Aneurin Donald and the rest of a young Glamorgan side were hoping for better luck with the weather in Taunton today (Friday) in a pre-season match which should offer the 20-year-old the first chance to show the benefits of his winter away in Perth.
Donald, the middle-order strokemaker from Gorseinon who underlined his natural ability with a spectacular double century for Glamorgan against Derbyshire at Colwyn Bay last season, was selected for one of the Overseas Placements offered by the ECB to promising batsmen and spinners, as part of their International Pathway.
For Donald, that meant playing for the Midland Guildford club in Perth, and developing his skills under the guidance of the renowned Australian batting coach Neil “Noddy” Holder.
“The experience was invaluable,” he says. “I learned so much from the coach whose message was get better without changing your game too much.”
Holder has helped and coached many Australian Test players, including Justin Langer and Michael Hussey. “He instilled the basic philosophies,” added Donald. “I am hoping that his advice and technical changes will make me a better player this season.”
He was not prolific in the Western Australia Grade Cricket competition for Midland Guildford, in which Essex’s Dan Lawrence and new Somerset captain Tom Abell excelled. Donald’s best form came in T20 cricket, “where I opened the batting , scored a century on one game and an 80 in another”. The opening pair of Jacques Rudolph and David Lloyd were a regular feature of Glamorgan’s success in the NatWest T20 Blast last season, but Donald could offer another option this year.
After Haseeb Hameed, Keaton Jennings and Ben Duckett made their England debuts this winter, and Lancashire’s Liam Livingstone alerted the England selectors with his outstanding performances for the Lions in Sri Lanka recently, Donald knows the selectors are watching, and if he continues to play the sort of innings that enthralled everyone at the Rhos on Sea ground last summer, then he could be in contention for a place in one of the representative teams.
He has been especially inspired by the progress of Hameed, with whom he shared the England Under-19 captaincy during a home series against Australia in the summer of 2015.
“I came through the age groups with Haseeb, and his promotion this winter demonstrates that the selectors are prepared to give opportunities to young players who play with a certain style,” said Donald, whose fan club includes the former England captain Michael Vaughan who saw him at the ECB’s Performance Centre in Loughborough.
“I’ve coached him, I know his character,” said Vaughan. “I know his game, and he is highly rated by the England set-up.”
Donald acknowledges that there will be more competition for places in the Glamorgan side this season. “It’s what we need,” he says, as middle-order batsmen Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke return after missing most of last summer’s Championship season.
He was one of eight Wales-born players hoping for more luck with the weather when the two-day friendly in Taunton was due to conclude today, with a 50-over match due against Gloucestershire at the SSE SWALEC on Monday.