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Glamorgan 446 for 8 (Cooke 121*, Neser 90, Labuschagne 64, Byrom 51) lead Leicestershire 407 (Handscomb 95, Ahmed 90, Hill 53, van der Gugten 6-88) by 39 runs
For the second consecutive year, this match saw the record books revised as Glamorgan fought back impressively against Leicestershire on the third day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match.
Neser, looking for a third first-class career hundred to go with his 330 wickets, didn’t quite make it, being dismissed on 90, but Cooke was still out on 121 as Glamorgan closed at 446 for 8, giving them a first yielded. innings lead of 39 to go into the final day, though it’s hard to see the game producing a positive result.
Leicestershire were handicapped by an injury to Ed Barnes, one of their five seam bowlers, who came in with a swollen ankle, which prevented him from bowling for the rest of the match.
Nevertheless, Glamorgan knew it would have to be “a fighting day”, as opening bat Eddie Byrom described it on Friday night, if they forced their way back into the game after closing out the second day five wickets down and still 243 runs behind . . In that case, they met the requirement.
Night watchman Timm van der Gugten was a casualty within the first half hour and was caught on Chris Wright as he took to midwicket in the air, where Rishi Patel eventually dived to make a good catch after covering some ground to get under .
The layoff brought Northeast and Cooke together. With Northeast in scratch form so far this season, another record-breaking alliance between these two was never really on the cards, but adding 39 from 21 overs of head-down application saw them begin to take the sting out of a Leicestershire attack confronted with a pitch that became increasingly benign.
Northeast fell behind and hacked to a wide ball from Mikey Finan. His 40, off 134 balls, is his highest score in nine innings since his 410. As a result, Cooke was joined by Neser, whose instincts are generally positive.
Finan, the Leicestershire bowler most likely to provide scoring opportunities, gave width to Neser too often and the batsman rarely missed as Glamorgan reached lunch with the follow-on all but avoided.
The afternoon session was the first in the match where no wickets fell, confirming how much the playing surface had settled down after a few dry days. Leicestershire captain Lewis Hill regularly spun his bowlers in the hope that something would happen, but there was little apparent help for any of his spinners.
Cooke and Neser were able to add 120 runs, taking their partnership to 151 from 376 for 7 at tea, just 31 short of par. Wright made trouble at times, but not enough to cause a fatal error as both batters passed fifty, Cooke came off 118 balls with four boundaries, Neser reached the 94 pitch mark when he drew Wright for his seventh four.
The pair continued in much the same undisturbed spirit in another drawn out final session, setting an eighth wicket partnership record for Glamorgan against Leicestershire as they passed the 166 of Gwyn Richards and Malcolm Nash at Swansea, surpassing Leicestershire’s 407 in the 140th used to go. , before Cooke completed the 11th hundred of his first-class career with a scrambled single from leg spinner Rehan Ahmed, after hitting five fours off 220 balls.
The arrival of a heavy cloud caused the floodlights to be lit, after which the ball started to do more through the air. Neser was killed by a superb delivery from Wright that he could only really admire as his center stump fell to the ground behind him before poor lighting took more time out of the game, ending a scheduled day of 104 overs 13 overs early.
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