Carefree Carey rips through Northants on debut

Northamptonshire 108 for 4 (Evans 42*, Carey 3-37) v Glamorgan
Scorecard

Glamorgan's teenaged debutant, Lukas Carey, tore through Northamptonshire's top order with three wickets in the first six overs of his first-class career, before Laurie Evans and David Murphy revived their side with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 70 on a rain-truncated first day at Swansea.

Carey, a 19-year-old seamer from nearby Pontardulais, claimed a notable maiden scalp with his eleventh delivery, when he had the in-form Ben Duckett caught at cover for 7, and after a break for rain, he was back in business in his fourth over when Shaun Terry attempted to work a straight ball through the leg side and was trapped lbw.

Worse was to follow for the visitors when, with no addition to the score, Rob Newton played a loose stroke against Tim van der Gugten, and Northants were 38 for 4 when Carey picked up his third wicket - Rob Keogh, who was well caught at third slip. He finished his first day on the job with the impressive figures of 3 for 37 from 10 overs.

Evans, the Warwickshire batsman who is playing the first game of his loan spell, led a partial recovery with Murphy in support but on a cloudy day, and on a pitch that had been covered for two days, Northants might have regretted their decision to bat first, as the Glamorgan seamers obtained plenty of movement to trouble the batsmen.

After heavy overnight rain, and showers during the morning, there had been no play before lunch, with play eventually getting underway at 1.40pm. In addition to Carey's debut, Glamorgan picked Rory Smith for his first championship appearance of the season, with Michael Hogan, Graham Wagg and Craig Meschede resting for this round.

Carey who is one of seven Welsh-born players in the Glamorgan team, was understandably delighted with his performance. "I was very excited when I was told I was playing," he said. "I was very nervous in the first over, but I soon got over that when I took the first wicket. The ball is swinging and nibbling, and hopefully we can take a few more tomorrow morning."