Glamorgan step into the 2026 County Championship season with something they haven’t had for a long time: a seat at the top table of the red ball game.

Promotion has returned the county to Division One and, crucially, they arrive not as wide‑eyed tourists but as a group who believe they belong there. Director of Cricket Mark Wallace is clear that this isn’t a survival mission; it’s a chance to make a statement.

“We’ve got a squad that have done really well to get us promoted,” he says, looking out over Sophia Gardens in spring.

“They’ve now got the opportunity to show that actually they belong on that stage. And we haven’t gone out and, you know, signed a whole new team or anything like that.

“We’ve put a lot of faith in the guys that have got us there, and the opportunity’s now there for them to be able to go and try and grasp it.”

That faith in continuity underpins Glamorgan’s whole approach to this season. Rather than trying to buy their way into credibility at the top table, the club want to prove that the core of this squad can transfer their success into a tougher division.

No Fear of Division One

Moving up a level inevitably brings questions: can this group cope with the extra pace, depth and relentlessness of Division One cricket? Wallace acknowledges the step up but insists the dressing room will not be cowed by it.

“Planning for that level up, and understanding that, by definition, any sport where you’ve got a pyramid system, that the standard at the level above will be higher, without actually that being something which holds you back,” Wallace adds.

“Ultimately, the quirk with cricket is we play against all these teams in the T20 Blast, and at no point do you ever think, ‘These are a Division One team.’ You just play them.

“It’s taking that mentality of, actually, we’re not going to get scared by the potential step up. It’s going to be more challenging. But actually, there’s also challenge of playing against us as well.”

With it being over two decades since Glamorgan have played Division One cricket, there are a number of unknowns for Wallace and the squad but, as he points out, that is the same for regular top tier sides visiting Cardiff.

“If there are any benefits for having not been in Division One for a long time, it’s actually some of these teams haven’t played four‑day cricket at Sophia Gardens,” Wallace explains.

“Some of these teams wouldn’t be used to the style of play that we’re going to bring and actually try and utilize that to our advantage as well.”

In other words, Glamorgan have no intention of simply blending in. Home advantage, identity, and a well‑rehearsed method are all part of the plan.

A Clear Blueprint

For a team going into the relative unknown, it can be difficult to plan. For Wallace, it’s less about clinging on and more about transferring the bold cricket that earned promotion in 2025 into a higher division.

“I think we’re definitely good enough to compete in the First Division,” he argues.

“If we can play the style of cricket that we played last year – which is, in effect, to compete strongly in first innings, if we’re level after the first innings, then win games in the second innings with spin and things like that – we can make an impact in that way.”

That template – solid, hard‑nosed first‑innings cricket followed by a positive push for results later in the game – is central to Glamorgan’s Division One strategy. And the target is deliberately more ambitious than just avoiding the trapdoor.

“We’re sitting here at the start of next season, talking about another year in Division One – that will obviously be the goal,” he says.

“But I don’t want us just to have the goal of going up or staying in Division One. Yeah, I want us to be able to try and play as well as we possibly can, and we’ll finish where we finish then.

“We want to be able to try and kind of disrupt that establishment a little bit. Those sides that have been in Division One a lot – we want to be able to go and show that we deserve to be playing against these guys.”

In a points system that rewards wins, Wallace knows there’s little mileage in passive cricket.

“The way the points system is, winning is important, which means you need to play a style of cricket which is quite progressive – get runs on the board and take 20 wickets.

“It’s not just like you can’t go out there and, as the football parlance is, park the bus. You’ve got to go out there and win some games.”

Ambition in the Dressing Room

A defining feature of this squad is its ambition – especially among the likes of Asa Tribe and Ben Kellaway who enjoyed breakthrough years in 2025. Wallace wants that to be front and centre, not something to hide.

“They both want to play for England, and they shouldn’t be embarrassed, or we shouldn’t be embarrassed about that ambition and wanting to do it,” Wallace asserts.

“Because we want Glamorgan players playing at the highest level.”

Those individual aspirations feed back into the collective standard: if players are pushing for Lions recognition or higher, the level they bring back to county cricket inevitably rises.

“We also want to leverage them for our other guys to go, ‘Yeah, I want to do what Asa’s done or Ben’s done. I want to be the next guy who’s, in a year’s time, sitting here having that conversation – remember where we were a year ago.’”

As the County Championship season begins, Glamorgan find themselves at a crossroads rich with possibility.

Wallace isn’t promising miracles. What he does promise is ambition, positive cricket and a refusal to be overawed.

---

If you want to 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/.

Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.

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