County Championship: Roderick marathon boosts Pears against Glamorgan

Gareth Roderick is in his second season with Worcestershire after captaining Gloucestershire

Gareth Roderick reached a career-best 172 not out as Worcestershire piled up a formidable 454-9 declared against Glamorgan in Cardiff.

Joe Leach hit a muscular 87 in an eighth-wicket stand of 167 on a good batting pitch.

Glamorgan raced to 111-2, Eddie Byrom hitting a rapid 67 before falling late in the day.

But showers disrupted the final session to lessen the chances of a positive result from the game.

Worcestershire, 30 points behind Glamorgan at the start of the round, need to win to stay in touch with the Division Two promotion race while the Welsh side can move into second with a draw.

Roderick's marathon knock off 348 balls, including 22 fours, was the first time he had registered a hundred in Pears' colours after moving from Gloucestershire.

He and Leach looked utterly untroubled in the first session of day two despite the disruption of some early showers, although they did not go hard for the fourth batting point and stood on 342 for seven after 110 overs.

They had set a new eighth-wicket record for Worcestershire against Glamorgan before Leach eventually hoisted James Harris (3-115) to mid-wicket.

Timm van der Gugten, the pick of the home attack, claimed a fourth wicket when Dillon Pennington was caught behind for 11 and Brett D'Oliveira declared immediately when Roderick flicked a boundary through mid-wicket to pass his previous best score.

Left-arm seamer Ben Gibbon struck early when David Lloyd edged to slip for four, but Eddie Byrom showed uncharacteristic early aggression with a volley of boundaries.

Debutant India batter Shubman Gill settled quickly despite the showers, stroking some elegant drives in his unbeaten 34, while Byrom reached his half-century off 51 balls.

The batters' concentration in the evening gloom was not helped by the frequent interruptions and Byrom was caught behind off Gibbon to give Worcestershire a positive end to the day.

Off the field, Glamorgan announced the signing of Australian star Marnus Labuschagne for a further two seasons, while the county is still in negotiation with South Africa's Colin Ingram over his return to Wales.

Meanwhile a members' forum heard extensive arguments from supporters against any reduction of Championship cricket, with chairman Gareth Williams promising that members would be consulted over the ECB review proposals, but without the board necessarily being bound by their views.

Glamorgan assistant coach David Harrison told BBC Sport Wales:

"Gareth Roderick and Joe Leach played very well to put a partnership together, the pitch looks good for batting and our challenge is to build some big partnerships.

"We stuck at it really well, but it's a wicket where it's hard to dislodge two guys if they get in so we'll have to push towards top bonus points.

"Eddie Byrom has played really well up the order since coming into the team after injury, he got off to a good start but it's a shame he got out.

"Shubman is a class player as he showed in tricky overcast conditions at times with the ball moving around."

Worcestershire batter Gareth Roderick told BBC Hereford & Worcester:

"It felt nice to get to a career-best, especially given the barren patch I've had since I joined, it was nice to get that first hundred for the club and really satisfying to kick on.

"I'm not really one for stats, especially in the last 18 months, so just nice to contribute in the first innings after a tough time.

"You put pressure on yourself in a new dressing-room and for whatever reason I wasn't in sync, you question everything you do, but the boys and the staff have been really supportive so it's nice to repay that a little bit.

"One innings doesn't make a summer but hopefully this is the start of some decent form and consistency to the end of the year."