July sees the beginning of the domestic t20 Blast and a particularly jam-packed schedule for the SSE SWALEC Stadium, with barely a moment’s respite from June’s cricket season belter. Home-side Glamorgan kick-off proceedings on the first day of the tournament (Fri 7 July) with a skirmish against Hampshire, who yielded a victory last year to the only Welsh team in the tourney by 5 wickets. The side will hope to improve upon their impressive progress in last year’s Blast, where they were unfortunately knocked out in the Quarter-Finals by a hardy Yorkshire side. A healthy position in this year’s rankings would be a welcome climax to the stellar career of Captain Jacques Rudolph, who announced his retirement with the end of the tourney – Glamorgan’s Quarter-Final achievement was their first in over a decade, and Rudolph is keen that their successes continue following his departure.
“The last four years at Glamorgan have been special and I’ve enjoyed playing for the club along with developing a spirit and culture with Robert Croft and Hugh Morris that I believe will help the club in years to come.”
The Stadium will see four more qualifying games this month alone against South Division teams- Glamorgan take Somerset on Sat 15 July, then Sussex and Essex in quick succession on Fri 21 July and Sun 23 July respectively. The Somerset game should be a tense one – the SSE SWALEC stadium will be looking to redeem itself for the lack of favours it did its home team when Glamorgan were trounced by 170 runs in May during the Royal London. Indeed, the Somerset side have proved an intimidating presence on the field in the year so far. Whether the home side can break their momentum, even in the spirit of Captain Rudolph’s final hurrah, should make for exciting viewing.
The last home game during July will be on Fri 28 July, versus Surrey- who, at the time of writing, have chased a string of steamrolling victories straight into their third successive One Day Cup Final. As far as Welsh cricket goes, the month is an absolute screamer.
Tickets: prices vary per event. Info: 087 0218 3835 / www.glamorgancricket.com
words JASON MACHLAB