have secured a vital win for the Dragons in the promotion place.

Neither could force the outcome, and it appeared with that had gone the promotion bid for both teams. But the league table works in mysterious ways it seems. Fact is that the Dragons have the edge over Derbyshire, who play Essex next. Glamorgan go to a struggling Surrey team, while Northants take on Leicestershire. Who goes (up)? You decide. As for Gloucestershire, it appears that they have come to the end of the line as they head into their final showdown with Kent. But don’t write it off just yet…

Hells bells!

16-19 September @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 410 and 169-8
Gloucestershire 268 and 281-9
Match drawn

You Do The Maths

Somewhere holed up in a desolate corner of the United Kingdom, plagued by silence and doubts about where it might have gone a bit wrong, is the man and/or woman tasked with producing a set of questions to challenge the minds of the young and not-so-beautiful. You know the stuff – how many men does it take to run a bath between Dundee and Swansea that equals the circumference of a spoon. But the thought of solving that particular conundrum pales into sad, sad significance when it comes to working out whether Glamorgan Dragons can gain promotion if x amount of batting bonus points and y amount of bowling bonus points will be enough.

But here we are, with the climax of the LVCC Division Two season proving to be oh-so tense. A win against Essex at the SWALEC would have significantly boosted the promotion aspirations of the Welsh club. The same is equally true if you reverse the scenario. An evenly-matched fixture was always leaning towards the hosts as the game wore on, but in the end it took a poor* umpire decision and a display of gamesmanship by the visitors to ensure the game ended in a draw; Dean Cosker with his first ever 10fer for the match. Presumably Bilal Shafayat was running on the pitch every five minutes. But the close nature of the league table didn’t immediately quash any lingering dreams.

And so to the penultimate four-day fixture of the season; at home again to promotion contenders Gloucestershire. It’s not much of a surprise that the round of fixtures had four promotion contenders playing against each other; although Derbyshire struck gold with bottom-of-the-league-and-a-bit-useless-this-year Middlesex. With a day more to recuperate after a Pro40 fixture against Lancashire, Glamorgan now go into the fourth day against Gloucestershire with a better idea of what is needed both by stumps on Saturday and the last fixture.

Essex now sit in the box seat with 174 points after scraping a victory against Northamptonshire, while Derbyshire’s inability to claw the final wicket against Middlesex sees them take on Essex in the final game with 13 points needed to make up the difference. As for the Dragons, a win is now essential against their visitors and the odds are in their favour. But much depends on when and if Jamie D (let me be your fantasy, or calm down dearest?) declares. The win would put the Dragons 10 points behind Essex with one to play. A draw will end the promotion dream. But at least JD can toast a hearty milestone for the season…

It’d be easy to blame the weather for the fact that Glamorgan don’t have as many wins as they ought to have. Which is why we will do exactly that. But in the meantime, why not toast Glamorgan’s maiden victory in the Pro40 against Freelancs-ers thanks to the crash bang wallop of Mark Cosgrove and intensely disciplined bowling from the Dragons’ attack; an attack without JD or Crofty, but with impressive youngsters Chris Ashling and Nick James.

Speaking of players, it’s a sad farewell to stalwart Alex Wharf through injury, and Mike O’Shea.

(* probably)

10-13 September @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 311 and 296
Essex 288 and 181-9
Match drawn

14 September @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Pro40 Division Two
Glamorgan 219 (39.1)
Lancashire 192 (37.4)
Glamorgan win by 27 runs

16-19 September @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 410 and 169-8
Gloucestershire 268
Day 3, Stumps

When We Wanted Sunshine…

… we got rain. But it’s still possible for Glamorgan Dragons to be a believer! If you can see past the incredibly contrived opening to these musings, then we can turn our attention to the fact that – yes – the Dragons can still look towards the promised land of LVCC Division One with optimism as promotion fails to set beyond the horizon. However, if the weather continues to persist with such unpredictable mannerisms, then the struggle will be so uphill that it will make an ascent up the Sirhowy valley seem like an expedition to the top of Snowdon.

Very little has changed in terms of the Dragons’ prospects over the course of the last two four-day games at Northamptonshire and Leicestershire respectively. The first, at Northampton, was an all-too-even affair for a match that had been severely restricted by heavy rain on two out of the four days. When the visitors posted 383 in response to the hosts’ 350, there seemed little chance of a victory but for a second innings collapse to allow the Dragons to knock off cheap runs in the fourth innings. But Stephen Peters and Riki Wessels were in no mood to settle for anything other than a tame draw, with individual scores of 86 and 92 respectively leaving the hosts 312-8 come stumps on day four.

Circumstances dictated, however, that the Dragons could still shoot up to second if they claimed their full quota of points and results went their way as they travelled north to Leicestershire. And the opening gambits went according to plan, as Jamie Dalrymple inserted the hosts on a slow, damp track and promptly saw his team get through the hosts’ card for just 282. But it was very much an opportunity missed against a team that had collapsed to an innings defeat at Colwyn Bay not so long ago… Leicestershire were 95-7 as the game waited for the rain delays to pass like a driver sat at a level crossing for two trains at a time. Wayne White (68) and Claude Henderson (79no) put on 120 for the 8th wicket, both easing past their relatively low averages.

Attempts to secure full batting points were abandoned as Glamorgan staggered to a poor 218, with Mark Cosgrove scoring just 12 runs on his return to replace Herschelle Gibbs. With a deficit to make up not withstanding the Leicestershire second innings, the Dragons attack needed a prompt start in the second innings. A score of 62-3 was hardly ideal but Jimmy Taylor‘s unbeaten 96 put paid to any chances of a result, let alone an away victory; a performance that perhaps only warmed the cockles of England fans looking for a new prospect to get excited about.

The Dragons remained in Leicester for yet another Pro40 defeat; Wayne White again on the charge, but moving swiftly on welcomes an opportunity to discuss player news at the SWALEC. Surprisingly, out goes Ryan Watkins who, despite an awesome 5-16 performance with the ball against Gloucestershire in the Twenty20 Cup earlier this season, was deemed surplus to requirements. But does that pave the way for the return of a certain modern Welsh cricketing legend? Time will tell… as will whether Glamorgan can secure promotion.

26-29 August @ County Ground, Northampton
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Northamptonshire 350 and 312-8
Glamorgan 383
Match drawn

2-5 September @ Grace Road, Leicester
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Leicestershire 282 and 259-6
Glamorgan 218
Match drawn

6 September @ Grace Road, Leicester
Pro40 Division Two
Leicestershire 217-8 (40)
Glamorgan 194 (39.5)
Leicestershire win by 23 runs

They Think It’s All Oval…

… but maybe not just yet. Far away from the prying eyes that were otherwise looking in the direction of South London this past weekend and indulging in the ecstasy of England’s Ashes victory, the conclusion of the 2009 domestic season is entering its final straight. And for the Glamorgan Dragons, a respectable run of results in the LVCC2 may have just laid the foundations for a late charge for promotion.

It is perhaps entirely necessary to sidestep the farcical nature of the fixture calendar that brought Middlesex Crusaders to Cardiff for a Pro40 battle before both the Dragons and their guests upped sticks for the brief journey to Swansea to embark on a four-day match the next day. But at the same time, it allows one to completely disregard the Cardiff result – stick your fingers in your ears and repeat the term “la la la there is no limited overs cricket this year la la la” and feel the soothing benefits.

For the second successive LVCC2 victory on the trot, the Dragons got themselves off to a fairly inauspicious start by stumbling to 224 all out in the first innings despite a decent start by Gareth Rees and William Bragg (not that one). Inevitably this provided yet more ammunition for Crusaders’ supporters who are under the impression that promotion to a league that won’t even exist next year is somehow commendable. Suffice to say, he who trusts the Swansea pitch is usually in for a harsh surprise.

Before Sam Robson could get any ideas for the visitors, Robert Croft and Dean Cosker turned up to the party towards the end of Day One and started taking wickets a-plenty. And this more or less set the tone for the game. Not that you can ever be prepared to see 22 wickets fall on a second day pitch… which is what indeed happened. Middlesex were bundled out for 170 by the way.

Collapsing to 135 all out in the second innings meant that the Glamorgan lead was hardly one of grandeur as Shaun Udal took his tally up to ten wickets for the match. But what Shaggy could do, Crofty can do likewise. And with a three-pronged spin attack that included captain Jamie Dalrymple, the Crusaders were powerless to stop a dramatic slide to 167 all out – 23 runs away from their required total. Lovely. It was all a bit reminiscent of Crofty’s performance at Garon Park last year against Essex…

So it was very much a weekend of games that finished a day earlier for the betterment of all concerned. Unless you’re Australian or somehow enamoured by the Crusaders. And the victory for Glamorgan (not England) means that the Dragons go to Northampton in search of a third successive victory that could – depending on results – see the Welsh side move second. Ruddy hell!

19 August @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Pro40 Division Two
Middlesex 254-3 (40)
Glamorgan 191 (35.2)
Middlesex win by 63 runs

20-23 August @ St Helens, Swansea
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 224 and 135
Middlesex 170 and 167
Glamorgan win by 23 runs

Pick ‘n’ Miss

It is perhaps one of the iconic traits that makes being British, or even more specifically, English so great. When consumed by wild dissatisfaction and tepid rage, to suppress it into one hearty grumble as you get busy missing the bus and getting rained on is simply the done thing. But then again, there are limits and with limits come breaking points. The selection of Ian Bell to play at number three against the Australians at The Brit Oval in the 5th Ashes Test is precariously positioned on that particular cliff edge.

Maybe one day when Matthew Maynard is a selector, the dream of seeing Gareth Rees open for England may be realised but for now we have the surprisingly pragmatic selections of both Jamie Dalrymple and James Harris for the England Lions squad that was ultimately beaten by Australia this week. Dalrymple has been exemplary on more than one occasion with the bat for the Glamorgan Dragons, while Harris now has a taste of what is needed in order to further his career and seek more international honours. A record of 2-51 off 17 overs, including Simon Katich’s wicket can’t do much to harm the confidence.

All this distracts, possibly, from yet another – televised – defeat in the Pro40 league against Surrey at the Oval. And the Sky cameras are unrelenting as they demand the Dragons’ presence on their screens for the visit of Middlesex later this week. If the return of Herschelle Gibbs can be timed well, then the motor start running belatedly. The Crusaders have a decent bowling attack but their top order is a bit hit-and-miss and could wilt if Harris/Kruger/Watkins can make early in-roads.

And for the record, Rob Key should be in the England squad.

12 August @ The Brit Oval, London
Pro40 Division Two
Glamorgan 192-5 (37)
Surrey 156-2 (20.4)
Surrey win by 8 wickets (D/L)

Crash Bang Wallop, What A Weekend

As the English cricketing fraternity works itself into an utter tiswas over the capitulation at Headingley, the inevitable mad dash to offer increasingly left-field selection solutions is storming through the party like my name was El Nino… and forcing the inappropriate use of a Sum 41 lyric. But if we are seriously to entertain the idea that Mark Ramprakash is ready to be re-plucked from the firing line of the journeymen county players to face the hostility of the Australian attack, then why not suggest that Adam Shantry and Robert Croft open the batting at The Oval?

Those losing faith in the Glamorgan Dragons’ to secure a maiden win in this season’s Liverpool Victoria County Championship needn’t have been so rash – the Welsh side had, and still do have the greatest tally of batting bonus points in Division Two. But while the bowling bonus points have been slightly thin on the ground, it has rather been the impudence of the British weather that has compelled to deny the Dragons’ the chance of at least three wins; Gloucestershire the latest casualty of that enduring problem. But it was against the halcyon backdrop of Colwyn Bay that the curse was to be avenged.

Croft and Shantry’s epic stand in the Glamorgan first innings laid the foundations, but it was Croft again who combined with Dean Cosker in Leicestershire’s second innings to instigate the mother of all collapses. England would have been proud. The visitors tumbled from 163-3 to 166-9 and so ensured that the Dragons properly opened their account with an innings thrashing to be proud of.

Alas the good omen of Colwyn Bay surroundings failed to act as a catalyst to the maiden Pro40 victory of the season for the Dragons against Northamptonshire as the weekend drew to a close. Despite the worst efforts of Monty Panesar, Nicky Boje and Johan van der Wath, Andrew Hall bowled another lean spell to counter the fireworks of Tom Maynard. Glamorgan’s fastest ever centurion (57 deliveries) in a List A game proved he is from the same ilk as his illustrious father, but the hosts fell short by six runs.

Oh, and there’s a new recruit coming down to Cardiff – all-rounder Jim Allenby joins from Leicestershire on loan as a pre-cursor to a three-year spell with the Dragons.

31 July-3 August @ County Ground, Bristol
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Gloucestershire 400-9d and 168-2
Glamorgan 350-8d
Match drawn

5-8 August @ Colwyn Bay Cricket Club Ground
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Leicestershire 313 and 181
Glamorgan 566
Glamorgan win by an innings and 72 runs

9 August @ Colwyn Bay Cricket Club Ground
Pro40 Division Two
Northamptonshire 268-7 (40)
Glamorgan 262-8 (40)
Northamptonshire win by 6 runs

Testing Times

And here we are, still wading through the puddles that plagued Edgbaston in the early part of the week and kidding ourselves that anyone really considers Gloucestershire v Glamorgan much of a pull during an Ashes weekend. But while no-one bats an eyelid that a ground as established as Edgbaston ought to have a decent drainage system, it’s only fair that Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium continues to reap the praise of staging what can only be described as an epic Test match.

The atmosphere on the final day as the bars started to run dry was incredible as the unlikely saviours of Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar saw off the Aussie attack to secure the draw; Paul Collingwood of course due a worthy mention with a heroic 74 off a million-odd balls. The Great Escape (TM) obviously contributed towards England’s win at Lord’s by providing momentum, but it also earned a few extra pounds for the catering outlets as beer, fish and chips, curry and pizza were all enthusiastically devoured.

And the recent news that Cardiff is to be rewarded with future Tests is indeed most welcome. It still remains to be seen whether the Welsh capital will join Durham (sigh) and The Brit Oval as venues for the 2013 Ashes series – imagine if it elbowed Lord’s out of the way en-route to the front of the queue. The MCC gentlefolk will be “what, what”-ing into their pints of Marston’s while the oikish upstart from Wales necks a bottle of Brains 45. As long as the three remaining Test venues for that Ashes series remain, the doubt in the minds of administrators at Edgbaston, Headingley and Lord’s will grow. Hello Old Trafford, we haven’t forgotten you.

Not that it disguises the return to the mundane tasks of the County Championship and Pro40. BIG SIGH. And it’s going to be a whistlestop tour because it’s been far too long. As the Cardiff Test match kicked off earlier this month, Glamorgan were in Chelmsford to take on an Essex side with a reputation for performing well at home. But after the Dragons’ successful run chase in the Friends Provident Trophy at the Ford County Ground, why couldn’t the first win of the season be achieved?

It seemed possible for much of the rain-affected game, having reduced the hosts to a round 200 before opening up a 311 run lead before declaring with nine down. Yet, the Eagles were allowed to leisurely climb off the ropes in a laboured second innings that saw Essex rack up their own lead of 100 with four wickets remaining before time run out. Hardened Glammy fans will probably know that anything over 100 in a run chase is dangerous territory for the Dragons.

Kent came to Cardiff days after the Test concluded, Rob Key hit 270, the visitors won by an innings – lets not dwell on that particular embarrassment for too long.

And so onto the beginning of the Pro40 – the last time the tournament will be contested before being swept under the ECB carpet next year. The Dragons’ record so far this season (after two fixtures) is probably one of the best in the land, having lost just two wickets. Yet we must elaborate further because this is not a tabloid and facts are important – two wickets, 90 runs and no overs bowled. Rumours of a barbecue summer frittering away into revised forecasts and Glamorgan left wondering a) will they win a Pro40 game and b) will they play a Pro40 game?

One last point of order – as Robert Croft secures his new deal at the SWALEC, talk has surfaced that Simon Jones could be returning to Cardiff after being released by Worcestershire. It’s enough to piss off any learned cricket supporter that the fate befalling Jonah is simply unfair. There is no doubt that if he was fit, he’d be leading the England attack in the Edgbaston deep end. And yet he can’t even see through a sedate return to action – here’s hoping Jonah finds the right solution to his dilemma that sees him back at the crease and making batsmen rethink their career choice.

7-10 July @ County Ground, Chelmsford
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Essex 200 and 411-6
Glamorgan 511-9
Match drawn

15-18 July @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 317 and 195
Kent 557-5
Kent win by an innings and 48 runs

19 July @ Edgbaston, Birmingham
Pro40 Division Two
Glamorgan 90-2
Warwickshire
No result

21 July @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Pro40 Division Two
Glamorgan
Kent
No result

Oh?! Gloucs Occurring?

Plagued by that nagging feeling of having put something down for a mere second and then failing to remember where it has, the passing of June 2009 barely gives enough respite to restore breath as we approach the Ashes with increasing anticipation. Gone is the 100 days countdown to the start of the REAL summer of cricket. It is a mere 1 day now. ONE.

And somewhere in those ruins of June is a mismatch of Dragons results that cannot wait idle anymore while awaiting comment to be passed like the answer to a question that nobody asked. But it would be unfair to let Gloucestershire pass untroubled by the fact that Glamorgan’s dismal Twenty20 campaign this season was only part rescued by two victories – both coming at the expense of their Gladiators counterparts from just across the border. At Bristol, it was courtesy of an excellent and rapid stand between Tom Maynard and Ben Wright.

It doesn’t disguise the fact that in the other Twenty20 Cup fixtures, the Dragons simply buckled and wilted like a buckly, wilty thing, but the embarrassment of finishing with the worst record, let alone bottom of the Mid/West/Wales division, has been spared. Not just by the Gladiators, but also by defending champions Middlesex. That’ll do, you’d have to suppose all things considered – an absolute mauling by Worcestershire at New Road, plus a defeat at Edgbaston against Warwickshire hardly considered highlights.

And yet in the Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division 2 (and breathe), form has tended to be rather decent. The statistics of six games for five draws and no win betrays a fact that in at least three of those draws, the weather has prevented an almost likely Glamorgan victory. Northants (bloody Wakely) and Derbyshire (bloody Hinds) both survived, while Surrey – in all fairness – looked like they would secure victory at the SWALEC Stadium in early June but for the rain. Meanwhile Jamie Dalrymple romps away with the pacesetters the top of the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s MVP 2009.

Anyway, while Herschelle Gibbs opens his 2009 account for the Dragons at Essex in an LVCC2 game this week, all eyes are on Cardiff – no idea why!

6-9 June @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Surrey 367 and 82-3
Glamorgan 271
Match drawn

11-14 June @ The County Ground, Derby
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Derbyshire 307 and 294-8d
Glamorgan 317 and 136-2
Match drawn

16-19 June @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division Two
Glamorgan 308 and 232-3
Northants 215-8d and 140-6
Match drawn

23 June @ Edgbaston, Birmingham
Twenty20 Cup
Glamorgan 148-7 (20)
Warwickshire 149-6 (18.5)
Warwickshire win by 4 wickets

24 June @ New Road, Worcester
Twenty20 Cup
Worcestershire 222-4 (20)
Glamorgan 121-6 (20)
Worcestershire win by 101 runs

26 June @ SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
Twenty20 Cup
Northamptonshire 157-7 (20)
Glamorgan 137-9 (20)
Northamptonshire win by 20 runs

28 June @ County Ground, Bristol
Twenty20 Cup
Gloucestershire 148-7 (20)
Glamorgan 151-4 (18.3)
Glamorgan win by 6 wickets

“And That’s Over…”

Well, it might as well be. The decision whether to put a wounded creature out of its misery may present the type of moral dilemma that keeps Immanuel Kant in his element for an hour or two, but allowing the Glamorgan Dragons’ bedraggled Twenty20 Cup campaign to limp on any further would surely be harsh. Sat in the gloomy shadow of the Lord’s media centre as the Netherlands scampered the winning runs in the opening gambit of the World Twenty20 tournament against England is enough to make you realise that it’s genuinely tough being a Dragons supporter.

Someone somewhere will continue to see the positives; even Ashley Giles gave cause for optimism in his assessment of Glamorgan following Warwickshire Bears’ comfortable win at the SWALEC Stadium not-so-long ago. But then again, the Dragons have since been put to the sword twice by Somerset and Worcestershire respectively, leaving the Welsh side rooted to the bottom of the Mid/Wales/West division with a solitary win to their name. That’s still one more than defending champions, Middlesex, mind.

In what is becoming a customary scene, Jamie Dalrymple (56) was once again left high and dry at Taunton as the visitors stumbled to 128-7, with a revolving door installed on the boundary edge for the procession of Glamorgan hitters. At Taunton, 128 is never going to be enough, and so Craig Kieswetter and Marcus Trescothick proved by polishing off the runs within 15 overs and without feeling the need to trouble the wickets column. The fourth nail in the coffin.

And so onto the fifth nail down at Worcester. With the hosts batting first and racking up 164-6 as Vikram Solanki, Moeen Ali and Stephen Moore helped themselves to a boundary or two, there was never a real sense that Glamorgan could chase down the total. Despite Michael Powell and Ben Wright attempting a rescue act in the middle order, the Dragons fell 29 runs short and await a trip to Warwickshire to finally confirm what appears to be the inevitable, premature conclusion of the Twenty20 campaign.

Compounded by Mike O’Shea’s suspension for an off-field indiscretion, the Dragons are currently halfway through a rain-affected LVCC2 fixture with Surrey at Cardiff. Meanwhile, England have reignited their World Twenty20 ambitions with victory against a lacklustre Pakistan. Maybe there is still life in the Dragons yet…

1 June @ County Ground, Taunton
Twenty20 Cup
Glamorgan 128-7 (20)
Somerset 132-0 (14.4)
Somerset win by 10 wickets

4 June @ New Road, Worcester
Twenty20 Cup
Worcestershire 164-6 (20)
Glamorgan 135 (20)
Worcestershire win by 29 runs