By David Williams
New Glamorgan head coach Grant Bradburn has insisted they will target success in all three formats of the game on the eve of the new season.
The county begin their Vitality County Championship Division Two campaign at Lord’s on Friday when they face Middlesex.
It will be a first championship match in charge for Bradburn, the New Zealander who has taken over from Matthew Maynard and who has already begun shaping a new-look playing squad against a background of fresh appointments off the field.
Whether the changes amount to more than a metaphorical lick of fresh paint remains to be seen.
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But unlike in previous seasons, when Glamorgan have highlighted gaining promotion from the County Championship as their main priority, this year Bradburn wants improvement across the board.
“We want to put ourselves into contention for all three formats this season, so we are desperate to find our process for winning games of cricket,” said the former Pakistan coach.
“We’ve spoken as a group a lot and we have trained specifically to do that and we’ve now got some very, very clear plans in place which the players are buying into and responding to well.
“We’ve got some clarity about utilizing our skill sets to the best so that we can win games of cricket and ultimately we want to create a winning environment on the field and an awesome culture of it.”
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Bradburn has secured the services of seam bowler Hamza Mir, who he coached when he was in charge of the Pakistan national team, and leg spinner Mason Crane has also joined the club on a season-long loan from Hampshire.
This week, Glamorgan also added fast bowler Craig Miles to their ranks, on a short-term loan from Warwickshire as injury cover for Timm van der Gugten.
Glamorgan have lost Australian all-rounder Michael Neser to Hampshire, as well as captain David Lloyd to Derbyshire, while Andrew Salter retired.
The question in the four-day format is will the arrival of Bradburn, Mir, Crane and Miles lead them to turning some of the 12 draws the county managed in 2023 into wins this season.
“In terms of the balance of putting a winning team together, my philosophy is to put a bowling attack together to take 20 wickets and then we’ll build a batting unit around that,” said Bradburn.
“We’ve got a wonderful wicket-keeper (Chris Cooke) who could bat anywhere in the top six and we want to have five proper bowling options. We’re desperate to take wickets and we’ll build our team around that.”
Glamorgan Turn To New Zealander Grant Bradburn As New Head Coach
Glamorgan fans will have to wait for Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne to arrive in early May, though the presence of Kiran Carlson and Billy Root should provide runs if they can continue their form of last season.
It has been 19 years since a player from Glamorgan appeared in an England team and another 1000-run season for Carlson must mean he is pushing for a place on an England tour at some level in the winter.
Middlesex will begin this season in Division Two of the County Championship after being relegated at the end of last season.
They boast the likes of Stephen Eskinazi, Ryan Higgins and Mark Stoneman but lasted just one season in the top flight before going back down.
Glamorgan have played just one season in the top flight in 25 years of the two division system.
“We’re not comfortable being in division two, and it’s important for the players to know that, we’ve set out sights on winning division one at some stage during this era,” added Bradburn.
“We’ve got in place some clear brands to win in all three formats.”