Ganguly all set for Glamorgan debut

Sourav Ganguly has expressed the hope that his stint with Glamorgan will fetch him as much success as his previous tours to England with the Indian team. Ganguly, who has been signed up by the county to play for them at least till the end of July, will play his first match today (June 1) against Sussex at Swansea.

"I'm really looking forward to this opportunity of playing for Glamorgan," Ganguly said. "I've done well in this country before, in Tests and one-day internationals, and I didn't have too bad a time with Lancashire either. We finished as runners-up in the County Championship and I did well in their one-day matches."

Ganguly has an excellent record in England - in six Tests he averages 74 with the bat and 31.50 with the ball, while in 20 one-day internationals there he averages 39.25, only marginally below his career average. However, his stint with Lancashire in 2000 wasn't quite so impressive - in 14 first-class matches he only managed an average of 31.95, with no centuries.

Ganguly has also been struggling for runs over the last year, but Robert Croft, the Glamorgan captain, had no doubt that Ganguly would be an inspiration to the rest of the team. "Sourav's a special cricketer, everyone knows what he can do at the highest level. He'll score a lot of runs and will also pass on his experience to the youngsters coming through." Ganguly is expected to bat at No.5 in the four-day games and open the batting in the one-dayers.

Glamorgan have had a wretched start to the season, losing all five Division One matches so far, but Ganguly was keen to help stop the slide. "It will be a challenge after a poor start, but I'm very happy to be part of a young team," Ganguly told BBC Sport Wales. "There'll be a lot of expectation, but I've been around for 10 years, I'm an established international cricketer and I have to put the performances on the board."

He also revealed that the call-up by the county had come as a surprise to him. "I was in England for a family holiday and was going to go to Paris for the French Open, but when this chance came I said I'd love to do it," he said. "I only had a tourist visa and had to fly to Brussels to sort out a working one, and now I'm in Wales for the first time.

"I have played against a few of the guys like David Hemp, Alex Wharf and Robert Croft and it's just great to have the chance to play in this country again."