Glamorgan squander strong start
Mark Cosgrove and Ben Wright struck entertaining half-centuries but Glamorgan failed to build on a useful platform on the first day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay
09-Aug-2010
Glamorgan 319 for 9 v Worcestershire
Scorecard
Scorecard
Mark Cosgrove and Ben Wright struck entertaining half-centuries but Glamorgan failed to build on a useful platform on the first day of their County Championship match against Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay. Glamorgan ended the day on 319 for 9, with captain Jamie Dalrymple also scoring 56, but that was after they had been 100 without loss and then 242 for
3.
After the Welsh county won the toss Cosgrove made a typically positive start as he and Gareth Rees shared in their fourth opening century stand of the championship campaign. On a slow pitch Cosgrove was the dominant partner, contributing 74 of the century partnership either side of a 75-minute break for heavy rain, which included an early lunch.
But Worcestershire did launch a fightback with the home side slipping from 100 for 0 to 145 for 3 in 12 overs. Rees, who had batted for an hour and 44 minutes for his 25, inside-edged seamer
Richard Jones behind.
Five overs later fellow opener Cosgrove, who had accrued 62 of his 84 in boundaries including a straight six off Jones, danced down the wicket to Bangladesh slow left-armer Shakib Al Hasan and was stumped. Worcestershire's first bowling point arrived when Tom Maynard, who was dropped at short-leg on 10, edged a regulation catch to wicketkeeper Ben Cox off Alan
Richardson.
But Glamorgan's mini-slump was halted by Wright and Dalrymple in a 97-run alliance for the fourth wicket. Like Cosgrove in the first-wicket partnership, Wright dominated affairs,
supplying 72 from 91 balls with 11 fours and a six.
But again Glamorgan proceeded to lose a cluster of three wickets. Wright edged a swinging delivery from James Cameron to Daryl Mitchell at slip, James Allenby struck a Matt Mason leg-stump half-volley to square leg where Alexei Kervezee took a sharp catch low down and then Mark Wallace edged Jones to Vikram Solanki at first slip.
It was a slump which saw the Welsh county go from 242 for 3 to 280 for 6, and much then depended on Dalrymple, who went to his third half-century of the season from 110 balls. But despite taking Glamorgan past 300 he played on, giving Mason his 299th first-class victim. That was after Robert Croft had given a bat-and-pad catch to short-leg off Shakib.
David Harrison was out two overs before the close but last pair Dean Cosker and Huw Waters survived until the end to ensure Glamorgan would bat again on the second morning.