Michael Hogan is closing in on a century of T20 wickets as Glamorgan bid to put injuries behind them and kick-start their Vitality Blast campaign against Surrey at The Oval on Tuesday night.
Hogan needs just three wickets for the 100-mark in the T20 format, with 86 of those coming for the Welsh county.
With Glamorgan back in sixth position in the south table, and a back injury ruling out Joe Burns, coach Robert Croft’s side could do with some Hogan inspiration.
Croft says of the veteran Australian fast bowler, “He’s a stellar performer for us and the form he’s shown so far this season has been brilliant.
“He leads the way, both on and off the field and is fully committed to every game that’s played. Whether he does or doesn’t have a good game, he’s always striving for improvement, so I’m really pleased for him.”
Glamorgan have a strong T20 record at Surrey’s headquarters having won all five of their previous games there, including a nail-biting six run win last summer and Croft believes his side thrive on the atmosphere created by the big crowd at The Kia Oval.
“We’ve had some good performances there the last couple of seasons,” said Croft.
“The boys have really been on top of their game playing there because the crowd certainly spur you on.
“It’s a wonderful place to play cricket and we’ve had some good times and good performances there so we’re looking forward to it.
“I think we’re a side that feeds of vibe and there’s good atmosphere there that tends to life the players and that is when this team is at its best so hopefully it will be a game where we get into our rhythm early on and get on top.
The Welsh county currently sit in sixth place in the South group table after their abandoned match against Kent Spitfires but Croft is refusing to panic and believes some small improvements will make big differences and soon lift Glamorgan up the table.
“T20 is a balance between identifying areas you can improve but not overreacting to them because it’s a style of game when you watch around the country that all teams are beating each other.
“It’s such a short format where individuals can win games at any one time and this is an experienced team and I trust them to make small improvements.”
Surrey’s Australian batsman Aaron Finch has racked up 315 runs for just twice out in the T20 tournament so far this season.
“It would be nice to get him out first ball, he’s a particularly destructive player and has been really good over the last couple of years,” said Glamorgan captain Colin Ingram.
“But he’s only human, and he can sky one first up, so we’ll be hoping for that.”
Finch managed 33 in their 2017 encounter, but was out-shone by Glamorgan youngster Aneurin Donald who hit 75 as they won by six runs.
Surrey (from): Dernbach (capt), Batty, Borthwick, Burns, Clarke, Curran, Finch, Foakes, Jacks, Maddinson, Morkel, Pillans, Pope, Roy, van den Bergh.
Glamorgan (from): Khawaja, Donald, Ingram (capt), Selman, Carlson, Cooke (wk), Wagg, Salter, Smith, van der Gugten, Hogan, Meschede, Lawlor.