After seemingly months of white ball cricket on TV screens, the traditionalists have something to savour as the County Championship gets back underway
Both these teams ended last season a way off promotion, with just three wins between them. This statistic accurately reflects where they are in red ball cricket, each having strongish batting line ups, but with bowling attacks that find it difficult to take wickets quickly enough. Neither club has made any dramatic changes to their squads, so it looks like being the same story in 2025.
Glamorgan have signed Ned Leonard from Somerset, the 22-year-old seamer having spent last summer in Cardiff on loan. Asitha Fernando replaces Mir Hamza as the early season pace bowling overseas signing, the 27-year-old Sri Lankan having a useful first class record of 256 wickets at 24.10. He has also played 22 Tests, taking 72 wickets at 27.73. He will join Timm van der Gugten as the main threat with the new ball. Leonard only managed five wickets in his four Championship matches last summer and it will likely be between him, Jamie McIlroy and Andy Gorvin for the remaining pace slots, although McIlroy missed the last practice game with concussion.
Mason Crane has suffered a shoulder injury, so Glamorgan have picked up Shoaib Bashir on loan from Somerset. He will initially be available for three games, but it will be interesting to see what impact he has, particularly at this time of the season. Last year he took just six Championship wickets at 89.83 and has a first class bowling average of 49.25. The other spin option comes from Ben Kellaway, who has the ability to bowl both right and left arm orthodox. He took 12 wickets at 22.25 in four Championship matches at the end of last season.
There remain question marks at the top of the order for Glamorgan and it is any guess who will walk out for them when they come to bat. At the end of last season it was Will Smale and Asa Tribe, while in the two preseason friendlies Eddie Byrom and Zain ul Hassan were in the firing line. However they have a strong middle order with Colin Ingram, skipper Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson, followed by Chris Cooke. The question then is how they balance the side, especially if Bashir plays instead of Kellaway. The tail could potentially start at seven, as the nearest thing to a seam bowling all rounder is van der Gugten, although he did contribute useful runs last year.
Leicestershire have a new red ball captain in Peter Handscomb, who enjoyed a fine season with the bat in 2024. The others were less convincing, but Rishi Patel, Lewis Hill, Ben Cox and Rehan Ahmed can all put runs on the board.
The bowling has been strengthened by the signing of Netherlands international all-rounder Logan van Beek. However the last Plunkett Shield match ends on 1 April and he will not be available for this opening game. Chris Wright is approaching his 40th birthday and he will likely be joined in the attack by Tom Scriven and Ben Green, who is on loan for a second season from Somerset. Much will be expected of Scriven this season and he took 4/20 last week against Nottinghamshire in a preseason friendly. Ian Holland has made his move to Leicestershire permanent and provides a fourth seam option, with Ben Mike or Roman Walker possible inclusions. Liam Trevaskis could come in if conditions are felt to be conducive to spin, although Ahmed may be considered sufficient.
The strength of these two sides is in the batting and given the way pitches have behaved in Cardiff over recent years, a draw is the most likely outcome.
Key players:
Sam Northeast leads Glamorgan again this year and will want to be scoring runs more consistently than he did in 2024. He did make 1005 Championship runs at 50.20, but 664 of those were in three innings, in a season where he registered six ducks. With the weaknesses at the top of the order, a lot rests on him, Ingram and Carlson to score big runs.
Peter Handscomb will be keen to take up from where he left off last season, having led the county’s run scoring in the Championship and One Day Cup. He comes off a Sheffield Shield campaign in which he scored 693 runs at 38.50.
Team News:
Seamer James Harris, out with a calf injury and all-rounder Dan Douthwaite, who has suffered a pectoral muscle tear, both join Mason Crane on the injury list. McIlory has suffered a concussion, but may have recovered.
Glamorgan squad (from): Sam Northeast (c), Shoaib Bashir, Tom Bevan, Eddie Byrom, Kiran Carlson, Chris Cooke (wk), Asitha Fernando, Andrew Gorvin, Colin Ingram, Ben Kellaway, Jamie McIlroy, Billy Root, Zain ul-Hassan, Timm van der Gugten
Van Beek has not yet arrived, but otherwise there do not appear to be any significant absences from the Leicestershire squad due to injury.
Leicestershire squad (from): Peter Handscomb (c), Rehan Ahmed, Sol Budinger, Ollie Cox (wk), Ben Green, Lewis Hill, Ian Holland, Louis Kimber, Ben Mike, Rishi Patel, Tom Scriven, Liam Trevaskis, Roman Walker, Chris Wright
Weather and Conditions
The forecast is for it to be sunny and dry all four days, albeit a bit chilly in the mornings.
Early season pitches at Sophia Gardens will have a significant green tinge, but usually do not cause too much problem for batters once you get through the first morning. They then flatten out and taking wickets becomes harder as the game progresses, not helped by the opportunities available to captains to use the heavy roller.
Date: 4th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
