[Bubbles]

Where have the Alan Jones John Hopkins Steve James Hugh Morris Matthew Maynard type batsmen gone. Selman and Hemphrey just not good enough and should be released. Shouldn't we be tapping in to the talent that is nurtured at Cardiff MCCU under the excellent guidance of Mark O'leary. A talented coach on our doorstep with the key to open a treasure chest of cricketers who are fit keen and eager to succeed.

[Nick_Glam]

I agree in general with the comments about all rounders. I think having Labuschagne and Cooke gives us a bit more freedom for next season though...

We can afford to pick a batsman at number 7 and don't have to have an all rounder there. Taylor/Carlson/Friend perhaps.

And we can afford to pick a 4th seamer at number 8. Smith would probably be the best choice, but Wagg or Douthwaite wouldn't be too bad.

I think the challenge this winter will be to make signings who not only make the first team, but are star players (as we did with Hogan a few years ago). Not exactly an easy task. Selman has had a couple of decent knocks recently and has shown that he can score big in the past, but he needs to be playing with an opener who has a chance of forming a partnership with him.

[glamman]

Where have the Alan Jones John Hopkins Steve James Hugh Morris Matthew Maynard type batsmen gone. Selman and Hemphrey just not good enough and should be released. Shouldn't we be tapping in to the talent that is nurtured at Cardiff MCCU under the excellent guidance of Mark O'leary. A talented coach on our doorstep with the key to open a treasure chest of cricketers who are fit keen and eager to succeed.

Most MCCU players who are any good will already be on the books of a county.

[glamman]

I agree in general with the comments about all rounders. I think having Labuschagne and Cooke gives us a bit more freedom for next season though...

We can afford to pick a batsman at number 7 and don't have to have an all rounder there. Taylor/Carlson/Friend perhaps.

And we can afford to pick a 4th seamer at number 8. Smith would probably be the best choice, but Wagg or Douthwaite wouldn't be too bad.

I think the challenge this winter will be to make signings who not only make the first team, but are star players (as we did with Hogan a few years ago). Not exactly an easy task. Selman has had a couple of decent knocks recently and has shown that he can score big in the past, but he needs to be playing with an opener who has a chance of forming a partnership with him.

Agree about Cooke and Labuschagne and the you pick your 4 best seamers irrespective of their batting. If you get some batting that is a plus and I agree about Smith at 8 - he offers far more as a bowler than Douthwaite or Wagg plus will score some runs. The problem we have is finding those other 5 batsmen to play alongside Cooke and Labuschagne. Lloyd is one but the others are where we are struggling. We don't have 4 clear choices at the moment. Taylor can bat 6 or 7, Selman has another year and is worth continuing with and hopefully Root will gain more consistency. Then it is a question of Carlson, J Cooke, Douthwaite or Hemphrey (if retained).

[Nick_Glam]

Agree about Cooke and Labuschagne and the you pick your 4 best seamers irrespective of their batting. If you get some batting that is a plus and I agree about Smith at 8 - he offers far more as a bowler than Douthwaite or Wagg plus will score some runs. The problem we have is finding those other 5 batsmen to play alongside Cooke and Labuschagne. Lloyd is one but the others are where we are struggling. We don't have 4 clear choices at the moment. Taylor can bat 6 or 7, Selman has another year and is worth continuing with and hopefully Root will gain more consistency. Then it is a question of Carlson, J Cooke, Douthwaite or Hemphrey (if retained).

I would be bewildered if Hemphrey is retained.

We need a new opener without question.

[Bubbles]

You mentioned that a lot of the attendees at MCCU are signed up with other counties. Why don't we attend the Bunbury Under 15 festival and select a couple of the best youngsters, offer them a place at MCCU and a contract with Glamorgan. We have offered a contract to Alex Horton at a young age and get them playing senior cricket in the SWPL. We need to be far more proactive with our recruitment policy and provide an attractive future for young cricketers who want to progress in the game. Far better than signing up average Kolpak players who are past their sell by dates. Invest money at a younger level rather than paying the fat cats at the club. I do not mean to be rude but what are these people doing for their money? In my eyes, not a lot.

[glamman]

You mentioned that a lot of the attendees at MCCU are signed up with other counties. Why don't we attend the Bunbury Under 15 festival and select a couple of the best youngsters, offer them a place at MCCU and a contract with Glamorgan. We have offered a contract to Alex Horton at a young age and get them playing senior cricket in the SWPL. We need to be far more proactive with our recruitment policy and provide an attractive future for young cricketers who want to progress in the game. Far better than signing up average Kolpak players who are past their sell by dates. Invest money at a younger level rather than paying the fat cats at the club. I do not mean to be rude but what are these people doing for their money? In my eyes, not a lot.

Totally inappropriate suggestion. This isn’t football. The better players will be attached to counties, not all.
Players at Bunbury will usually be part of county academies. Horton is already in the Glamorgan academy coming from Newbridge. You cannot go poaching other county’s youngsters. Also Glamorgan cannot offer people university places.
The only possible avenue is to try and attract boys from the likes of Herefordshire when you see them and that can happen. Kevin Lyons would be scouting and I am sure Wales coaches keep their eye out.

[Bubbles]

Sorry Glamman you are wromg. There are plenty of players at the Bunbury festival NOT linked to counties and there is NO law to say that an ECB County board is linked to a professional cricket club. You make out as if we only have Herefordshire to pick from. It is all based on the relationship a club has with a county board and there is nothing written in stone. If all we have to choose from is Wales and Herefordshire we might as well pack up and go home. Cricket is a business with youngsters choosing where they would like to play. MCCU has one of the finest records going and a link in with us should not be out of the question. A positive attitude to how we can move forward is needed and a CAN DO policy otherwise we will become one of those 39 County Boards not a Professional cricket team.

[glamman]

Sorry Glamman you are wromg. There are plenty of players at the Bunbury festival NOT linked to counties and there is NO law to say that an ECB County board is linked to a professional cricket club. You make out as if we only have Herefordshire to pick from. It is all based on the relationship a club has with a county board and there is nothing written in stone. If all we have to choose from is Wales and Herefordshire we might as well pack up and go home. Cricket is a business with youngsters choosing where they would like to play. MCCU has one of the finest records going and a link in with us should not be out of the question. A positive attitude to how we can move forward is needed and a CAN DO policy otherwise we will become one of those 39 County Boards not a Professional cricket team.

There are close links between Cardiff MCCU and Glamorgan and the real benefit is for players who are late developers and not part of county academies e.g. Mike Reed. By definition those players will not have been at the Bunbury festival. In theory a player has to gain a University place before applying to join the MCCU. Players at the Bunbury festival are in year 9 at school and a long way off deciding where they want to go to University or if they want to go to University at all.
Players do not get into the teams playing at the Bunbury festival without being in a county side. Those county sides put players forward for trials to the four regional sides that compete in the festival. Minor counties will tend to have links to neighbouring 1st class counties e.g. Devon and Cornwall to Somerset. It's pretty pointless Glamorgan going and recruiting a kid from Durham. Not easy to come to training!
My understanding is that Glamorgan will be looking for players around the country but there is no point recruiting them too young as they need to be mobile.

[Bubbles]

Thanks glam man and good to see that we need to use a CAN DO policy.
We must stop putting hurdles in front of us and look to strengthen our recruiting policy. The likes of Kevin Lyons are way past their sell by date and we need links with chairman at county board level to promote those players showing promise. I know that we run sessions in Shrewsbury which could cover Shropshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire for example. When I was young Bristol Rovers covered most of South Wales and children were clamouring to get a trial. In my eyes we need a product to sell and build relationships within the county Boards. Hard work but we are stagnating and the Welsh cupboard looks pretty bare.

[hujon64]

I do not purport to have the cricketing knowledge of others on here but I think glamman is right in his latest post. We all clamour for Welsh youngsters but the demise of cricket in state schools and clubs folding makes the task so much harder. Some public schools seem to promote it but how many are there in Wales? We can’t just produce these out of thin air so where do we go for players? Labuschagne was a great signing but we don’t have the funds or status to attract everyone. Homegrown, yes, but they have to be good enough and how many are there?
I understand that Cricket Wales is now instigating a pathway from next year with 4 regional teams for younger age groups, combining previous teams. This is designed to strengthen these teams who will play each other. However, from elsewhere I understand that there is concern about this as Gwent and Cardiff and Vale are combining. These are the two strongest teams so those not selected who would have easily got into another regional team, may decide to pursue other sports. Also, relying on parents for travel much greater distances for training and matches is costly and time consuming and may be a deterrent. However, we shall see! How much involvement Glamorgan has, I don't know.

[glamman]

The lack of cricket playing public schools in Wales may be a factor but the clubs work hard. The weather does not help and that also has an impact on the pitches the youngsters play on - low and slow!
Of the current squad Lloyd and Smith both went to Shrewsbury and Horton is currently at a public school in Oxford. There are strong links with Shrewsbury and I know at least one other Welsh youngster who went there but did not push on. However the links are probably stronger with Worcs.
I am still not sure why other counties seem to be able to bring players through, as we saw at Northants this week, while our youngsters seem to stall.
We are not ideally sited geographically to bring players in with them having to drive past Bristol before they might be lured to Cardiff.

[Bubbles]

Sorry again very negative answers and providing hurdles to jump.
We must breakdown this mindset. Ask youngsters who come to Cardiff and it is up there with the best. You make us sound like an island that has been cast aside. We have lots to offer except a good cricket team!

[glamman]

Sorry again very negative answers and providing hurdles to jump.
We must breakdown this mindset. Ask youngsters who come to Cardiff and it is up there with the best. You make us sound like an island that has been cast aside. We have lots to offer except a good cricket team!

I am not sure who you mean by “youngsters”? I assume you mean 18+ year olds not school kids which is who I am talking about. Children live where their parents live.

[Bubbles]

Hello
I have read some of the age old excuses for why we do not produce Young cricketers and all I see is a list of excuses.
No money.
No public schools.
Poor weather.
Cost to play cricket.
Our geographical position.
These are just some that continually rear their heads.
Unfortunately a lot of people on here are petrified of change. If we are to be successful we MUST address the issue and move forward.
Nobody seems to be proactive and continually hide behind BUT.
Again I have mentioned money. We are in the same boat as most other counties.
Someone mentioned Northants what are they doing right as I feel sure they do not have more money than us.
Every county share the same problems as us but deal with it and move forward.
As a business we need a Massive shake up from top to bottom but the train will very slowly chug on.