Glamorgan promoted tail-end leg-spinner Mason Crane, playing his first game of the 2025 Championship, to open the batting in their clash against Leicestershire today (June 24).
The game at Leicester saw the hosts score 576-7d in their first innings, in response to Glamorgan’s score of 353 all out. Asa Tribe, who scored 107 in 173 in the first innings for Glamorgan, was one of two batters to cross 50 for the side, with Colin Ingram making 56. In reply, Leicestershire were led by hundreds from Sol Budinger and Rehan Ahmed, the latter enjoying a fine season with the bat after being promoted up the order.
Glamorgan’s second innings began with a surprise as Crane walked out to open instead of Tribe, alongside Zain-ul-Hassan. The 28-year-old Crane, who has played one Test and two T20Is, with his latest England appearance coming in 2018, has a batting average of 16.57 in first-class cricket.
However, he has also scored two fifties and has a high score of 61. Crane played vital knocks with the bat in last year’s County Championship, making 468 runs in 18 innings at an average of 36, including two fifties. He also scored between 40 to 49 four times.
In addition to making an impact with the bat, Crane also took 29 wickets in last year's County Championship. Across his England caps, he picked up two international wickets, with his only Test wicket being Usman Khawaja, who was on a score of 171 in the 2018 Ashes. He also has a T20I wicket.
It was later confirmed that Tribe, who is from Jersey, was unwell and could not open the innings.
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