Mason Crane, adopted Welshman, says he has “loved every minute” since his move from Hampshire to Glamorgan.

Crane, a former England international leg spinner, had spent his whole career at Hampshire before crossing the Severn to join Glamorgan on-loan at the start of the 2024 summer.

“The crowds have got better and better as the summer has gone on and it’s been awesome to play in front of them. I’m hoping for more of the same in The Hundred,” says Crane.

“I’ve been living in Cardiff the whole time, so I’ve been wandering around a lot. It’s a great place to come and play. I’m really enjoying my cricket and when you enjoy yourself, you end up doing better.”

Glammy’s Spin Twins

Crane has had an excellent season since moving from hometown county Hampshire to Glamorgan. He has been a mainstay in the Glamorgan red ball side, taking 24 wickets and providing important contributions with the bat.

In the T20 Blast, Crane’s renowned variations have come to the fore. Taking 19 wickets at 18.84 apiece, Crane has formed an unlikely spin duo with Australian international Marnus Labuschagne.

In Glammy’s last game of the campaign at Sophia Gardens, Labuschagne took 5-11, a career best for the Australian, although Crane is quick to point out that all of the five wickets were the tail end of Somerset’s batting.

“I took plenty of stick from him,” Crane laughs.

“I said to him, ‘I’ll bowl at the bowlers next time then and you can come and do the hard work.’”

Crane’s performances in Cardiff have rewarded him twofold: a permanent three-year deal to stay at Glamorgan, and a wildcard contract at Welsh Fire for The Hundred.

Adopted Welshman

For Crane, it is clear that a change of scenery has helped his game.

“I think it was always a possibility that I would sign permanently after going on loan earlier in the year,” Crane says.

“Obviously the aim was to come and play my best cricket and get back to enjoying the game again, and I’ve done that from the minute I got here really.

“When it became clear that there was an opportunity to make the move permanent, I didn’t take too much convincing. It was a bit of a no-brainer.”

The biggest reason for signing with Glamorgan initially was the chance for regular game time. At Hampshire, Crane often struggled to appear in red-ball matches, with Liam Dawson the spinner ahead of him in the pecking order.

Glamorgan was not the first loan in the 27-year-old’s career, having previously spent a month at Sussex in 2022.

“I haven’t played as much cricket as I’d like and you don’t particularly enjoy that, but the opportunity to come and play, I’ve really enjoyed it,” he adds.

“I think my cricket has moved forward now that I’m happier with it. As a cricketer, you want to be playing as big a role as you can, and I think the direction that we are moving in is really exciting.

“To have played a big part in it as well has been awesome.”

Welsh Fire Wildcard

Crane will be staying at Sophia Gardens for the 2024 edition of The Hundred, after he was picked as one of two wildcards for the Welsh Fire.

The leggie is swapping blue for red, having played for London Spirit for the first three editions of the competition.

“I’m super excited to stay at Sophia Gardens,” Crane says.

“I’ve really enjoyed the first few years of The Hundred at the Spirit. It’s a really good competition, something different for us.

“I think my experience here will help. There are a lot of players from all over the country at different venues, so if you can try and get slightly ahead with that local knowledge, it really helps.

“With Glamorgan being the only Welsh county, you certainly feel that the crowd are right behind you. On nights when it all goes so well, it’s awesome that we can do it for them and hopefully, that translates into The Hundred as well.

“Even though I’m in a new team, it feels like I’ve been here a long time already. Almost as though everyone is coming to my house for a change.”

Dismissing the Skipper

At Welsh Fire, Crane will be hoping to impress captain Tom Abell, who he dismissed in that final T20 match against Somerset.

Crane, though, has not given his skipper much stick about it.

“I need to play!” he says.

“I need to be in the good books of the captain so that I can bowl at the right end.

“It’s nice to be on the same side of some of the lads I’ve competing against for years. They’re a very settled side, so I feel I just need to come in a do my part when needed.”

Continuity is Key for the Fire

Welsh Fire, after a positive 2023 season where they placed fourth, have retained 10 players ahead of the new campaign, more than any other team.

That continuity will put the team in a positive stead according to skipper Abell.

“We were obviously pretty disappointed last year to miss out on the play-offs so narrowly,” Abell says.

“For the majority of the competition, I thought we were brilliant. I think that was the blueprint for how we sort of want to operate as a group.

“Within the dressing room, we’re all ambitious and we’re here to win this competition. There was plenty we could take from last year. We were a new group, and we’d like to think that we can try and take that on a step further this year.

“We’re pretty excited. As I say, we’ve added a little bit of quality as well.”

Backing From Coach and Captain

With the other spinners in the squad all-rounders, Crane has been brought in to be the front-line spinner at Welsh Fire, and Abell is full of praise for his new recruit.

“We spoke pretty extensively about who we’d like to add and what sort of skill sets we’d like in the group,” Abell adds.

“A different type of spinner was certainly something we looked at and obviously Mason is a highly skilful bowler and a very attacking spinner. He spins it both ways and gets plenty of action on the ball, so he’ll certainly be a wicket-taking option for us through the middle.”

While the emphasis for the team is continuity, head coach Mike Hussey believes Crane will be a key addition as they look to go further in this year’s competition.

“He’s got a lot of energy, which is going to be good around the group as well” Hussey says.

“His skillset is exactly what we needed. I’m someone that likes to take wickets all the way through the innings, particularly up front in the powerplay, then continue in the middle sets.

“I’m delighted to have someone like Mason, who now has experience of playing here in Cardiff, which is a unique ground. Him having success here will give him confidence, because we want to play well here in Cardiff.

“We want to win as many home games as possible, which is something we haven’t done as well in the past.”

New Team, Familiar Faces

For Crane, the most important thing in these early days is getting to know his new teammates.

He is joined at Welsh Fire by Glammy stalwart Chris Cooke and has shared a dressing with Roelof van der Merwe at London Spirit and Abell at Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.

“It’s a funny one, because all these guys for the rest of the year we play against them,” Crane explains.

“But it’s amazing how quickly it all gels together. It can be a bit strange seeing ‘away’ players coming into the home dressing room, but we’ve got a really good bunch and I know most from elsewhere at some point in my career.

“It’s nice to be back with Roelof. I absolutely love him. We get on really well, always have a good time together.

“The only thing I haven’t worked out yet is whether I look better red or blue! I’ll let the fans decide on that one.”

---

If you want to know read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.

You can also keep track of our pieces on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X, Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.