Match Preview: Glamorgan vs Lancashire
Glamorgan v Lancashire (Sophia Gardens, Cardiff)
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two
Wednesday September 25 - Saturday September 28, 2025, 10.30am
Lancashire will bring the curtain down on 2025 with a trip to the Welsh capital to face a Glamorgan who last week won promotion back to Division One.
With that the Red Rose’s slim hopes disappeared, with all four matches in Division Two finishing drawn.
Lancashire were forced to settle for a weather-affected stalemate against Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford, Glamorgan drawing against Derbyshire on the road.
The Red Rose have improved throughout the summer but, ultimately, a winless first eight games has cost them the opportunity of an immediate Division One return.
Interim head coach Steven Croft will still be very keen to end the summer on a high, with a third win of the campaign.
Glamorgan are bidding for their sixth win of the summer. One of those came against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford at the end of August and start of July.
Opposition
Glamorgan last played in Division One back in 2005, but next season will head back there alongside second-tier champions Leicestershire.
Under the guidance of Richard Dawson as coach - the former England off-spinner - and batting captain Sam Northeast, the Welsh county have impressed this summer.
Yes, that has come at Lancashire’s expense in terms of promotion, but credit where credit’s due.
It has been an excellent two years on the field for the county, who last year won the Metro Bank One-Day Cup by beating Somerset in the final.
This fixture will be an emotional and fond farewell for Northeast, who is moving back to Kent for 2026 due to family reasons.
Former South Africa limited overs international batter Colin Ingram is their leading Championship run-scorer this season with 1,026 from 11 matches, including three hundreds.
Australian-born Dutch international seamer Timm van der Gugten is their leading wicket-taker with 28 from 12. Their wickets have been shared around this year, with van der Gugten one of six bowlers who have taken between 19 and 28 wickets in Division Two.
Opposition player to watch
Colin Ingram, they came him the Bulldozer. It indicates a specialism in T20 cricket.
And while the 40-year-old is one heck of a dangerous and powerful player in that format, he has proved to be a linchpin performer in red-ball cricket in recent years.
In Glamorgan’s draw at Derby last week, the left-handed South African went beyond 10,000 career first-class runs in his 146th appearance. Ironically, he only posted a score of 15 in that game.
Ingram - as aforementioned - has topped 1,000 runs in this season’s Championship. His 1,026-run haul leaves him within striking distance of the top three run-scorers in the division. In fact, he is likely to displace Red Rose star Marcus Harris, who currently sits third on 1,027 but has returned to Australia.
But last year, he was top of the charts in Division Two with a haul of 1,351 runs from 11 matches. He was the leading Championship run-scorer across either division.
Overseas Ingram, capped 40 times in white ball cricket for South Africa - but not since last 2013, is contracted for another year at Sophia Gardens, where he first arrived in 2015.
Previous meeting
This was, unfortunately, a game Lancashire look back on as a key moment in their campaign, with Glamorgan winning by 154 runs to take a sizeable step towards promotion.
Having not won in the first eight, the Red Rose had found form with back-to-back wins in July to get themselves moving in the right direction, away at both Derbyshire and Gloucestershire.
Unfortunately, however, they were unable to make it a hat-trick of successes.
Glamorgan, having elected to bat at the start of game number 11 of 14, were bowled out for 261 at the start of day two, Kiran Carlson top-scoring with a patient 77 and Chris Green excelling with 6-82 from 34 overs of off-spin.
Lancashire would have been pleased with their efforts. But things took a turn for the worse, as former England leg-spinner Mason Crane took a superb 6-19 from 10.3 overs as the hosts fell from 107-3 to 137 all out on day two, handing over the initiative.
And Glamorgan certainly built on it, posting 348-7 declared second time around thanks to captain Sam Northeast’s 132 and Carlson’s 108 as he continued his memorable game.
Lancashire were set a target of 473 midway through day three, and they started encouragingly, reaching 159-2 after tea.
However, they had just left themselves too much to do, with Crane taking three more wickets in 318 all out. A fine 102 from top-order left-hander Luke Wells went unrewarded as the hosts suffered their third defeat.
Glamorgan won for the fifth time.
What they said
Steven Croft wants Lancashire to lay a marker down ahead of next season as they prepare to bring the curtain down on the current campaign.
The Red Rose will head to the Valleys to face a Glamorgan side with their tails up, and a victory over such a team will certainly do them no harm leading into 2026.
Ok, in the grand scheme of things, this result will not determine anything.
But, confidence wise, for some players hoping to have a big impact on 2026, it could be important.
Interim head coach Croft said: “Go out there, put in a performance that we know we're capable of and take the positive approach when it's there.
“There’s obviously times where we have to soak up a little bit of pressure, but that's the way we want to play our cricket.
“The four days against Middlesex, I know we weren’t out there for the full amount, but that’s what I want to see.
“We showed some glimpses as well in the Gloucester game, Kent and the Derbyshire game.
“That’s where we want to be and be consistent with that.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire’s last Championship win over Glamorgan at Cardiff came in 1981 when a side captained by Clive Lloyd won a low-scoring affair by 66 runs.
New-ball seamer Peter Lee took 10 wickets in the match.
Since then, Lancashire have only visited Sophia Gardens on three occasions in the Championship, most of their visits to Wales being at Colwyn Bay and Swansea.
Meanwhile, Luke Wells needs 23 more runs for 1,000 Championship runs for the season, Keaton Jennings needs 42 more.
Should Wells accrue 69 this week, he would also reach 4,000 first-class runs for Lancashire.