Yesterday saw the greatest amount of interference from the weather for many weeks to the county programme, especially in the Midlands with no play at Edgbaston or Leicester, and just 35 balls at Northampton, as well as a small tornado which caused damage to housing in one of the town's suburbs. With a series of depressions moving in from the Atlantic Ocean, plus the remains of tropical storm Henri, the meteorologists are forecasting further, and significant, disruption during the coming days, and with several counties clumped close together in the middle of the Division Two table, it looks like the current round of games will involve a dog-fight just for bonus points.
This morning saw a repetition of the weather patterns of yesterday with low cloud and drizzle hanging over the Wantage Road ground, but thankfully no tornadoes. With the light rain easing, the umpires made an initial inspection at 10a.m. , and again at 10.30, but the outfield remained in a very damp state. After a further assessment of the conditions at 11a.m.and with the outfield still sodden, the umpires decided that there would be no play before lunch, with an early lunch at 12noon.
With 75.1 overs remaining in the day's quota, Glamorgan resumed at 1pm on 23/1 with Mark Wallace and Colin Ingram having faced five balls together yesterday following the departure of James Kettleborough. Rory Kleinveldt and Olly Stone resumed the bowling duties as a large bank of rain-bearing cumulo-nimbus cloud built up to the west of the ground.
At first, the curtain of rain skirted the Wantage Road ground as Wallace steered Stone through point for four. Ingram also guided Kleinveldt through the gully for four but next over he edged his fellow South African into the hands of first slip. 36/2 saw Aneurin Donald join Wallace and the teenager steered his first delivery through point, before Wallace cut Stone to backward point, but the band of rain then descended over the ground as the players left the field again - like yesterday - after just 22 minutes play. It was only a brief stoppage, shaving a further four overs from the daily quota.
Kleinveldt and Stone continued the bowling, with each gaining lavish movement in the overcast conditions. After Wallace had taken a couple of blows to his torso, Donald swatted Kleinveldt over the slip cordon for four but the Springbok gained his third victim, and Northants their first bowling point as he plucked out the young tyro's middle stump. But for the third time in the contest, as soon as a wicket tumbled, down came the rain, as one ball later, the heavens opened as the players yet again left the field.
The rain eased after twenty minutes and mopping up operations began, with tea being taken at 3.10pm and a re-start scheduled at 3.30pm.
After an early tea had been taken at 3.10pm, play resumed at 3.30pm with a further 18 overs lost from the day's allocation. Rory Kleinveldt and Olly Stone continued the bowling with Wallace clipping the latter to fine-leg and over the slips for a pair of fours from consecutive deliveries. But in Stone's next over, and with the score on 66/3, Wallace - in his 249th first-class match and 230th successive Championship match for the Welsh county - pulled a calf muscle as he set off for a single and after treatment was helped off the field.
His retirement through injury saw David Lloyd make his way to the middle and he began with a boundary squirted through the slip cordon. Cooke then drilled a no-ball from Kleinveldt through the covers for four, but in the next over he was trapped leg before by a delivery which rather kept low. Whilst at this drama had been going on, another band of rain had built up to the west and as Graham Wagg made his way to the middle, another downpour descended over the ground as the players left the field with Glamorgan on 84/4.
It proved to be another brief shower, and a further ten overs were lost as play resumed at 4.40p.m. Wagg then departed first ball as he edged Kleinveldt to Josh Cobb in the gully as Glamorgan slipped to 84/5 in the 24th over. David Lloyd responded by cover-driving and on-driving the Springbok for two fours in his next over before drilling Stone through extra cover for another boundary as the 100 came up in the 26th over.
Mohammad Azharullah then replaced Kleinveldt at the Pavilion End whilst Richard Gleeson replaced Stone at the Lyn Wilson End. After clipping Gleeson to square-leg, the assertive Lloyd struck Azharullah for successive fours through backward point and mid-off before swatting Gleeson through point for another coruscating four. Meschede then struck his first four as he steered Gleeson through the gully before adding a next in the same area in Azharullah's next over.
Lloyd then completed a 49-ball fifty by cover driving Gleeson before Meschede did the same to Azharullah. Lloyd also drilled Gleeson through cover for his tenth boundary before driving the next ball to long-on to reach a Championship-best score. Stone then returned at the Pavilion End and ended the jaunty stand as Meschede edged to first slip.166/6 saw Andrew Salter join Lloyd, but the light had deteriorated and two balls alter, and with a dozen overs remaining, the umpires took the players off the field
