Cheltenham pitch absolved of blame

Watch free daily video highlights from every LV= County Championship match here on ecb.co.uk this summer

Gemaal Hussain, with 4-57, was the chief beneficiary as Glamorgan were bowled out for just 216 on the opening day

Buy this photo

England and Wales Cricket Board pitch inspector David Hughes will take no action despite 15 wickets falling on the opening day of the LV= County Championship tussle between Second Division promotion hopefuls Gloucestershire and Glamorgan at Cheltenham.

Inserted beneath cloudy skies, Glamorgan suffered a spectacular collapse to 104 for seven and were indebted to Mark Wallace and Robert Croft, who raised 105 for the eighth wicket to save their side from further embarrassment.

Gloucestershire’s much-vaunted seam attack reasserted their authority to dismiss their neighbours for 216, a total considered to be slightly below par on a green-tinged pitch.

But the home side fared little better with the bat, reaching the close on 145 for five to leave the contest evenly balanced.

Overseas star James Franklin is unbeaten on 22 and much will depend on him when Gloucestershire resume their first innings 71 behind.

Alex Gidman’s decision to insert Glamorgan at the College Ground was fully justified as Gloucestershire bowled the visitors out inside 53 overs.

Convinced that the Tiflex ball would swing beneath low cloud cover, Gidman saw his seamers rip through the Glamorgan top order during the morning session.

Openers Gareth Rees and Mark Cosgrove added 35 in eight overs, only for New Zealand all-rounder Franklin to make inroads, claiming two wickets in as many overs from the College Lawn end.

Rees aimed a loose drive at a ball which pitched outside off stump and was held by Gidman at first slip, while Tom Maynard was pinned lbw, hit on the back pad by an inswinger.

Typically forthright in his approach, Australian Cosgrove advanced to 41 with no apparent problems before surrendering his wicket cheaply, driving Gemaal Hussain straight to Jon Lewis at mid-off.

Mark Wallace added an air of respectability to Glamorgan's total, rescuing them from 104 for seven with 72 off 83 balls

Buy this photo

His demise sparked a spectacular collapse, four batsmen succumbing inside nine shocking overs as Glamorgan lurched from 74 for two to 89 for six in the face of a swinging ball.

Lewis got in on the act by trapping Ben Wright lbw on the front foot for 17, while England A paceman Steve Kirby took two wickets in as many overs shortly before lunch to further undermine Welsh ambition.

Jim Allenby played on for three, skipper Jamie Dalrymple walked in front of a delivery which came back into him and, when James Harris edged Hussain to slip in the first over after lunch, the visitors were 104 for seven and deep in trouble.

That was the cue for Wallace and Croft to launch a spirited recovery, the eighth-wicket pair adding 105 in 19 overs to save face.

Wallace, in particular, carried the fight to Gloucestershire’s bowlers, twice hoisting Kirby over square-leg for six on his way to an enterprising 72 from 83 balls.

He struck eight fours and four maximums before edging a delivery of full length from Hussain to second slip, having helped double Glamorgan’s score.

Croft departed soon afterwards for 44 from 63 balls, held at first slip to give the impressive Hussain 4-57.

Jon Batty and Will Porterfield lent the reply solid foundations in an opening stand of 55 in 14 overs, but both departed in quick succession, the Batty trapped lbw by Allenby and Porterfield caught at the wicket off Harris.

Allenby then accounted for Gidman, pinned on the front foot, and Gloucestershire’s earlier authority was in doubt when Hamish Marshall, having scored 34, pulled a Dean Cosker long-hop to deep midwicket and Chris Taylor lost his off stump to a Huw Waters leg-cutter.