Glamorgan start planning for 'tough' Division One

Glamorgan have been promoted from Division Two behind champions Leicestershire

Glamorgan are bracing themselves for a "significant step up" as they prepare for life in Division One of the County Championship, says chief executive Dan Cherry.

The Welsh county secured promotion for the first time in 20 years during last week's penultimate round of Division Two fixtures.

Having lasted only one season in the top tier last time they were there, Glamorgan have highlighted their pace bowling attack as a priority for strengthening.

There will also be a sizeable batting void left by the departure of captain Sam Northeast, who is rejoining his home county of Kent for personal reasons.

But there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, particularly the emergence of two 21-year-olds, all-rounder Ben Kellaway and batter Asa Tribe, who have played starring roles in their promotion campaign.

"It is a significant step up and we're under no illusions that going up to Division One will be tough for us, certainly after a 20-year period," Cherry told BBC Sport Wales.

"But I think the mix of experienced players that we've got and the exciting young talent, some of these young players we've got now are fearless, and I think they'll relish the opportunity to step out and play against the big teams.

"Inevitably, we're going to have to look to probably strengthen our squad. Most teams are always in the hunt for opening batters, for fast bowlers and we'll be no different.

"But I think it's really important to remember these players have taken us up. We believe in these players. Our new strategy is aligned around developing an identity and a group of players who can be more than the sum of their parts."

'We've got an exciting future ahead'

Sri Lanka seam bowler Asitha Fernando represented Glamorgan this year as an overseas player, and the county will look abroad again next season – as well as scouring the domestic market – as they aim to increase their pace options.

"We've been quite active in the market, albeit not with much success when it comes to fast bowlers," said Cherry.

"But we've been talking to a lot of fast bowlers and it's been really difficult here because not knowing that we're going to be a Division One county until pretty late on has probably meant that we've missed out on a couple of options that we were looking at.

"But there are different ways and means of attracting that talent. Some will have Division One clauses in their contracts that if they're not playing in Division One, that they may speak to other counties, so that is a route for us.

"Other counties use the loan market pretty effectively. And obviously overseas strategy will be really important to how we look at using overseas players to fill those gaps that we've got.

"We need more bowling depth to take us forward and some more pace in our attack would be helpful for us when we move up to Division One."

With premium fast bowlers in demand, Glamorgan hope their newfound top-tier status will make them a more attractive proposition.

"It's going to give us a huge opportunity to be more attractive to players from a recruitment perspective and also from a retention perspective," Cherry added.

"So the best young talent that we've got coming through, Ben Kellaway, Asa Tribe and others, we want them to know that they can achieve all of the ambitions they want out of the game by staying at Glamorgan.

"Part of that is establishing ourselves in Division One and doing well in the future up there."

On the subject of player retention, Cherry confirmed that Glamorgan are in talks over a new contract for batter Billy Root, whose current deal expires this year.

Kellaway and Tribe are among the players who have already committed their futures to the Welsh county.

"It's fantastic. We've received some criticism, fair at times, that potentially we haven't developed Welsh players over the last 10, 15, 20 years, but we are working really hard to do so," said Cherry.

"Since taking over the pathway from Cricket Wales, you're now starting to see the benefits of that.

"Ben would be a particular case in point of a young lad who's come through the pathway, developed by Chepstow Cricket Club, Cricket Wales, Glamorgan, Cardiff UCCE and he's now putting in fantastic performances for Glamorgan and Welsh Fire and we're really proud of that.

"Hopefully there's the ability now with the next batch of players we've got coming through - and some really exciting ones to look out for - that we can turn more of those players into the next Ben Kellaway, and we can create a real core identity of Welsh talent, mixed in with players from outside, high-quality overseas players. I think we've got an exciting future ahead."