Michael Hogan took 5/43 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 203 by Glamorgan on the opening day of their LV=County Championship match at Swansea. By the close, the home side were 36/3 in reply as the bowlers continued to dominate the day's proceedings.
Michael Hogan, who needs two further wickets to become the first Glamorgan bowler since James Harris back in the 2010 season to claim fifty wickets in a season, took the new ball with Wagg, with the latter being steered through backward point for four by Greg Smith. With the ball swinging in the cloudy conditions, Jim Allenby replaced Hogan at the Pavilion but he was cover driven by Smith.
His opening partner, Niall O'Brien then had a lucky moment as the Irishman got an inside-edge to a drive against Wagg with the ball speeding away to the ropes at long-leg. He celebrated his good fortune by pulling the next ball for four through mid-wicket before Smith struck successive balls from Allenby over and through the slip cordon for further fours. There was nothing fortuitous though about the next pair of booming off drives which Smith unleashed as Leicestershire reached the 50-mark in the fourteenth over.
O'Brien then on-drove Allenby to the ropes at mid-wicket before the all-rounder was replaced at the Pavilion End by Dean Cosker, who needs a further ten wickets to reach 500 victims for Glamorgan in first-class cricket. However, it was Hogan who made the breakthrough as with the last ball of his eighth over, and the visitors on 67, he trapped Smith leg before.
With Ned Eckersley as his new partner, O'Brien cover drove Cosker for four, but three balls later he skewed a drive against the canny spinner into Hogan's hands at backward point. Eckersley was then joined by Shiv Thakor and got off the mark by clipping Allenby to the square-leg boundary and backward point, besides pulling Cosker for four. Thakor also on-drove the twirler for four before Eckersley despatched Allenby to the ropes at mid-wicket, before sweeping Cosker for four.
Andrew Salter then entered the attack in the 28th over and became the third Glamorgan bowler to claim a wicket with his first ball in Championship cricket as he had Shiv Thakor caught behind by Mark Wallace with the visitors on 100/3, with the spinner from Pembrokeshire emulating the feats of Billy Davies against Surrey at The Oval in 1958 and Jack Johns against Somerset at Cardiff in 1922.
Josh Cobb got off the mark as he cover drove Allenby for four before adding another boundary to his tally as he edged Hogan through the slips. But the tall Australian gained revenge with his next delivery as Cobb was caught at first slip as he again sparred outside off stump with his side slipping further to 137/6.
Debutant Ben Raine, who has previously played for Durham, then joined Boyce who continued to nudge and nurdle against the seamers before Andrew Salter returned to the attack and was cut for three by the visiting captain. But Graham Wagg returned at the Mumbles Road End and bowled Boyce for 26 as Leicestershire lost their seventh wicket on 156.
Ollie Freckingham then twice edged Wagg just short of Hogan at second slip, before being dropped by the Australian when he switched to first slip. Raine then drilled Salter to long-on for four before getting a thick edge to an expansive drive against the youngster which ran away for four
Rain briefly delayed the start of Glamorgan's reply by fifteen minutes but Gareth Rees then began by crisply driving Wyatt for four through the covers, but in the second over he edged Ollie Freckingham into the wicket-keeper's gloves. Murray Goodwin began by guiding Wyatt for four through the slips , but in the fifth over Will Bragg also departed as he was adjudged leg before to Wyatt as Glamorgan lost their second wicket on 21.
Ben Wright duly joined Goodwin but his stay at the crease proved to be a brief one as after scoring a single he edged Freckingham to second slip as the visitor's gained their first bowling point with Glamorgan on 24/3. Goodwin and Chris Cooke then joined forces as the bank of cloud continued to build over the Swansea foreshore, and despite further drizzle, the pair saw Glamorgan through to the close without further alarms, although Cooke edged just short of third slip to the penultimnate ball of the day.
