| Specsavers County Championship Division Two, SSE Swalec (day one): |
| Glamorgan 207: Lloyd 88; Hastings 3-57 |
| Worcestershire 180-4: Kohler-Cadmore 52* |
| Glamorgan 2 pts, Worcestershire 3 pts |
By Alun Rhys Chivers
Glamorgan’s batting woes continued on the first day of their County Championship Division Two clash against Worcestershire at Cardiff, as they lost their first seven wickets for 82. A hard fought 88 from David Lloyd, however, saw the Welsh side to a respectable 207 all out.
Having been invited to bat first and still reeling from an innings defeat at Northampton, the Welsh side lost captain Jacques Rudolph in the third over, as he edged to third slip Daryl Mitchell off Australian John Hastings.
Australian-born Aussie Rules footballer-turned-cricketer Nick Selman soon followed, swiping at Joe Leach, only to find the gloves of wicket-keeper Ben Cox. Colin Ingram followed next ball, caught at slip by Hastings to leave Glamorgan in trouble at 28-3 inside nine overs.
Donald was clean bowled in the 10th over by Hastings to leave Glamorgan in serious trouble at 33-4. That soon became 46-5 when Chris Cooke was run out from a direct hit by Tom Fell as he stumbled attempting to return to his crease after a mix-up with David Lloyd.
A small-scale recovery looked possible when Kiran Carlson joined Lloyd at the crease, but they only managed to put on 33 before the former took an aimless swipe at a long hop and found Brett D’Oliveira at gully, who pulled off a fine diving catch off Ed Barnard. Harry Podmore was quickly dismissed, the seventh man out with the score on just 82. He, too, played a needless shot, outside off-stump and into Ben Cox’s gloves.
The eighth wicket fell off the last ball of the session, Marchant de Lange bowled by Barnard for 11, and Glamorgan ending on 105-8. David Lloyd was the only Glamorgan batsman to offer any kind of resistance, reaching 44 not out at lunch.
Lunch: Glamorgan 105-8
The north-Walian all-rounder brought up his half-century off 69 balls just after the resumption, his much needed recovery bid including five fours and three sixes. Lloyd, along with Pontarddulais product Lukas Carey who surpassed his previous best of 19, steered Glamorgan towards respectability with a 68 partnership. Dropped on 37 at slip, Carey made a career best 39 before being undone by Hastings, who scattered his stumps.
A last wicket stand of 34 between Lloyd and Michael Hogan came to an end when the former found the safe hands of Hastings off Jack Shantry on 88 to take Glamorgan to 207 all out, gaining a solitary batting point in the process.
In stark contrast to their batting, Glamorgan got off to a flyer with the ball, Carey removing Daryl Mitchell off the second ball of the innings, the batsman finding wicket-keeper Cooke’s gloves with the total on 1. Cooke and Hogan combined to remove Brett D’Oliveira in the next over, the visitors reduced to 1-2.
Worcestershire’s batsmen, Tom Fell and Joe Clarke were offered the light at 13-2, leading to an early tea.
Tea: Worcestershire 13-2 (in reply to Glamorgan 207 all out)
A post-interval partnership of 79 led the visitors’ revival until a David Lloyd in-swinger undid Clarke, who glanced to wicket-keeper Cooke down the legside. Much like buses, two wickets came along in quick succession, with Carey bowling Fell in the very next over to reduce Worcestershire to 80-4.
Lukas Carey should have claimed the wicket of Tom Kohler-Cadmore on 13, but an ill-judged waft outside off-stump found the gap between second and third slip. Kohler-Cadmore went on to forge a useful fifth-wicket hundred partnership with gloveman Ben Cox, reaching his half-century in 74 balls. Rain and bad light soon set in and the players departed on 180-4, giving Glamorgan an overnight lead of 27 with six Worcestershire first innings wickets remaining. Ben Cox is not out on 41, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore unbeaten on 52.
After his battling innings, Lloyd said: “For me personally, it was nice to score some runs after last week for the team.
“We achieved a total that was more respectable than what we were going to get at one point. The way that Hogan and Lukas batted at the end was very pleasing so hopefully we can go into tomorrow and get some early wickets.
“Early on, it was doing quite a bit so if we’d got through the first 20-25 overs two or three down, then it would have been a lot better on our behalf. It’s a nice wicket to bat on once you get yourself in.
“We thought at 82-7 that we might as well be positive and try and have a bit of fun really. There’s no point dying in a hole and blocking it out. So we thought that being aggressive was the best way.
“Lukas had a quality knock to be fair to him. He came in from ball one and started blazing it everywhere. Fair play, it was a handy knock.
“It’s pleasing to see him and a few of the young lads coming through. It’s nice to see. Lukas has got a big future. There were glimpses today of what he can do. Hopefully he can keep on improving.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We tried to take it to them and I think we showed we’ve got some fight in the team. Hopefully we keep on improving.”
Carey, who helped push Glamorgan on past 200, said: “It was difficult going in knowing we were eight down after lunch.
“I think me and David Lloyd looked to be positive. I tried to stay at the other end while David took most of the strike but it evened out and we started scoring quickly. David played very well to be put in the situation he was in and bat it out.
“It was a decent wicket. It came onto the bat nicely. It was a new ball wicket, it’ll do a bit with the new ball and once the ball gets older it flattens out and becomes easier so you just have to keep in your areas and be consistent.
“We got off to a flyer getting them two down for one run. I think we could have applied more pressure, we let them get away a bit so hopefully we’ll come back tomorrow, get a few early ones and go from there.
“The game is in the balance. They played well for the last partnership but we could have bowled better and put them under more pressure when we had the new batsmen in but that’s just the way it went. It wasn’t ideal for us but hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow and get a couple of early wickets.”