Near misses for Gidman & Franklin as Gloucs dominate

Gloucestershire 303 for 5 v Glamorgan
Scorecard

Captain Alex Gidman and James Franklin both fell agonisingly short of centuries but Gloucestershire still had the best of the opening day of their County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff. Gidman (97) and Franklin (95), the former Glamorgan allrounder, put on 155 in 46.2 overs as Gloucestershire finished the day on 303 for 5 after they had been reduced to 27 for 3 inside 10 overs.

This was a crunch early season meeting between second and third in the table - both sides with three wins to their name. Glamorgan were without in-form strike bowler James Harris, who has been called up to play for the England Lions in a three-day clash against Bangladesh at Derby starting on Wednesday.

But the Welsh county did include former England offspinner Robert Croft, who went into the match requiring just 11 wickets to reach 1,000 in first-class cricket for Glamorgan. He has been surplus to requirements for the last four games. But it was the Glamorgan seamers, Huw Waters and David Harrison, who made an early impact on Gloucestershire's batsmen.

Waters struck in his second over, trapping Jonathan Batty lbw and three overs later the other opener Chris Dent was also went lbw, Harrison the wicket-taker this time, as the visitors found themselves reduced to 17 for 2. Glamorgan were convinced they had a third wicket when Gidman appeared to be caught at first slip by Jim Allenby off Harrison. But the batsman stood his ground and the umpires - George Sharp and Stephen Gale - ruled that the ball had not carried.

The third wicket did arrive however when Hamish Marshall made it a trio of leg-before dismissals to give Waters, who produced impressive early figures of 2 for 14 from 10 overs, his second victim. Gidman made the most of his good fortune and began to put together an impressive partnership with Franklin as bat started to dominate ball.

Either side of lunch, which Gloucestershire reached at 74 for 3, Glamorgan began to wonder where the next wicket was going to come from. Gidman reached his 50 from 116 balls and Franklin reached his own half century from six fewer deliveries.

But just as in Gloucestershire's previous match when he made 99, Gidman failed to reach three figures as he became the fourth batsman to go leg before, the wicket going to Allenby this time. Fifteen overs late Franklin also perished in the nervous nineties, caught behind off Dean Cosker. But Steve Snell and Chris Taylor then carried on the good work finishing the day with an unbeaten partnership of 121 from 23 overs.