CRICKET

After the bash and dash of one-day cricket, Glamorgan return to the very different requirements of their County Championship campaign this weekend.

The Welsh county will pick up their push for promotion from Division Two when they travel to New Road to face Worcestershire on Sunday.

At present, coach Matthew Maynard’s men are in third place in the table, 14 points behind Worcestershire.

Glamorgan have not lost a four-day game all season in 11 matches, but they have only won once, so a victory over Worcestershire is vital if they are going to give themselves a fighting chance of going back up to Division One.

Captain David Lloyd misses out having sustained a cracked rib while on loan at Derbyshire in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. Kiran Carlson deputises for Lloyd as captain as he did earlier this season when Lloyd was nursing a hamstring injury.

Maynard has named 19-year-old Ben Kellaway in his squad after the youngster impressed for the Welsh county during the One-Day Cup campaign.

Glamorgan batsman Sam Northeast says: “We built some good rhythm in the one-day competition as a batting unit. I think we can take that going forward – runs are runs and it gives us a bit of confidence.

“I think a few of our guys can take something from the Northants match in Cardiff and move onto Worcester to make a real big push in the Championship and aim for promotion.

“We’re going to have to think of ways to win, for sure. I’ll hopefully go out and score some runs and contribute to Glamorgan winning these last three games.”

 

CYCLING

It’s proving tough going for Geraint Thomas at the Vuelta a Espana.

The former Tour de France winner suffered a fall in stage two in Spain and is yet to find his best form after six stages.

Thomas will go into the weekend around two minutes behind the main leaders, in 23rd place overall.

Lenny Martinez has moved into the leader’s red jersey.

 

TABLE TENNIS

Four-time European champion Rob Davies and Commonwealth champion Joshua Stacey are the Welsh pair heading an 18-strong British squad for the ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships, which start next week.

The event takes place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield from September 4-9, only the second time since the London 2012 Paralympic Games that the stars of the British Para table tennis team have had the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd.

The tournament also represents an opportunity for athletes to secure Paralympic qualification with the gold medalist in each singles class earning a ‘golden ticket’ for Paris 2024 and valuable world ranking points available in both singles and doubles events.

I’m feeling excited for the tournament,” said Davies.

“Obviously having it in Sheffield is a great opportunity and hopefully there’ll be plenty of Welsh supporters.

“We haven’t had a Europeans for four years which has been good for me because I’ve been out injured a lot of the time.

“I try not to think too much about going for my fifth consecutive title because you can’t think about the outcome, you just have to take it match by match. Every match is difficult so I’m looking forward to the challenge and we’ll see how it goes.”