Glamorgan had the opposition all out on the first day at St Helen's today. Taking over the captaincy has done no harm to Michael Hogan's bowling form; he finished with 5 for 49. It will be seen when Glamorgan bat tomorrow whether freedom from responsibility allows Jacques Rudolph to score as we know he can.
A major problem remains, that of the bowling second change. It does not take anything away from Paul Collingwood, who held the Durham innings together until he had a rush of blood against Andrew Salter, but Glamorgan leaked too many runs before the second new ball became due.
St Helen's needs to smarten up if the ground is to avoid the final axe, having had its fixtures whittled away over the years. The scoreboard which was on the side nearest the Patti Pavilion and which disappeared when the seating there was stripped has not been replaced, nor has the one which used to be on the other side of the pavilion. There was a coarse cricket-style telegraph near the pavilion steps, but being at ground level this was largely invisible.
Then there are the scorecards, though the fault here clearly lies with the county's travelling office. Time was, if you bought a scorecard after an interval, it would show the wickets which had fallen up to that interval. Perhaps that is too much to ask for, but at least they should get the team list right. There was at least one change for each team from that printed in the scorecard. Presumably patrons were informed at the start of play (which I had to miss through awaiting a postal delivery) but there was no further indication of the changes.
They say no total is good or bad until the other side has batted. There is an event at the Gnoll which claims attention tomorrow, but I hope that Glamorgan can put Durham under real pressure.
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