Spin ruled on day two in Cardiff
Having appeared to be slightly under par with the bat on day one, Glamorgan’s bowlers fought back in the afternoon session of day two, taking seven wickets for 81 runs. However, when the players left the field at 6:27, three wickets from Alex Thomson had dragged Derbyshire back into the game, Glamorgan leading by 113 runs with six wickets remaining.
Derbyshire resumed on 46/1 and David Lloyd was the aggressor early on, going to his half century off 65 balls. Mir Hamza and James Harris had resumed the bowling, Jamie McIlroy not appearing on the field, having injured his left shoulder in the field towards the end of day one. After ten overs, Sam Northeast turned to the leg spin of Mason Crane and he struck in his second over, Lloyd hit on the back leg as he attempted a sweep, the umpire upholding the lbw appeal. Lloyd’s 60 came off 86 balls and Derbyshire were 78/2. At the other end Dan Douthwaite was bowling a testing line and following Lloyd’s dismissal, scoring slowed significantly. Harris returned and just before lunch trapped the watchful Harry Came lbw, his 25 coming off 113 balls. Brooke Guest joined Wayne Madsen and they saw out the remaining seven minutes, Derbyshire going in at 117/3.
Crane was extracting significant turn and continued after the break, but Hamza struck first, Guest, who had struggled to get going, flicking the ball in the air to square leg and Billy Root took a good catch diving forward. Guest’s two runs from 27 balls reflected the control exerted by the Glamorgan bowlers, employing a predominantly leg side field. Douthwaite replaced Hamza and maintained the pressure, inducing a strangle down the leg side off the bat of Aneurin Donald (7) and Chris Cooke took the catch. Derbyshire were 146/5 with Madsen 49 not out and a lot resting on his shoulders. He reached his 50 off 94 balls, but fell for 63, hitting a firm drive that sub fielder Asa Tribe was able to parry and gather at the second attempt. He was out with the score on 165/6, Derbyshire still trailing by 72.
Crane bowled 18 overs on the trot either side of lunch, taking 1/44 and Carlson’s return gave the batters a slight respite. However Harris came back at the Cathedral end and took his third wicket as Anuj Dal edged into the safe hands of Colin Ingram at slip. Crane’s rest was brief and the fourth ball of his first return over was a full toss mistimed by Alex Thomson into the hands of Douthwaite at mid on. A rare googly from Crane cleaned up Sam Conners leaving the last pair to take the score to 198 as Crane picked up his fourth, a leg break clipping the top off Blair Tickner’s off stump. Zak Chappell scored a useful 20 not out, but Derbyshire trailed by 39 on the first innings when they went into tea. Crane finished with 4/60 and Harris 3/28. The 25.5 overs Crane bowled in this innings was more than twice the number of Championship overs he bowled in the whole of the 2023 season.
After tea it was no surprise when Thomson took the second over and he was the first to strike, trapping Zain ul-Hassan lbw for 12. Northeast fell in the same fashion next ball leaving Kiran Carlson to negotiate the hat trick ball. Glamorgan were 28/2, a lead of 67 and only 10 more runs were added before the players were taken off for bad light at 5:10. There was a 20 minute interruption and when the players came back out, the spectators had disappeared due to the dropping temperature. Five minutes later Derbyshire were told they had to bowl spin at both ends and Came replaced Blair Tickner. Meanwhile Thomson picked up his 10th wicket of the match as Carlson (11) lost his head and gave the off spinner the charge, only to see the ball deflect onto his stumps, leaving Glamorgan on 51/3. Varying light meant Conners was on and off at the Cathedral End and during one of his short spells he bowled Root for 32. Crane came out as night watchman with 7.4 overs left in the day’s play, but the umpires eventually called an end at 6:27 with the light failing and Glamorgan on 74/4, a lead of 113.
The day’s play leaves Glamorgan just ahead, but Derbyshire will be looking to Thomson in the morning to keep the target manageable. Plenty to play for in a game that looks unlikely to go past day three, weather permitting.
After play we spoke to Derbyshire’s top scorer, Wayne Madsen:
“I think it’s going to be a really good game of cricket because as you say, there’s enough in the wicket, especially for the spinners. I think it’s really slow which makes it challenging to score and it’s quite a stoppy spin, so it brings everyone round the bat into the game”.
Talking about the amount of turn:
“Obviously you don’t get too many in April that are this dry. In fact, we didn’t really, looking at it, and I’ve played here a few times, I’ve not seen it spin like that. It’s been a slower spin, so it was actually quite a surprise to see it spinning like that. We bowled because we thought there might be a little bit of nip in the wicket for our seamers. Not the fact that Tomo was going to take 7 for in the first innings.”
“These are the type of wickets you want to play on. It’s a good challenge for the bat and the bowlers, the spinners in particular. When it starts spinning like this, you’ve got guys around the bat. There’s always a bit of theatre. So yeah, it’s a wicket that makes for good viewing.”
When asked about a target Derbyshire would be happy with:
“I think when you look at these sort of games, you look at the scores in the first innings and naturally you know those scores are likely to come down a little bit with the wicket slowing down and spinning even more. We’ve just got to bowl well first up and try and give ourselves as little score as possible to go for tomorrow afternoon at some point.”
Glamorgan’s Mason Crane also spoke after play:
“I haven’t bowled that many for quite some time so it’s quite nice. Good to get out there and try and find the rhythm and obviously see some spin in the wicket. Obviously very slow but, I really enjoy my day.”
Talking about the state of the game:
“I think it’s very much in the balance. I think a good partnership tomorrow morning and we start nudging ahead. They’ve used both the heavy rollers so the wicket’s only getting worse from here so if we can get north of 200 towards 250 we’re right in the game.”
Asked about the move to Glamorgan and the long bowl in this game:
“It’s obviously really important. Last year was a disappointment for me, but since I’ve joined Glamorgan I’ve actually loved every minute. Obviously a really good day like today, but I’m just happy to be involved, be an important member of the team and contribute as much as I can.“
