Glamorgan 'can recruit much better' says coach Bradburn

Glamorgan head coach Grant Bradburn previously coached Pakistan and Scotland

Glamorgan head coach Grant Bradburn says the club needs to “sharpen up” recruitment in order to improve across the board for next season.

“I don’t think our recruitment has been very good in recent years,” Bradburn told BBC Sport Wales.

“It’s certainly something the selectors and I, and the executive, are looking to sharpen up on. We can recruit much better.”

He was speaking after a successful final week of the season saw Glamorgan lift the One Day Cup and win only their second Championship match of the season, finishing sixth of eight teams in Division Two.

The record of two wins and four defeats with eight draws in the four-day competition saw them gather seven more points than the draw-laden 2023 season, but slip one place in the table.

“We’re not proud of where we finished in the championship, we were four victories short of being at the sharp end in division two but we’ll reflect on perhaps four or five occasions where we were in contention but couldn’t quite get across the line, said Bradburn.

“The Middlesex game and potentially the Northants game as well, the Gloucestershire tie, there were a lot of opportunities. There’s not much in it and where we finished on the points table perhaps doesn’t reflect where we feel the skills are at.

“It’s been a successful season in a number of ways and I’m very pleased with the final week, to launch from and aspire to greater things in years to come.”

Glamorgan’s recruitment from other counties in recent seasons includes first-team squad regulars Sam Northeast (ex Hampshire and Kent), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Billy Root (Notts) and Eddie Byrom (Somerset), while Harry Podmore (Kent) could not get a regular place.

Veteran South African batter Colin Ingram is set for another season in an overseas slot after scoring 2,001 runs across all formats, while the club looks likely to prioritise finding a fast bowler for the other place.

“There’s not many cricket teams around the world that are flush and can just open a cheque book, we’ve always got to look for players that are going to add to that dressing-room, and within the budget that we’re working to,” explained Bradburn.

“But there are players out there that want to play for Glamorgan and want an opportunity in county cricket, it’s down to (us) to find them.

"We’ve exposed our young players to opportunities, they’ve had a real taste of first-team cricket which will benefit them.”

Kiran Carlson, the limited-overs captain and championship vice-captain, agrees on the need to develop home-grown players as well as bring in reinforcements from outside.

Kiran Carlson made his Glamorgan debut in 2016

“There’s a few bits going on behind the scenes, hopefully we can sign a domestic seamer and then get some good overseas recruitment,” said Carlson.

“We’ve got a lot of young batters coming through like Asa Tribe, Ben Kellaway, Will Smale and nice young seamers like Ben Morris and Zain ul Hassan who hasn’t played a lot this year, but the more people you have in your squad with real quality, it helps.”

The 26-year-old batter and back-up spinner is now the only Glamorgan captain to have led the side to two trophies, having been in charge in the 2021 One Day Cup, with leadership shared round during the victories of the nineties and early noughties.

“Our bowlers throughout the competition were the difference, we took the most wickets, and constantly had a stranglehold on teams while the batters chipped in at different times,” said Carlson of the One Day Cup.

Bradburn’s final verdict on his first campaign in charge?

“For Glamorgan to win one of those three trophies is a fantastic effort from everyone," said Bradburn.

"There’s a lot of excitement from the fans and it’s a nice reward for everyone in the club. The T20 was very close, we dropped catches in one or two games which cost us victories, the same could be said in the championship. We’ll work hard through developing players and we’ll recruit to fill the gaps as well.”