Glamorgan director of cricket Mark Wallace has praised the contribution of Welsh-born players to the county’s encouraging start to the season – and believes more local talent is on the way.
Having returned to Division One after 21 years away, the Kiran Carlson-led side are third after the first block of Championship games thanks to two wins and three draws from six matches.
Cardiff-born Carlson’s innings this season include a career-best 209 against Hampshire.
Newport’s Ben Kellaway, 22, hit 139 in this week’s draw against Warwickshire, and Abergavenny teenager Tom Norton made a stunning first-class debut with a hat-trick against Somerset.
“I think it’s a case of the last few years, we probably haven’t had enough of those young Welsh talented players playing for Glamorgan,” said Wallace.
“We want players to come through our pathway and play cricket for Glamorgan, so to have Ben doing so well, Kiran as captain doing well, and young players like Tom coming in and doing really well straight away is great to see.”
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Speaking before the start of the season, Glamorgan chief executive Dan Cherry accepted that criticism in recent years of the county’s ability to produce local talent was fair.
“We haven’t developed Welsh players over the last 10, 15, 20 years, but we are working really hard to do so,” Cherry told the BBC following the county’s promotion from Division Two.
It is 21 years since Glamorgan provided a Welsh player for an England Test team, when bowler Simon Jones played a pivotal role in the iconic 2005 Ashes victory over Australia.
Kellaway hit an England Lions half-century on tour in Australia over the winter but, unlike Glamorgan’s Jersey-born batter Asa Tribe, he was not included in the development squad for two four-day matches against South Africa A later this month.
Norton’s spectacular introduction to red-ball cricket has already ignited talk of a possible Test future, and Wallace hopes there will be more Welsh contenders for Glamorgan and England soon.
“That’s the plan,” the former wicket-keeper told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
“I mean, we’ve invested quite a lot in our pathway, so we’ve got some good young players coming through, some good players in the second team pushing for opportunities, so it’s quite competitive down there at the moment.”
Wallace also confirmed Glamorgan are optimistic they can extend the stay of Australian bowler Ryan Hadley for a further two Championship games.
The 6ft 5in 27-year-old paceman was originally only signed for the opening six games of their County Championship Division One campaign.
“He’s been fantastic,” said Wallace.
“We’ve got a few more County Championship games in the middle of the season, so we’re in talks to see if he can stay around a bit longer and then obviously look to the seasons upcoming now.
“He’s been a real addition, not just with his bowling, but he showed us with his batting a couple of weeks ago he’s got that string to his bow as well.”
With a block of T20 matches starting this Friday, Glamorgan take a break from Championship cricket until next month.
Wallace, however, is hopeful Hadley will be available for the fixtures away to Sussex on 12 June and home to Surrey on 19 June before returning again in seasons to come.
“He seems to have really enjoyed his time here,” added Wallace.
“He’s had his wife and his young child with him. He’s been living in Pontcanna, Cardiff’s a pretty good place to live, so hopefully we can create a longer-term association with him.”