What on earth is happening at Sophia Gardens?

This week has seen a huge off-season shake-up of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. First we heard the shocking news of Jamie Dalrymple’s sacking as captain and the instalment of South African opener Alviro Petersen as captain. It then turns out that this decision was taken against the wishes of Director of Cricket Matthew Maynard, who then resigned, and against the wishes of the President Peter Walker, who also resigned. Subsequently Jamie Dalrymple left the club as a player. In the space of a few days three of the key players within the Glamorgan set-up have walked away from the club.

So what on earth is going on at Sophia Gardens?

All this comes after what was a good season, even if the end result was hugely frustrating for fans and those involved at Glamorgan. As noted here, Glamorgan lost out on the final day of the season to Worcestershire, but the turnaround in fortunes at the county showed that the long tried policy of nurturing and developing talented younger players was starting to bear fruit. Under Dalrymple’s leadership the team had become cannier and smarter in their play, if maybe not quite ruthless enough.

The apparent aim of bringing in Petersen and new head of cricket Colin Metson is to improve the one-day performances. Admittedly the one-day form last year was fairly bad (I witnessed the shellacking we received at the Oval from Rory Hamilton-Brown and Mark Ramprakash in the Pro40) and that is where the money is in cricket. But one of the lesser-acknowledged truths of cricket is that good four-day/Test sides and players can adapt their game to the shortened form a lot better than good one-day sides can adapt to the longer form. In terms of development for the players overall it is far more important for them to be playing in Division 1 of the County Championship than having a run in the Twenty20 competitions.

The obvious fear now is that a mass exodus will follow. Australian batsman and star player last year Mark Cosgrove looks like he won’t be coming back and it would be no surprise if Thom Maynard left after the shoddy treatment that his father received. Graham Wagg and Jim Allenby were clearly Maynard and Dalrymple inspired signings and may be looking for a sharp exit over the winter. If Allenby leaves it will make a mockery of the stated one-day ambitions as he is exactly the sort of player that thrives in the one-day game and that was a reason for bringing him in. Likewise Cosgrove who is a devastating one-day batsman with a very high strike-rate. Certainly prospective players will look at the goings on at the county and think twice about signing.

I think the seriousness of the situation was summed up by Jonathan Agnew, who yesterday tweeted “Can I just say, if Peter Walker resigns from anything, there is a serious problem...let alone from the club that he loves. Suggest Glamorgan CCC takes a step back”. Which is a damning indictment of the situation at the club.

If Glamorgan had had an awful season this year, as they have for at least three out of the last five years, then you could understand the need for a radical shake up of the leadership on and off the pitch. But to radically change things just as the team is developing into what could be a good one seems, at it’s worst, like mindless vandalism and at its best like tinkering for the sake. Glamorgan appear to be shooting themselves in the foot and Chairman Paul Russell hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory at the way it has all been handled.