Rudolph Admits Glamorgan Start Was Unacceptable

Jacques Rudolph is determined Glamorgan bounce back from their comprehensive 10-wicket defeat to Leicestershire.

The Welsh county’s skipper admitted his side had been outplayed in their Specsavers County Championship opener, but the South African also insisted the team are now focussed on turning things around for their next game.

Rudolph bemoaned a few dropped chances in the field and missed opportunities with the bat, as Glamorgan’s first innings score of 348 was bettered by Leicestershire’s 427.

The home team then put 191 on the board, before Leicestershire’s openers guided the visitors to a comfortable 115 for 0 to clinch the victory.

Rudolph said: “If I look back over the game, in their first innings we dropped a few catches and we didn’t capitalise on the good bowling conditions.

“There was a stage in our first innings when we were 130 for 2 – but we had a few guys get out between 40 and 60 and if we want to grow as a team, it would be nice to see someone going on to get a big hundred. We need to turn those starts into big scores.

“I was guilty of getting myself out for 40, so we need someone to get 100-120 to get the team into a good position.

“We must learn that after being 132 for 2 it is not acceptable to lose three wickets for one run. Our catching was not good enough, but it was not easy on the second day fielding in the slips in the bitterly cold conditions.”

Rudolph was keen to look ahead to Sunday, when Glamorgan travel to Derbyshire in the Specsavers County Championship.

“It’s a wake-up call for us and we have make sure we come back strongly on Sunday,” he added.

Victory was achieved half an hour after lunch as Leicestershire secured 23 points and demonstrated to other Division Two teams that they are no longer the whipping boys after spending three seasons propping up the table.