Dragons' batting best in t20: Allenby

By Richard Thomas

Glamorgan’s t20 captain Jim Allenby is upbeat going into the short form of the game, believing his side have the most potent batting line-up in this season’s competition.

Despite a dreadful start to the season - Sunday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 victory over Durham at Colwyn Bay was Glamorgan’s first of the campaign in any competition – Allenby is in confident mood about the county’s chances of reaching the FLt20 Finals Day which is being staged at the Swalec Stadium.

And he does have some reason to be bullish with the likes of Australians Shaun Marsh and Marcus North, and South African veteran Martin van Jaarsveld, at the top of the Welsh Dragons’ bating order.

“I think we have the best batting line-up in the competition, almost without doubt,” he insisted. “We are going to need big scores and the idea is that we do play in good conditions for batting. We’ve got a great top five or six and we need to get some runs.”

Allenby, who takes over from Mark Wallace as captain for the t20 competition, leads Glamorgan into their first game against Northamptonshire at Northampton tomorrow (June 14).

On Marsh, Allenby said: “I played against him at school. He is a good man and a fine player. He has got the best t20 record in the world. I think he and Chris Gayle have got the best statistics.

“He has got a great record, knows how to win matches and I can’t wait to play cricket with him again. He has won a lot of games. He is a winner and is used to winning and that was one of the reasons he has been signed.”

As well as the big-hitting Marsh, Allenby is looking forward to having Van Jaarsveld’s experience on board. “Martin is also a winner. He expects to win games and these are the guys I want in the side.

“Signing him was a no-brainer. He is a bonus. We weren’t expecting to have a player of his experience. To have him alongside us is such a huge advantage, not just on the field. He is going to help me a lot having captained the Titans to a trophy last winter, and I can’t wait to play cricket with him as well.”

The major incentive for Glamorgan is that the Finals Day is being staged on Welsh soil on August 25. “Finals Day is a huge incentive. Having been in a couple personally I know how big they are. It’s as close as playing international cricket for a county player.

“The club is putting a huge amount of effort into promoting the finals and it’s up to us now to try to get there. A home quarter-final is the first goal and from there anyone can win it.”
 

Date: 13/06/2012 09:25:16 by Richard Thomas
In: Today | Glamorgan |