Eddie Byrom And Sam Northeast Give Glamorgan Solid Start At Leicester

By Paul Jones

Glamorgan benefited from some inconsistent Leicestershire bowling as they finished on 352 for 8 on day one of their Vitality County Championship match at Leicester after being put in on a pitch as green as the unprepared strips next to it.

With leading run-scorer Colin Ingram rested, Eddie Byrom (86) and Kiran Carlson (80) were the chief beneficiaries as Leicestershire conceded cheap runs in the first half of the day.

The Welsh county slipped from 190 for 2 to 277 for 7 as the home attack fought back before tea, but Sam Northeast, whose name is indelibly linked with this ground after his unbeaten 410 on a record-breaking day here two years ago, anchored some solid resistance in the final session and will resume on 61 not out.

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Scott Currie, who is at the Uptonsteel County Ground on a season-long loan from Hampshire, finished with 4 for 53, which as it stands are career-best figures for the 23-year-old right-arm seamer.

He is likely to find himself shouldering more responsibility in the remainder of the match after Tom Scriven sustained a hamstring injury during the morning session, which means he is unlikely to bowl again in this match.

Ian Holland, also on loan from Hampshire but making his Leicestershire debut, shared the new ball with Matt Salisbury and a couple of early edges falling just short of the slips suggested it had been a good toss to win by captain Lewis Hill yet Glamorgan were 96 for 1 at lunch after a dismal morning for Leicestershire’s bowlers.

Holland’s struggle for rhythm was understandable after just one second XI match in five weeks since his last first-class outing, yet the same could not be said of the other seamers used as Byrom and Billy Root found the boundary all too easily in the first hour.

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Leicestershire tightened things up a little in the second hour, yet the one wicket they picked up was something of a giveaway, Root slapping a widish delivery from Ben Mike straight to backward point to fall for 40.

Currie’s post-lunch spell brought some cheer as Marnus Labuschagne misjudged a ball that took out his off stump.

Currie should have had Byrom on 49 but Peter Handscomb spilled a straightforward chance at second slip.

It looked an expensive drop as Byrom and the aggressive Carlson added 83 in just 12 overs and stemming the flow of runs was looking beyond Leicestershire.

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But they were fortunate again when another Glamorgan error handed them a third wicket as Byrom, with a hundred seemingly in his sights after hitting 13 fours and two sixes, was bowled by Salisbury off a careless inside edge.

Carlson went past fifty for the fourth time this season, needing only 45 balls, but he followed Byrom in missing out on three figures. Perhaps frustrated after half a dozen overs without a boundary he launched himself into an attempt to clear the midwicket rope against Louis Kimber’s off-spin only to be foiled by a diving Harry Swindells, on as substitute fielder for Scrivens, who took a fine catch.

With Rehan Ahmed rested and Liam Trevaskis out with a back injury, Kimber is Leicestershire’s sole spin option.

It sparked a good finish to the session for Leicestershire, Currie knocking out Chris Cooke’s middle stump before Mike picked up the wicket of Zain-ul-Hassan in freakish fashion, appealing for leg before after hitting the batter on the toe before turning to discover the ball had looped up and spun back into the stumps.

Currie dismissed Mason Crane leg-before the ball before tea, completing a much better session for Leicestershire, who had taken six wickets for 181.

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Northeast ensured the collapse did not continue, sharing a 62-run partnership with Timm Van der Gugten (32) before the latter became a fourth wicket for Currie after Leicestershire had taken the second new ball, his unbeaten 61 taking his tally for the season to 647 runs.

It was a day that – in its early stages at least – reminded Leicestershire followers how much they miss Chris Wright and Wiaan Mulder, who between them took almost half of the county’s Championship wickets last year.

It will come as good news, then, that Wright is back in training after spending time out of cricket for personal reasons and Mulder is due back from South Africa in time for the start of the Vitality Blast next week.

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