Glamorgan Vow To Improve After Heavy Opening Defeat

Jacques Rudolph insists Glamorgan can be better than their demoralising thrashing suffered in an opening Championship defeat at Northamptonshire.

Skipper Rudolph was part of a Glamorgan side that lost inside two days at Wantage Road in a thoroughly one-sided innings and 22-run defeat.

But the captain believes the county can improve on their awful opener when they face Worcestershire in their second Division Two match which starts in Cardiff on Friday.

He said: “Obviously, we’re disappointed. The effort we put in before this game is not a fair reflection on our performance.

“There were two or three moments that could have changed the game – we had them 27 for 3 and then missed two chances.

“But I think we have to be honest today and say it wasn’t a 190 all-out wicket, it was a decent batting wicket today.”

In a match in which Glamorgan were well beaten, the captain was still able to pick out a positive with the performance of Lukas Carey.

“Lukas has been the most impressive bowlers over the last month and I think he’s got a bright future. Colin Ingram played well too with the bat but as a unit we have to sit down and work out how we’re going to get better.”

Alex Wakely, Northants captain, said: “We talked about starting well and you can’t ask for more than that and to win in two days is a great feeling.

“It was a good toss to lose – we just assumed we would be batting – but the first hour did the damage for us. The bowling all the way through was the most pleasing thing because we bowled in partnerships, there was pressure from both ends all the time. Even when we weren’t taking wickets in the second innings, we managed to contain the scoring rate and when we did pick up wickets the scoreboard had gone nowhere.”

Glamorgan head coach Robert Croft admitted: “I am very disappointed.

“The preparation you put into the game, you don’t envisage the result at the end of it.

“What I and the players will be looking to put right is to rebuild the confidence, and ensure there’s full commitment to a better performance.

“We’ve got a week of preparation where we’ll be doing all we can to ensure a much improved performance.”