David Lloyd: Glamorgan captain set to return from Derbyshire loan for Championship push

David Lloyd will join Derbyshire permanently from Glamorgan next season after spending time on loan this campaign

Glamorgan have confirmed that Championship captain David Lloyd will return for their promotion push despite going on loan to Derbyshire.

"David's very much part of those plans as captain," said Glamorgan director of cricket Mark Wallace.

Lloyd is expected to play in all Derbyshire's remaining One Day Cup matches after making his debut against Gloucestershire.

He sat out the 50-overs game between Derbyshire and Glamorgan.

"I've had some good conversations with Dave through all this," Wallace told BBC Sport Wales.

"It's a new thing that players announce their intentions for the following season very early on, players like Matt Parkinson (Durham to Kent) and Rob Jones (Lancashire to Worcestershire) moving to play for their new team.

"For this competition, the One Day Cup, it's important we give opportunities to players who are going to be part of the long-term future of the club.

"But the Championship plan is to get promoted and that hasn't changed."

With a young family, Lloyd has cited a desire to be closer to his home area of Wrexham, around one hour 50 minutes' drive from Derby compared to a journey time of three hours 20 minutes from Cardiff.

He is on a three-year deal and could also take over the leadership of the Midlands county, with current captain Leus du Plooy moving to Middlesex.

"It's a shame when any player moves on, there's quite a few things in the mix to why David's made that choice. We offered him a contract but that lure of being able to move back closer to home is a telling factor," explained Wallace.

"He's been a really good servant to Glamorgan and he goes with our best wishes."

Wallace has also spoken out on the surprise late change of head coach for the One Day Cup, with David Harrison reinstated after Glamorgan originally announced that former Gloucestershire stalwart Mark Alleyne would be in charge for the tournament as well as the T20 Blast.

The announcement was made just three days before the one day competition, with Alleyne now an assistant to Mike Hussey with the Welsh Fire franchise in the Hundred.

"Mark's had a contract with Welsh Fire for a few years, just the same as (Championship coach) Matt Maynard. The original plan was for Mark to do both (Welsh Fire and Glamorgan), but once we sat down off the back of the T20, that looked like something that really wasn't viable for anybody," said former Glamorgan captain Wallace.

"Mark's impact is still on this (One Day Cup) competition, he's just not coaching the side on the day. Having David Harrison makes it simple for Dave to focus on this with some input from Mark."

Wallace also confirmed there is "no reason" why Alleyne will not return to fulfil the second year of his contract for the T20 Blast in 2024.

Meanwhile, the hunt is still continuing for an overseas bowler to add punch to Glamorgan's attack for the final three matches in Division Two of the Championship, with Michael Neser back in Australia.

The Welsh county have won one and drawn 10 in the four-day campaign, after the T20 yielded five wins and nine defeats.

Ahead of a members' forum on 22 August, Wallace is in positive mood about the picture he will be able to paint overall.

"We're third in the Championship, give or take the same as we were this time last year," he said.

"In the T20 we got out of the blocks really quick, four wins out of five, but we couldn't quite sustain (it) with the amount of injuries to key players. If we had kept those players fit, I think we would probably have gone on and qualified."

Wallace also points to age-group teams' successes as reasons to be cheerful for the future.

But with five One Day Cup matches remaining and the key Championship run-in ahead, the overall assessment of the 2023 season remains very much in the balance.