Glamorgan secure Nathan McCullum clearance

Glamorgan make sweeping changes to face Lancashire in the County Championship on Monday because of injuries, unavailability and form.

The Welsh county have slipped to eighth in the Division Two table.

Kiwi Nathan McCullum has been given special dispensation to fill in for Marcus North, who will not play because of a family bereavement.

Chris Cooke will play his first Championship match, while Will Bragg returns after injury to open.

Cooke, who has risen to prominence after becoming a one-day regular, and Bragg replace Ben Wright and Stewart Walters.

Australian paceman Michael Hogan is rested, while Will Owen and Mike Reed are both injured, so Graham Wagg, John Glover and Alex Jones are likely to make up the pace attack.

Meanwhile, Simon Jones has been given the all-clear to resume bowling in practise after a shoulder injury.

While they have struggled in the four-day game this season, Glamorgan have prospered in limited-overs cricket - although they suffered their first Twenty20 defeat of the season on Sunday at Northamptonshire, losing to a last-ball four.

Glamorgan head of elite performance Matthew Mott remains hopeful that they will be able to nominate McCullum as their overseas player instead of North for the game against leaders Lancashire.

The New Zealand off-spin bowler was initially only signed for their T20 campaign.

"We're just waiting on ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board] approval whether we can get him in for the match," Mott said.

"That hasn't been ticked off yet but if that happens we'll be able to play him [against Lancashire], which will be great.

"What we lose in Northy we will gain an international player with experience and we'll see how we get on against Lancs this week.

"There's some forced changes, which is tough, but when you've got a schedule like we have you've got to expect that there's a little bit of turnover in players."

Glamorgan squad: Rees, Bragg, Cooke, Goodwin, Allenby, Wallace (capt/wk), James, McCullum, Wagg, Glover, Cosker, A Jones.