Profile of Steve James Before The New Season

Captain
By Edward Hall
March 11 2002

The Dragons site starts a look at the players that will hopefully guide Glamorgan to a successful season. We start with a profile of Steve James, captain for his second season.

This is a big season for Steve James. Either looking at his captaincy or his batting, 2002 is going to be very important. Last season, James missed 7 Championship games, and with that, the chance to establish himself as captain. James earned few plaudits when he did captain the side, and Adrian Dale was generally more inventive when given the chance in James’ absence.

James will also be under more pressure with the bat than he has for the past couple of years. James has had a consistent opening partner in the Championship games for the past two years, in Matthew Elliott and Jimmy Maher. This season he will not have this luxury, and will probably open with a player with limited experience of facing the new ball (either David Hemp or Michael Powell). James is probably Glamorgan’s most consistent batsmen (he still averaged 47 last season) and the team will need his runs at the top of the order if his partner struggles early in the season.

James’ role in the one-day team is very different. While he may be under a bit more pressure in the 4-day game, he is always assured of his place in the team. This is no longer the case for him in the one-day game. Glamorgan have now settled on an attacking top 4 in the National League games, which James does not fit into. James may still open the batting in the early season B&H games, but it would be detrimental to the team’s cause if he decided to do the same in the National League games. Ian Thomas and Keith Newell should be given the chance to open in the majority of one-day games, and Croft has forged a place at number 3. James may now slot in at 4 with the departure of Maher, but it is never helpful when the captain struggles to find his place in a side.

James’ aim will be to settle himself into the captaincy role again, and try to find a settled berth in the one-day team.