Race for promotion comes down to the wire at Hove

Head coach Matt Maynard has named a 14-man squad for our LV= County Championship fixture against Sussex at Hove. 

The Welsh county travel to the south coast to take on Sussex in a must-win encounter, as the race for promotion will head into the very last game of the season.

Glamorgan secured an emphatic victory in their last home fixture of the season, defeating Derbyshire by an innings in Michael Hogan’s final game at Sophia Gardens.

The Glamorgan legend took a wicket with his final delivery on Welsh soil and lead his team off to rapturous applause from the Glamorgan faithful. Captain David Lloyd struck the highest score by a Welshman in the fixture with 313* in a memorable win in Cardiff.

Glamorgan currently sit third in the Division Two table and chase second place Middlesex who stand 9 points above them. Nottinghamshire top the table with a lead of 18 points, as the top three go into the final match with promotion hopes.

View from the camp – Matt Maynard

We had to get maximum points from our last two games and we’re halfway there. Hoges has led our attack brilliantly. We can’t replace him. He’s been invaluable, but the way Timm has bowled this year and James especially in the last couple of games, it gives us confidence

Hoges won a trophy last year which meant a huge amount to him, if we can put a bit of pressure on Middlesex in this last game at Sussex, you just never know

It would be a fitting tribute to Hoges and all the efforts he’s put in as well as the rest of the group. Pujara is a big miss for Sussex, but you’ve got to show them respect and put the hard yards in.

Head-to-head – Sussex vs Glamorgan  

Whilst a very close eye will be kept on events at New Road, another huge victory for David Lloyd and his team on the South Coast and heavy defeats for both Nottinghamshire and Middlesex could see Glamorgan clinch promotion and even the Division Two title as well.

Besides these collective goals, the final game of the season will see Michael Hogan make his last appearance in Glamorgan’s ranks whilst David Lloyd seeks to reach the 1000-run aggregate for the first time in his career. His monumental 313* has taken his seasonal tally to 843 runs – his best-ever in first-class cricket – and, if he makes 157 runs in the game at Hove, David will reach this milestone.

The Welsh county beat Sussex by five wickets earlier in the season at Sophia Gardens with Eddie Byrom and Colin Ingram sharing a majestic stand of 328 in 90 overs for the second wicket. However, Hove has been something of a bogey ground for Glamorgan in recent years, with the Welsh county not having defeated Sussex at their headquarters in Championship cricket since July 1975, whilst the contest between the two counties at Hove in 2018 saw Glamorgan dismissed for 85 and 88 in a game that ended on day two.

Their batsmen fared much better in 2019, with Marnus Labuschagne and Nick Selman sharing a Club record second wicket stand of 291 in 75.2 overs in a match which ended in a draw after Marnus had posted what, at the time, was a career-best 182. Glamorgan also drew their Championship contest in 2021 at Hove after Ben Brown, the former Sussex captain, completed an unbeaten hundred on the final morning before setting Glamorgan a target of 275 in 51 overs.

How to watch/listen:   

Thanks to our friends at Sussex, the game will be livestreamed on our website via the Match Zone with commentary from Nick Webb and his BBC Radio Wales colleagues. 

You can enjoy highlights and match updates on the club’s social media channels.