Review of the Season – 2010

2010 saw Glamorgan under Jamie Dalrymple’s shrewd leadership, for the second successive summer involved in the promotion race into Division One and, at the start of the final round of Championship games, they seemed to be in pole position to return to county cricket’s top tier. 16 September – the final day of the season – was dubbed by journalists as the Club’s day of destiny, but it turned into a day of despair as the Welsh county were pipped at the post on the last afternoon of the season by Worcestershire, a side who Glamorgan had comprehensively defeated both home and away in their tally of seven wins, after they had completed a run chase against top of the table Sussex who, in the eyes of many, made a very generous declaration on the final day.

In all, seven Championship victories were recorded, as Glamorgan developed a knack of clinically dismissing sides in their second innings with some outstanding bowling, supported by smart fielding plus a string of excellent catches being taken close to the wicket. With the seam bowlers being rested and rotated by the cricket management, it meant that for much of the summer the Glamorgan attack rarely contained weary souls. David Harrison and James Harris each produced some standout performances with the new ball, whilst Huw Waters grew in confidence, bowling noticeably faster than in previous years. Indeed, it was Waters who delivered the match-winning spell against Middlesex as Glamorgan ended their Lord’s hoodoo by recording their first Championship win at the ground since 1954.

As winning became a habit, the squad collectively grew in confidence and recorded victories when previous Glamorgan sides might have crumbled under pressure. An example came at Grace Road where the Welsh county established a new world record during their ten-wicket victory against Leicestershire Such an outcome had seemed unlikely at 4.15pm on the second day of the contest when they were dismissed for 166 to concede a first innings deficit of 125. But a spirited bowling performance then reduced Leicestershire to 45-5 by the close of play, and the following morning, the wickets continued to tumble as the home side lost their last five wickets for 26 runs in the space of 8.4 overs.

Following a draw with Leicestershire, Glamorgan went head-to-head with leaders Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, with the visit to the College ground being a litmus test of the true character of both teams. Glamorgan scrapped hard and long after being in an uncompromising position several times on the first two days. Feisty centuries from the two Mark’s – Cosgrove and Wallace – took the game away from the West Country side who then meekly folded on the third afternoon in the face of some spirited bowling with the evergreen Robert Croft wrapping things up with a hat-trick.

A fine all-round performance then followed at Colwyn Bay where Worcestershire, who five days before had successfully chased 339 on the final day at Cheltenham, tamely collapsed to 175 after being set 417 by the buoyant Glamorgan side. The comprehensive victory was set up by quickfire innings from Cosgrove and Tom Maynard, plus a purposeful century from Ben Wright, all of which gave the bowlers plenty of time in which to dismiss a seemingly dispirited Worcestershire side. The victory in North Wales proved to be Glamorgan’s last Championship win of the season.

There was disappointment as well in one-day cricket where Glamorgan’s form was far less impressive with the Welsh county finishing bottom of their group in the Clydesdale Bank40 competition and bottom but one in the Friends Provident Twenty20, with their bowling being taken to the cleaners as they went down to a series of heavy defeats. In all, the Welsh county only won 8 games out of 28 in the Clydesdale Bank40 and Friends Provident Twenty20 competitions. Perhaps though the most telling statistic was that their batters shared just one century partnership in the entire season with Tom Maynard scoring the one and only one-day hundred of the summer whilst adding 101 with David Brown against the Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford.

But the campaign fizzled out with three defeats, starting at Canterbury where fielding lapses cost the Dragons dear before they were outclassed by Somerset in a rain-affected contest at the SWALEC Stadium. The weather also intervened in the final match against the Kent Spitfires with the visitors well ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis par score.