County Championship: Durham v Glamorgan (Sun)
- Published
County Championship Division Two: Durham v Glamorgan |
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Venue: Riverside, Chester-le-Street Date: Sunday 11 June Time: 11:00 BST |
Coverage: Commentary and reports BBC Sport website & app; updates BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Radio Wales |
Glamorgan's injury-hit squad face Division Two leaders Durham as part of a gruelling county schedule mixing Championship and T20 action over a three-week period.
The Championship match starts on a Sunday morning after journeys for both teams from T20 action on Friday night.
Glamorgan are without both regular opening batters, with David Lloyd and Eddie Byrom injured.
They field only one overseas player, with Michael Neser kept by Australia.
Wicket-keeper Alex Horton could make a first-class debut, featuring in the squad alongside regular gloveman Chris Cooke, while spinner Prem Sisodiya is in the squad, nearly five years after his only previous Championship run of games.
Byrom will be out for six to eight weeks following a hip injury, suffered after attempting to play on following a blow while batting against Sussex.
Lloyd is due to return after a hamstring injury in the next Championship game against Sussex on 25 June, having missed two four-day games and around 12 T20 matches.
All-rounder Zain Ul Hassan, who made his debut as a stand-in opener at Hove, could be joined by a previous deputy in the role, Andrew Salter, or middle-order batter Billy Root.
All-rounder Dan Douthwaite is also out with a side strain while pace bowler Timm van der Gugten, batter Tom Bevan and reserve wicket-keeper Horton have all spent time on the sidelines.
Stand-in captain Kiran Carlson, who is continuing to play with a finger injury, blames the hectic fixture list.
"It's something we can't control, but it's definitely to do with the schedule and how much cricket we're playing. It's a shame how many people are getting injured in a short time-frame but I have every confidence in our squad depth to get us through," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"We're going up with a few guys that may not have played much red-ball cricket, but that's exciting for us to have a look at guys who have performed for the second team, there's going to be opportunities. I have every faith in us to go and get a good result."
Glamorgan faced spending most of the day between matches on motorways, while Durham only returned from Leicester in the early hours of Saturday morning, prompting T20 captain Alex Lees to call for a re-think of the schedule.
Durham were denied victory in the teams' April encounter in Cardiff by rain on the fourth day, but have four victories from six games.
They are without fast bowler Matty Potts on England Test duty, while all-rounder Paul Coughlin, Brydon Carse and Ollie Robinson are all injured, so Durham have recruited Warwickshire seamer Craig Miles on loan for two Championship matches.
The mixing of T20 and Championship cricket, disliked by many players, is a result of The Hundred franchise tournament taking up most of August, combined with county members' calls to restore more four-day games to the middle of the season.
Glamorgan (from): Carlson (capt), Root, Ingram, Northeast, Cooke, Horton, Salter, Ul Hassan, Van der Gugten, Harris, Gorvin, Sisodiya, McIlroy.