Cosgrove back in Glamorgan groove

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, Lord's
Middlesex v Glamorgan
22-25 April (Play starts 1100 BST)
CLOSE OF PLAY DAY ONE: Glamorgan 351-6(Glam 4pts, Middx 2pts)

Middlesex v Glamorgan commentary

Middlesex v Glamorgan scorecard

Mark Cosgrove began his second spell as Glamorgan's overseas player just as he did in his stint for the Welsh county in 2006 - with a superb hundred.

The 24-year-old upstaged fellow Australian left-hander Phil Hughes on his Middlesex debut at Lord's, hammering 17 boundaries in his 120.

Cosgrove was backed by half centuries from Mark Wallace (58 no) and Mike Powell (51) in Glamorgan's 351-6.

And that questioned Middlesex captain Shaun Udal's decision to bowl first.

Udal, misled by an initial tinge of green in the Lord's pitch, was left to squirm as the burly Cosgrove took charge.

First in tandem with Ben Wright (38) and then Powell, who made a fine half-century, Cosgrove batted with great responsibility.

Almost as puzzling as Udal's decision to ask Glamorgan to bat was the absence of Andrew Strauss, the England captain, from Middlesex's line-up.

Strauss is netting at Lord's this week, but has opted to start his playing summer against Leicestershire at Southgate next week.

Apart from the fact that the first Test against the West Indies is also at Lord's and only a fortnight away, Strauss would surely have enjoyed batting in beautiful weather this week rather than take a chance with an unpredictable forecast at Southgate.

As it was, he would have been condemned to a long day in the field as Cosgrove took charge.

In 2006, the South Australian had marked his Championship debut for Glamorgan by hitting 114 against Derbyshire at Cardiff. Here, his ton took 161 balls and four hours of solid graft, completed just before tea to his own clear joy.

After playing three one-day internationals for Australia in 2006, 12 months after being named as his country's Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, Cosgrove's career has failed to kick on in recent years.

But he still averages 40 in first-class cricket and, although he eventually went leg before, he may prove one of the shrewder signings of the season.

Popular at Glamorgan in his first season, he has settled back into the dressing room effortlessly, and could yet stay on beyond June, when Herschelle Gibbs is due to step into the county's overseas player slot following the ICC World Twenty20.