STAT ATTACK - Glamorgan win at Cardiff

26 Sep 2018 | Cricket
Glamorgan’s victory against Leicestershire by 132 runs was their first at their Cardiff headquarters in Championship cricket since June 25th, 2015 with ironically, their last first-class victory at Sophia Gardens also coming against the East Midlands side by the margin of 137 runs.

Since then Glamorgan have played sixteen Championship games without a victory on their home patch at Cardiff, with 26, 118 balls being bowled prior to the start of the current game.

This was the fourth season in which Glamorgan had won both their opening and closing Championship match of the summer. The most recent occasion was in 1998 when they began by defeating Gloucestershire at Bristol by 141 runs, before concluding the year with a 298-run demolition of Somerset at Sophia Gardens.

The other two occasions were, first, in 1937 when they beat Kent by an innings and 152 runs in their first game of the summer at Swansea, before winning their last as they defeated Leicestershire at the Arms Park by nine wickets. Glamorgan also began the 1966 season with a four-wicket success against Sussex at Hove before ending the year by defeating Derbyshire at Colwyn Bay by 63 runs.

This year’s victory at Sophia Gardens was their fifth victory in Championship matches against Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens and their eighth in all in Cardiff, with three wins having also been recorded in Championship matches at the Arms Park.

The Welsh county therefore end the summer win two Championship wins under their belt. Since the County Championship was split into two divisions in 2000, there have been two seasons when Glamorgan only recorded one victory – these were in 2005 and 2007. The same fate befell the Club twice during the 1980’s with only one victory in 1982 and again in 1988, whilst in 1979, the Welsh county went through the summer without a Championship victory.