2004 was a year of milestones, both collectively and individually – the summer saw Glamorgan win the National League and appear at Finals Day of the T20 competition; win promotion from Division Two into Division One of the County Championship; a record-breaking victory in the Championship match with Essex; Matthew Maynard scoring his 54th, and final, hundred for Glamorgan; Ian Thomas striking the Club’s first century in T20 cricket and, off the field, make significant headway with the ground re-development scheme at Sophia Gardens.
The return of Matthew Elliott was a key element in the team’s success and, in all formats, he amassed 2,270 runs, besides playing a major hand in the run of Championship matches during May and June where the Welsh county recorded four emphatic victories. The sequence began at Chester-le-Street with a 201-run demolition of Durham and was followed by success against an inexperienced Derbyshire team, with injuries forcing the Peakites to pluck West Indian Daren Powell out of club cricket. Elliott was to the fore again at Swansea as Glamorgan beat Somerset by seven wickets, with the left-hander making a commanding 157.
The winning run continued as Glamorgan returned to their Cardiff base and celebrated Maynard beating the Club record of 52 first-class hundreds as he struck an imperious 114 on the opening day of the contest with Leicestershire. After securing a decent first innings lead, Jonny Hughes and Robert Croft dominated the visiting attack with the pair adding 218 for the sixth wicket, with each scoring centuries. Set a target of 547, Leicestershire’s batting disintegrated in the face of some more probing seam bowling, with David Harrison and Alex Wharf each taking three wickets as Glamorgan won by 409 runs.
The bonus points accrued during this sequence were sufficient to catapult Glamorgan to the top of the Division Two table and lay the foundation for successfully gaining promotion. However, they only won one further match during the second half of the season, but what a match it was and highlighted the never-say-die attitude of the team of 2004. It came at Chelmsford after Essex had amassed 642 before reducing Glamorgan to 188-5 at the close of the second day. But the next morning Maynard scored a forthright 136 – his 54th and final hundred for the Welsh county – before Croft weighed in with 125, ably supported by a career-best 88 from David Harrison as Glamorgan ended on 587.
When Essex batted for a second time, they were soon in trouble against the pace attack of Mick Lewis – the Australian bowler who was acting as a locum for Kasprowicz who was on international duty – and Simon Jones with the home side slipping to 22-4 before Andy Flower and James Foster led a fightback. Both fell to Croft who steadily worked his way through the tail to leave Glamorgan chasing 221 on the final afternoon. It proved to be an enthralling passage of play as David Hemp compiled an assured 83 and shared an unbroken stand of 70 for the seventh wicket with a defiant Croft, before hitting the winning runs with 3.4 overs to spare.
Photo Credit – Glamorgan Cricket Archives.
By this time, the Welsh county had secured the National League title, winning the title on 24 August by defeating Lancashire at Colwyn Bay having also appeared on 7 August at Finals Day of the Twenty20 Cup at Edgbaston.
Click here to read more about their success in the One-Day League
Click here to read more about the 2004 season and their success in the T20 competition