County Championship: Luis Reece sets records but Glamorgan hold on against Derbyshire

Luis Reece has scored a remarkable 590 Championship runs for twice out for Derbyshire against Glamorgan in 2023

A series of records for Derbyshire opening batter Luis Reece was the final day highlight as Glamorgan held out for a draw in Cardiff.

The home side battled grimly to 134-6 after turning down a demanding chase of 384 in 70 overs.

Spinner Alex Thomson posed their main threat with 2-33 in 26 overs.

Earlier, Reece hit his fourth century of the season against Glamorgan to pass 1,000 runs, making his seventh successive score of 50-plus.

Glamorgan finish fifth in Division Two after recording 12 draws to go with their win and loss against promoted Worcestershire, in Matthew Maynard's final season in charge.

Meanwhile winless Derbyshire, who have signed Glamorgan captain David Lloyd for 2024 with their own captain Leus du Plooy departing for Middlesex, are sixth.

Reece's runs marked the first time any county player had scored four centuries against the same opposition in a summer. He also joined an elite list of players to have achieved seven successive fifties on two occasions - including the likes of Don Bradman, Dilip Vengsarkar, Len Hutton, Walter Hammond and CB Fry,

Derbyshire's openers continued their dominance over Glamorgan with a stand of 132 before Harry Came was bowled for 57 by Kiran Carlson, who then had Brooke Guest caught for seven.

Du Plooy was on 38 not out and Reece 119, with Glamorgan's fielders clearly unhappy they had gone on so long, when Du Plooy called a halt.

It was soon evident the home side were unwilling to chase 5.48 runs per over, but they suffered regular wobbles despite the batters being in control for most of the match.

Zain Ul Hassan was leg-before to Alex Thomson for 19, Eddie Byrom looked well set on 32 before he played down the wrong line to Zak Chappell, and Thomson also won an lbw shout against Carlson on four.

Derbyshire were still in the game with Glamorgan 74-3 at tea, and their hopes remained alive as they chipped away at regular intervals.

Zak Chappell induced Colin Ingram to slash to gully, Matt Lamb claiming a smart catch, after an atypical innings of 18 off 71 balls.

With Derbyshire changing their bowling frequently, Pat Brown had Billy Root squared up and lbw for 14, while Sam Conners won a similar verdict against Dan Douthwaite on 13 as he was tempted into a pull.

That brought Chris Cooke and Andy Gorvin together with 10 overs left as the shadows lengthened, but Cooke soaked up 82 balls in reaching 25 not out and Gorvin held on alongside him as Derbyshire gave up with one over remaining.

Derbyshire all-rounder Luis Reece told BBC Radio Derby:

"There's some legends of the game on that list (of successive 50 makers) and I'm just me, so it's very humbling to be on that list and hopefully it's not the end of that run. It's a bit surreal and you pinch yourself.

"It was a frustrating start to the year waiting for an opportunity but when I've got it, I've been able to kick on. To finish the season the way I have has probably epitomised my career by proving a few people wrong, and hopefully put me in good stead moving forward."

Head of Cricket Mickey Arthur added:

"Luis has been fantastic in the second half of the year, Glamorgan are sick of the sight of him! Alex Thomson has earned his new two year contract, he bowled nicely, varied his pace and angles.

"We thought 70 to 75 overs would be sufficient to win the game, but it was not to be. I guess it's debatable (whether there was an incentive for Glamorgan to chase) but we looked at it from our side in terms of how many overs we needed realistically, but we probably got a little bit too many runs."

Glamorgan coach Matthew Maynard told BBC Sport Wales:

"I thought with our declaration there would be a bit more of an even declaration by them, but it only favoured one side. We had to show a bit of resilience and fight to defend, and we did it pretty comfortably in the end with four wickets still in the hutch. At no stage today was I concerned we would lose the game.

"I think the run-chase was stacked 99 percent in Derbyshire's favour. Luis Reece played fantastically well and when he got his second hundred of the game, to pull out then would have been about 60-40, but to carry on for another 50 runs put us out of the game.

"I can see why Derby did it, but if we'd known they'd do it that way, we would just have carried on and got batting points in the first innings."