Gair Rhydd

Cardiff get a semi

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Raj Pal sends Cardiff Seconds through to the BUSA Shield Semi-Finals with a glorious 77 not out from 30 balls

CARDIFF SECONDS produced a breathtaking batting display to beat Bristol Firsts by 46 runs in the BUSA shield Quarter Final. Cardiff had reached this stage after defeating Nottingham Trent in a bowl-off last week.

Cardiff won the toss and chose to bat in, thankfully, sunny conditions. They started solidly and, despite losing stand-in captain John Stevens for two, reached 34 for 1 at the end of the first ten overs.

The IMG End of Season Review

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THE IMG competitions have encountered logistical problems this year but there has still been exciting football and netball leagues and eventually even some competitive IMG rugby matches.

IMG footballers returned to Cardiff with the news that the format was to be revitalized. The competition was to be extended to include 8 new teams and space was made for an extra division. However, a combination of issues – including the increased cost to register a team and the absence of an IMG fair – caused the take-up to be reduced.

George Pawley looks back on another impressive year for AU Clubs

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This time last year, gair rhydd Sport was celebrating a season of European and domestic successes.

The Men’s Hockey Club won the European Cup Winners Challenge Cup in Malta, while at home all three Men’s Cricket teams went undefeated throughout the entire season and the Women’s Hockey Firsts strode into the BUSA Premiership among many other notable achievements.

Lyons issues development roar

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AFTER FINISHING top in the MCC University Two-Day Championship as well as winning the MCC University Challenge at Lords last year, the future looks bright for both players and staff at Cardiff and Glamorgan University Centre for Cricketing Excellence. However, Director of Cricket Kevin Lyons is refusing to get carried away.

Funded by the MCC, the Cardiff and Glamorgan Academy, which has run for over ten years now, is one of six university-based centres of cricketing excellence in the UK. Split between Cardiff University, UWIC and Glamorgan University, the scheme allows students to undertake academic degrees whilst continuing their development as cricketers in the excellent facilities available at Glamorgan County Cricket Club, where they train every Wednesday afternoon. Further to this, the squad undertakes a rigorous fitness regime as well as one-to-one tuition throughout each week in preparation for a busy season. From April to June the squad will play no less than twenty-five matches, including games against professional opposition such as Middlesex and Northamptonshire County Cricket Clubs.

The word on FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s domestic player quota proposal

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Scott D’Arcy takes a sceptical view

It is not often, being a fan of the “other” North London club, that I agree with what comes out of Arsene Wenger’s mouth. Yet, with reference to FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s proposal of a quota of six home-grown players to be fielded in each team in domestic leagues, the Frenchman has got it spot on.

“Elite sport is first about quality” he mused back in 2006 when the quota plan first reared its ugly head, “first football bodies have to care about protecting the level of the game – that does not mean protecting mediocrity”.