Glamorgan get their County Championship season underway on Friday with a trip to Lord’s for an opening day match against Middlesex.

Last season was a peculiar season for the Welsh county, with 14 games only yielding a singular win and loss, both against Worcestershire, and twelve draws.

Newly appointed coach, Grant Bradburn, has added some bowling prowess to a batting-heavy squad, as leggie Mason Crane and left armer Mir Hamza have arrived from Hampshire and Pakistan respectively.

With the season fast approaching, we have had a look at who Sportin Wales would like to see in the team at the Lord’s:

1. Zain-ul-Hassan

The Pakistani-born all-rounder signed for Glamorgan last season after impressing at the South Asian Cricket Academy.

The 23-year-old had a promising first season at Sophia Gardens, scoring 453 runs @ 30.20 as well as adding 8 useful wickets with his seamers.

Zain has recently spoken candidly about juggling preparations for the start of the season with observing Ramadan.

“The main adjustment I would make is with my training.” he said to Glamorgan’s own channels.

“That would be to train early morning right after eating at dawn or I will train later near to sun set so that I’ll do my training and eat.

“During matches, I’ll try to rest and recover during the breaks even if I have to take a cold shower or something to cool down.”

2. Billy Root

While mostly batting at 6 last season, the former Nottinghamshire man has taken to opening the batting in Glamorgan’s pre-season fixture against Cardiff UCCE.

The departure of former captain David Lloyd has left a gap at the top of the order that Root looks to have filled.

Younger brother of Joe, Billy Root has an excellent red-ball record for Glamorgan since joining in 2019, averaging 36.82 and scoring 5 hundreds, including 229 against Northamptonshire.

3. Sam Northeast (c)

New red-ball captain Northeast will be looking to build on his two very successful first seasons at Glamorgan and guide his side to promotion.

He enjoyed a stellar season at Sophia Gardens in 2022, scoring 1,990 runs in all formats with a monumental 410* against Leicestershire as well as 177* in a 50-over game against Worcestershire. Both scores broke the club records as the highest ever first class and List A score.

One of the most consistent English batters to have not been called up for international cricket, Northeast moved to Glamorgan from Hampshire in 2022.

4. Kiran Carlson

Glamorgan’s Player of the Year for 2023, Carlson will be Northeast’s understudy this season and is also taking over T20 captaincy along with the One Day Cup leadership that he has had since 2021.

Like many at Sophia Gardens, Carlson thrived with the bat in 2023 scoring 1,000 runs in the County Championship for the first time and putting in some excellent performances in both the Vitality Blast and the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

Carlson scored 1,068 runs in Division Two at an average of 46.43, striking five half-centuries and four centuries and his county will be relying on him to back up last season as they pushed for promotion.

5. Colin Ingram

South African veteran Colin Ingram is approaching his tenth season with the Welsh county and has been one of their most consistent batters throughout the last decade.

The hard-hitting left-hander has been an excellent white ball servant for Glamorgan and, since the end of the Kolpak player system, has taken on a bigger role in the red-ball side.

With Marnus Labuschagne joining up with the squad in May, Ingram will be looking to cement his place in the side early before the Australian returns to his home away from home.

6. Chris Cooke (wk)

Establishing himself in the Glamorgan team back in 2012, Cooke has been a regular at Sophia Gardens for over a decade now and has shown no signs of slowing down.

His excellent batting record has not been affected by taking the gloves on a regular basis in 2017.

With an average of 41.27, Cooke is up there with the likes of Michael Burgess and Ben Brown as the best ‘keepers in the County Championship.

Cooke is one of just three players, with teammate Ingram and Jacques Rudolph being the other two, to have scored a century for Glamorgan in first-class, List A and T20 cricket.

7. Dan Douthwaite

The middleman in Glamorgan’s line-up, Douthwaite balances the side nicely with his hard-hitting approach with the bat and tenacity with ball in hand.

The former Surrey and Warwickshire man has mostly been seen in the T20 format and for Welsh Fire in The Hundred but will be looking to put a run of games together in red ball cricket for Glamorgan.

8. Craig Miles

A loan signing from Warwickshire following from Timm van der Gugten’s calf injury on Netherlands duty, Miles will be a part of Glamorgan’s first three fixtures this season.

He stands tall at the crease at 6ft 4ins, hits the deck hard, and will be a handful for all batters in early-April conditions.

The 29-year-old has taken 344 wickets at 28.13 and will complement the left-arm duo of McIlroy and Hamza in Glamorgan’s bowling attack ahead of their trip to Lord’s.

9. Jamie McIlroy

A late comer to the first-class scene, McIlroy only signed his first Glamorgan contract at age 25, after several years playing for Herefordshire in the Minor Counties Championship.

Injuries have meant that 2023 was the first season that he could play from April to September uninterrupted and the left-arm swing bowler rewarded the faith put in him with a first 5-fer and match figures of 8-75 against Worcestershire.

10. Mir Hamza

Pakistani pacer Mir Hamza has joined for the opening stages of the County Championship and will no doubt be thrown in from the start at Lord’s.

Despite making his Test debut in 2018, Hamza had to wait another four years for his second appearance on the biggest stage in cricket.

The left-arm opening bowler took his chance though, impressing on Pakistan’s recent tour of Australia, memorably knocking over David Warner and Travis Head in successive balls on his way to figures of 4-32.

11. Mason Crane

When joining Glamorgan on loan from Hampshire, leg spinner Crane made it clear that he was joining the Welsh county to play lots of cricket and in all formats.

Often confined to T20 for Hampshire, the once-capped England spinner has been desperate to prove his red-ball credentials and Glamorgan have offered him the chance to turn a few of last seasons draws into wins.

A red-ball career average of 42.98 and economy of 3.83 tells a story of inconsistency and a stable run in the team will no doubt do Crane a world of good.