We came. We sang. We lost.
We dared to dream that it would be 3rd time lucky, but it wasn't. After 1977's Gillette Cup Final defeat (which I didn't see) and the loss to Gloucestershire in the B&H in 2000 (which I did), this was another enjoyable, but ultimately fruitless, pilgrimage to the Mecca of cricket that is Lord's.
The alarm went off at 04.30, but I didn't sleep much anyway. By 05.15 we were on our way to Cardiff, and by 06.30 on our way by coach up the M4.
On a gloomy autumn day, the Welsh contingent were delighted to hear that Mark Wallace had won the toss and he didn't hesitate in putting Nottinghamshire in.
We bowled well for the most part, Simon Jones and Andrew Salter in particular, but the last 10 overs yielded around 90 runs, giving the Trent Bridge outfit an above par 244.
A gloomy day in NW8 as Glamorgan field first
Come our turn to bat, needing a run a ball, someone had to put down a 70 or 80 to hold the innings together. Chris Cooke came closest with 46, his partnership with Allenby took us past 100 with 8 wickets in the hutch, Gareth Rees tonked well for a while, but Samit Patel's removal of Cooke, Allenby and Murray Goodwin ripped the heart out of the daffodil effort.
So it was a crushing 87 run defeat in the end, a harsh reflection on the competitiveness of much of the game. Context is everything. Notts had 9 International cricketers in their side (including Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann 'on permit' from England), Glam had 2, and veterans at that. Glamorgan were also without their overseas player as well, disgracefully back in Australia weeks ago.
"He only plays in the final". Stuart Broad cops it from the Glamorgan fans.
Glamorgan's one day cricket has improved this season and we need to build from here. On the way to the final, we've beaten Somerset, Middlesex, Yorkshire and Hampshire amongst others. In next year's 9 strong YB50 group the top 4 qualify for quarter finals...it'll be tough...but we're going in the right direction...at last.
Glamorgan put up a fight, but ultimately slide to defeat during the afternoon.
Cricinfo scorecard
Cricinfo report
Cricinfo blog
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