Aussie opener Marcus Harris marked the beginning of his English country season with a gritty half century against Glamorgan under testing conditions. He helped Gloucestershire avoid a probable batting debacle and held the innings together to post some runs on the board which might keep Glamorgan running away with the match for the moment.
Last week Harris has been included in the list of central contracts offered by Cricket Australia. The left-handed batter earned a national contract ahead of peers like Matthew Renshaw and Peter Handscomb. His innings justified the faith bestowed upon him by the Australian Cricket chiefs and also kept him in the reckoning for a callup to the Ashes Squad.
Here is how Marcus Harris stitched his innings together
His performances in the County Championship in England will be closely monitored by the selectors as Australia are slated to tour the Brits in June this year with his experience under these conditions coming handy. On a rain hit opening day at Cardiff, Harris stood resolutely for 3 hours against Glamorgan’s attack who made full use of the overcast conditions as he saw his mates tumble around him.
A glance at the destruction that was left by Marcus Harris
Arriving in the UK just earlier in the week, he was patience personified. He hit the first boundary of his innings after facing 92 deliveries. He scored 59 off 129 balls out of the total 165 that his side could garner. He finally fell to an inswinging full delivery from James Harris. Barring Harris, the rest of Gloucestershire batting lineup was destroyed by the Australia born Dutch international pacer Timm van der Gugten who claimed 5 wickets for 26 runs off 17 overs. The Aussies other than Harris who are playing Country cricket also fared well with Sean Abott scoring 34 not out of 57 balls for Surrey. Former West Australian fast bowler Michael Hogan aged 41, picked up 2-36 after moving to Kent following a glorious country career with Glamorgan.
