Allenby tour withdrawal a precaution

By Richard Thomas

All rounder Jim Allenby has been ruled out of Glamorgan’s 10-day pre-season tour to South Africa because of  illness. 

"Jim's got some on-going health issues which are too complicated for me to explain," said Glamorgan’s director of elite performance Matthew Mott.

"It's a softly-softly approach with him and he will be ready to start the season as per normal." 

Allenby, last season’s Glamorgan player of the season, has been plagued with health problems before and two years ago he missed the start of the season after having stomach surgery. 

He had been unable to eat for a month and feared at the time he might not have played cricket again. 

But Mott is confident his current illness will not affect him.

"He's just got back from Australia. He is fit enough to play and his skills are up there were they were last year," revealed Mott.

"He has had to manage a couple of things health-wise over three or four years. 

"We have to be smart with him and we have pulled him out of games throughout the last couple of years when he hasn't been on top of things."

Also not named in Glamorgan 17-man party for the trip, which includes matches against Leeds/Bradford MCCU (17 March) and North-West Invitation XI (18 March), is Australian duo Marcus North, the county’s new one-day captain, and Michael Hogan, the club’s new seam bowling recruit.

Mott is conscious Glamorgan failed to spark in any of the three 2012 competitions - the LV County Championship, the Friends Life T20 and the Clydesdale Bank 40.

"We know we were poor last year. There is no hiding the fact that we under-achieved massively in all three formats,” he said.

"Our pre-season has been good and we think we have ticked all the boxes, but that doesn't count for anything in April.”

Date: 09/03/2013 14:17:37 by Richard Thomas
In: Today | Glamorgan | England |