We are going to leave no stone unturned to make sure we have a cricket team that makes our country proud - Morris

24 Sep 2018 | Cricket
Chief Executive Hugh Morris conceded it has been a disappointing season but backed the club’s strategy to develop young Glamorgan players and bring them through into the first team.

The Welsh county currently sit in 10th position in Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship with just one win but have fielded a number of young players after being deprived of Shaun Marsh, Marchant de Lange and Usman Khawaja because of international call-ups and injuries.

Twelve players who have played in the first eleven this year have come through the Pathway system but Morris would like to supplement the team with a couple of experienced players in the winter to aid their development.

“We have had a desperately disappointing season, especially results in the championship in the second half of the season and we can’t sugar coat that and the fans recognise that,” said Morris.

“We decided at the beginning of the year that the strategy was going to play a lot of our young talent. They were going to play around some pillars of experience of Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja and Marchant De Lange. Through injuries and international call-ups we have not had those pillars.

“It has been a real challenge for some of those youngsters and there are too many in the team playing at the moment.

“We hope they are going to gain experience by playing first team level but we clearly have to look at supplement our resources.

“We have been looking at batsmen for the last two years and that is the area we need to improve.

“We spoke with Alex Lees earlier in the summer but he moved from Yorkshire to Durham.

An independent external review will be conducted in October which will look at all positions within the cricket department, as well as Morris’ joint role as Chief Executive and Director of Cricket.

“Every summer we have an internal review where we look at the things we have done well and not so well and we will implement changes.

“Given the results we have had this summer we are seeking to have an independent external review of what we do.

“That will go to board in the middle of the October and the changes will be implemented. The Board is passionate about the club and will be doing the right things for the club.

“That is going to be part of the review. There are two full-time jobs there and going forward if it is the right thing to do (separate the roles) it will be part of the review going to the board.

“The review will look at everything we do whether that will be in the winter or summer and if we need to change things, we will change things.

“Our review will be looking at everything we do and that report will go to the Board in October.”

Morris likened the club’s current position to that in the 1980s when after a difficult period, the Club brought through homegrown players like Maynard, Croft and Morris himself into the first team.

They formed the bedrock of Glamorgan’s success in the 90s and early 00s and Morris wants to follow a similar model, but warned it could take time before Glamorgan reap the benefits from the strategy.

“When I started in the early 1980s we had some challenging years until we identified some players who would become successful Glamorgan cricketers,” added Morris.

“Developing players takes a long period of time. Some of these players are in their late teens, early 20s who I believe are going to be really successful cricketers. In the mid-1980s we were playing with 30 somethings and losing.

“I am a passionate Welshman. I was fortunate to play in the 1997 championship winning team that was 85 per cent Welsh.

“That is the long-term dream. We have some holes we need to fill at the moment.

“We are going to leave stone unturned to make sure we have a cricket team here in Glamorgan that makes our country proud. That is our ultimate aim and that is what we will be seeking to do.”