\"We are going to invest time in our young players\" - Croft

7 Mar 2018 | Cricket
New Zealand. UAE. Australia. South Africa. Members of Glamorgan’s squad have been scattered across the globe since the end of the 2017 season, playing for local club sides or in high profile T20 tournaments.

They’ve been learning to play in different conditions, while gaining valuable match experience before the start of the new season, which Head Coach Robert Croft believes will serve them well this year.

“A lot of our players look to leave our shores in the winter and it’s something we really encourage them to do,” said Croft.

“We believe there’s lots of opportunity for them to develop their cricket and come back as more rounded individuals.

“They get good experience playing in foreign conditions and also get match time. I’m a big believer in playing as much cricket as you can at a young age because you practice a lot on nets but one of the things we’re looking for is decision making.

“In cricket people who make the right decisions at the right times are the successful ones and you don’t get that from a net session as much as you do from a match situation.”

Out of those players who didn’t travel abroad for the winter, Connor Brown and Kiran Carlson have had to combine their cricket with their University studies, however with the new season approaching, Croft can confirm they will be up for selection when the Specsavers County Championship kicks-off in April.

“We’ve got a couple of guys who are studying as well so we’ve had to manage their studies along with the cricket. Both Connor Brown and Kiran Carlson are available from the start of the season which is good for us.

“They finished the season in the team and they’ll have a very good chance starting the season in the team. We’re looking to develop a new batch of players and we’re excited by the young players that we have here. It’s also coincided with three players finishing last season in Colin Ingram, Jacques Rudolph and Will Bragg so there’s a natural transition happening right now and it’s a good opportunity for us to give our young Glamorgan products a chance.

“We want to make sure we make the most of the talent we are developing through our system. Four-day cricket is a very tough environment and it takes time to build a team. We are going to look to invest time on our players that we are developing through the system."