By Dave Clark
Toby Radford has made LV= County Championship promotion the main focus during his inaugural season in charge of Glamorgan.
The former Middlesex and Sussex batsman left a West Indies coaching role to take over in South Wales during the winter, and believes that despite finishing second-from-bottom of Division Two last year that a top-two finish is possible in 2014.
“The thing we’ve talked about is trying to get promotion in the County Championship,” Radford told ecb.co.uk. “That’s a priority in many ways and we’ve discussed that.
“The team did well last year in the 40-over competition, so we believe we can have success in one-day cricket as well.
“I don’t think results [last season] have reflected the way that they played. There were a number of games where they had sides following on and didn’t get over the line; we’ve got to take 20 wickets.”
While dismissing teams twice is an important factor, Radford is also keen for his side to make big first-innings totals.
And the 42-year-old is delighted with the signing of South African Jacques Rudolph in a bid to post better scores.
“It’s important to get a good start in an innings,” Radford continued. “Last year the side didn’t have great starts more often than it wanted, and it’s important for us to get through the new ball and set a platform for an innings.
“We need to go on and get more consistent big scores, which is what you need in championship cricket, so his role is obviously to perform that.”
Though Radford’s tenure is still in its infancy, the former Middlesex coach is pleased by what he has seen during pre-season.
“I’ve put more of an emphasis on one-on-one coaching with the players,” he added.
“We came back a bit earlier than we normally would. We’ve had the tent up and we’ve been on grass which has helped. Our preparation has gone really well pre-season.”
Glamorgan start their championship campaign next Sunday versus Surrey at the Kia Oval.