This is the first of five Men’s Severnside derbies this year and Gloucestershire and Glamorgan will want to put week one to bed as quickly as possible, both sides having lost inside three days. They occupied sixth and seventh places of Division Two at the end of last season and on the evidence of last week, might be looking at a similar return this summer.
No one who was at Cheltenham last year will forget the epic finish to the game between these two sides, with Glamorgan set a target of 593 and the scores tied with the last ball still to be bowled and nine wickets down. An edge was brilliantly caught by James Bracey and Glamorgan just failed to make history.
The return game, the final match of the season, was a contrived win for Glamorgan with two forfeited innings.
Both sides were let down by their batters on day one of the first round of games. Gloucestershire’s failed to deal with the medium pace of Luis Reece and Anuj Dal at Derby, while the Glamorgan top order gave way to Ian Holland. They will be hoping for a better return this week, building on second innings centuries from Ben Charlesworth for the Shire and Kiran Carlson for Glamorgan.
Gloucestershire should have one of their Cameron’s available this week; new skipper Cameron Bancroft coming in for Chris Dent at the top of the order. They will have to wait another week for the services of Cameron Green. The middle order looks strong, with Miles Hammond and Bracey coming in at four and five.
They also have one of the more threatening attacks in Division Two, with the raw pace of Marchant de Lange and Ajeet Singh Dale, while Tom Price will be wanting to bounce back from a disappointing 2024. Gloucestershire will be hoping for a pitch with some pace, although the groundsman will be wary following the abandonment of the game against Northamptonshire at the end of last August because of an unsafe pitch.
With the departure of Zafar Gohar, who made a confident start for Middlesex in the first round, Graeme van Buuren and Ollie Price provide the spin threat, although they may not need to bowl many overs this week.
Glamorgan’s overseas signing, Asitha Fernando took 4/71 last week, but last year’s banker with the ball, Timm van der Gugten, had a disappointing outing. They went in the game with two spinners and only three frontline seamers, which seemed to backfire and it will be interesting to see how they balance the side this week. Ned Leonard is an option to come in. They are presumably obliged to play Shoaib Bashir, on loan from Somerset, but he bowled 22 wicketless overs.
Glamorgan are still to find a reliable opening pair, Eddie Byrom and Zain ul-Hassan contributing just 51 runs between them last week. Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram will be expected to contribute more, but there looks to be a long tail.
Gloucestershire appear to have the stronger bowling attack and will start the game as favourites. Much will depend on whether the Glamorgan batting line up can fire.
Key players:
Cameron Bancroft has not always performed in county cricket, but last season he looked assured, scoring 832 Championship runs at 48.94, as well as leading the club’s run scoring in their successful Blast campaign. He has been rewarded with the captaincy and will be keen to turn things around after missing the first round of games. However, he comes off a disappointing Sheffield Shield season, scoring just 344 runs at 26.46. This was partly the result of a two month layoff following a collision with Daniel Sams during a Big Bash game, in which he suffered a broken nose and fractured shoulder.
Since the departure of Michael Hogan, Glamorgan have relied on van der Gugten for wickets, but he has been hampered by recurrent injuries. They will be hoping that Asitha Fernando can fill the gap. The 27-year-old Sri Lankan pace bowler made a steady start last week and has an excellent first class record, as well as 72 Test wickets. While he is currently only signed for the first seven Championship games, there is talk that this can be extended. However, he cannot do it all on his own.
Team News:
Seamer James Harris is coming back from a calf injury; while all-rounder Dan Douthwaite, is out with a pectoral muscle tear. Mason Crane is also injured, but Jamie McIlory should have recovered from his concussion.
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, Ned Leonard, Jamie McIlroy, Billy Root, Zain ul-Hassan, Timm van der Gugten
Bancroft is back and he may be the only addition to the squad.
Gloucestershire squad (probable): Cameron Bancroft(c), Zaman Akhter, James Bracey, Ben Charlesworth, Marchant de Lange, Miles Hammond, Ed Middleton, Joe Phillips, Ollie Price, Tom Price, Ajeet Singh Dale, Josh Shaw, Matt Taylor, Graeme van Buuren.
Weather and Conditions
Temperatures should be warming up for the first two days, but there is a risk of the first rain for a while coming on Sunday in the form of showers.
Bristol has a number of hybrid pitches, brought in to provide some assistance to their out-and-out quicks. It was a hybrid one that was responsible for the abandoned game and it may be that we see some more placid conditions for a while.
Date: 11th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol
