Bradburn urges Glamorgan to play with ‘no fear’ in final

Glamorgan beat Durham by 58 runs in 2021 to earn their only trophy since 2004

Metro Bank One Day Cup Final: Glamorgan v Somerset

Date: Sunday 22 September (reserve day Monday) Time: 11:00 BST Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Coverage: Online commentaries from BBC Sport Wales & BBC Somerset, updates on BBC Radio Wales, commentary on BBC Somerset

Glamorgan coach Grant Bradburn says his team will play with no fear as they face Somerset in the Metro Bank One Day Cup final at Nottingham.

The 50-overs final is a chance for the Welsh county to make up for missing out on the T20 Blast knockout stages and a failure to maintain promotion hopes in the Championship.

“We’re very respectful of the fact that Somerset are a powerful club and a powerful team, but we go there with no fear,” said Bradburn.

“The 50-over format is one where our players have really impressed, we’re looking to go to Trent Bridge and release our full skills.”

Although it is seen as the third most important trophy - with many clubs’ leading players away representing The Hundred franchises during the group stages - it would be a welcome way for Bradburn to round off his first season with only Glamorgan’s second piece of silverware in 20 years.

The match represents a chance for Glamorgan to recover some positivity after a disastrous month in the Championship saw them slip to seventh in Division Two.

“We’re super proud that we’re in contention to win a trophy. It’s been a tough couple of weeks [in the Championship] but we’ve had one eye on the final and our players have dusted off their white-ball skills,” the former New Zealand international player told BBC Sport Wales.

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson is hoping the slump in four-day cricket since qualifying for the final does not affect the limited-overs format.

“There’s going to have to be some real reflection of finding ways of winning four-day cricket and get back our mojo in that, but Sunday is a different kettle of fish," said Carlson.

"We’ve found more of a method in that competition, we’ll have a meeting about what we’ve done really well, and turn up with a fresh mind-set ready to go.”

Carlson, 26, also led the team out three years ago in his early days of captaincy, and hit Glamorgan’s top score of 82 in just 59 balls.

“It was awesome and we’ll be looking to emulate that, embracing it, enjoying it and taking it by the scruff of the neck," he said.

"Regardless of the Hundred and Championship cricket, it’s a cup final for the club and for Wales so we’ll be trying to bring home the win.”

Somerset, who were in line for a treble eight days before the Trent Bridge encounter, will also be desperate to salvage silverware after defeats in the T20 Blast final to local rivals Gloucestershire, and in a vital Championship match against Lancashire, meaning Surrey took the Division One title.

Glamorgan are not going to field Mason Crane and Chris Cooke, the two players selected for The Hundred franchise tournament clashing with the One Day Cup group stages, while Somerset are likely to adopt a similar policy despite more widespread call-ups.

In the 2021 final, Glamorgan’s opponents Durham drafted back three of their franchise players, but Bradburn is not worried which of the Somerset squad turn up in the opposition dressing-room at Trent Bridge.

“I don’t care, we can’t control what anyone else does, all we can do is do the right thing by our club and our players, there’s absolute clarity about our roles and selection criteria,” said the New Zealander.

If Glamorgan are to win the title, South African batter Colin Ingram is one of the most likely to supply a major innings in the format he has declared as his favourite.

“It’s a feeling of excitement, the group played really well in that comp and we seemed to find a few new faces that put up their hands," said Ingram.

"We had a preparation day last Sunday to run over our plans because we knew the run-in [a Championship match ending two days previously] would be quite tricky. The consensus is, the team is excited and really wants to take on that challenge.”

Strangely, only Carlson and Billy Root remain from Glamorgan’s final team in 2021, although current regular Andy Gorvin took a catch as a sub fielder. Hamish Rutherford, Andrew Salter and Michael Hogan retired from professional cricket while others drifted out of the first-class game.

Glamorgan will hope that the 2024 final not only brings a trophy and welcome headlines for the club but also proves more of a springboard for their younger players to kick on.

“It’s showed us we can win games where we probably shouldn’t, it gave guys a lot of confidence winning close games,” said Carlson.

“This year didn’t go to plan in the T20 and the four-day stuff, but the 50-over comp has gone really well so we’ll use any moment we can get going into next year.”

Glamorgan squad: Smale, Tribe, Carlson (c), Northeast, Ingram, Root, Kellaway, Douthwaite, Van der Gugten, Gorvin, McIlroy, Bevan, Hurle, Morris.