Glamorgan: Welsh county ready for Mark Cosgrove challenge

Mark Cosgrove plays his domestic cricket for South Australia

Glamorgan say they know what to expect when former opener Mark Cosgrove leads Leicestershire against them in the opening county championship match.

The 30-year-old Australian spent four seasons at Glamorgan from 2006 to 2011.

And Cosgrove scored 92 off 90 balls on his Leicestershire debut against Cambridge MCCU.

"He'll bring a lot of positivity to Leicestershire, but we've got to negate that with our own performances," said Glamorgan spinner Dean Cosker.

"I've seen him get out enough times in the nets.

"We'll have our plans for him, and all the other players as well."

The opening match at Grace Road represents a battle between the two sides at the bottom of the division two table in 2014.

Leicestershire have not won a four-day match in two seasons, but new chief executive Wasim Khan is sure Cosgrove is the right man to help turn things round.

"He's got a real track record of delivering in first class cricket and he did brilliantly at Glamorgan," he said.

"Everything I've heard from Dean Cosker, [former Glamorgan player] Tony Cottey and other players is that he's a great team man and a great guy to get in the dressing room.

"We've got Glamorgan first game and Northants second game - they'll be looking at us and thinking quite rightly 'that's a game we can win' but we feel the same as well. Everyone starts with zero points."

Cosker is reluctant to accept any particular pressure on Glamorgan in the opening fixture because of their opponents' poor run.

"You try to put out of your mind what Leicestershire have done previously or what they're going to do, it's all about our own game," he added.

"We've got myself, Graham Wagg, and Mark Wallace to spearhead the senior group - we create our own personal high standards so hopefully that can rub off on the younger guys."

The match will also mark Jacques Rudolph's debut as Glamorgan captain after succeeding Mark Wallace.

"I'm really excited about it," said the South African.

"There's been quite a lot of change in personnel, but we've got to embrace it and make sure everyone's pulling in the right direction."

Glamorgan will be without Michael Hogan because of a hamstring injury suffered on West Australia duty in February.

But the county are set to give South African batsman Colin Ingram his debut, with James Kettleborough, signed from Northants, and Craig Meschede, on loan from Somerset, playing their first championship games for the Welsh county.