Glamorgan Cricket: Coach Matthew Maynard gives mixed verdict on season
- Published
Former batsman Matthew Maynard began a second spell as head coach at Glamorgan in 2019
Glamorgan coach Matthew Maynard describes the Championship season as a "mixed bag" after the club finished 12th overall.
He says they should take "enormous pride" from their first ever limited-overs final win in the One-Day Cup.
Maynard blames Covid disruption for ending the county's T20 Blast chances.
In the Championship, three heavy defeats put Glamorgan bottom of the second division, after qualifying in third place.
They performed strongly against fancied clubs in the first block of the four-day season, beating Lancashire who were eventually runners-up, before their batting fell apart when they returned to red-ball cricket in the last month of the campaign.
"A mixed bag but the pleasing aspect from the batting side is that there have been three guys who've had their best ever seasons in the skipper Chris Cooke, Kiran Carlson and David Lloyd," Maynard told BBC Sport Wales.
"David was asked to do an unfamiliar job at the top of the order and he's done it terrifically well. We need to find him a partner and establish a strong opening partnership for Glamorgan for a number of years, and hopefully Eddie Byrom will fight with Joe Cooke to try to establish that position."
Maynard hopes the system of conferences for the first part of the season will continue, but admits Glamorgan's eventual position of 12th out of 18 is "probably" fair after their late-season batting collapses.
"We had an opportunity to finish higher but didn't play well enough in the last four games. I think the concept of this has been terrific, the County Championship being won in the last session of the last day in dramatic style at Edgbaston is great for the game," said the former England assistant coach.
"It's been good for us to play different sides and really test ourselves. We beat Lancashire and they've come second so we can take great pride in a lot of our games this year but in other games, one session has absolutely put us out of the game and we've got to show more resilience in those moments."
Glamorgan beat Durham by 58 runs in the One-Day Cup final to win their first knockout trophy
Glamorgan's best moment came at Trent Bridge as they lifted the Royal London One-Day Cup in August, having defeated Durham and Essex teams who had fewer absentees with the Hundred competition.
Five players plus Maynard himself were involved in the franchise tournament, but he is quick to pay tribute to those who led the remaining group.
"Enormous pride in the one-day trophy, a fantastic team effort by the guys with (captain) Kiran Carlson and (coach) Dave Harrison leading that group, they did a great job and some of the boys took opportunities really well, others not so much," Maynard added.
"Kiran's innings (of 82) in the final was one of the finest one-day innings I've seen, under quite a bit of pressure he played some exquisite shots of high quality."
But the counties' highest-profile event - the T20 Blast - saw Glamorgan collect just three wins from 12 completed games, with Covid-related absentees causing havoc halfway through the competition.
"T20s, we were in with a decent shout and we lost Marnus [Labuschagne] and Nick Selman, who played well in a couple of games, to Covid for four games - we never recovered," said Maynard.
"The form of two other key players, Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke, who'd been phenomenal in that format over the years, they both struggled this year. When you're in the heat of it, it's very hard to get out of that."
Maynard goes into the third year of his contract in 2022, with former Somerset batsman Eddie Byrom's move becoming permanent while experienced seamer James Harris returns from Middlesex.
Announcements are expected soon on the future of those players whose contracts ended at the end of the 2021 season.