OPENER Gareth Rees hopes that Glamorgan's trip to Lord's last year can inspire them to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship, writes Chris Kirwan.

The Swalec Stadium side had another campaign to forget in the four-day format, finishing one from bottom of the table and 53 points away from the promotion spots.

But they finished the season on a memorable note, albeit a losing one, thanks to the YB40 final against Nottinghamshire at the home of cricket.

"You can talk a lot about belief and that is something we would have gained from the one-day run last year," said the left-hander.

"That is probably something that hasn't been there in four-day cricket since 2010. The belief probably hasn't been there and we haven't been able to finish teams off when we have been in positions when we should have won games.

"With there being so many points for the win, just turning the odd draw into a win can transform your season in the space of one game."

The bookies don't fancy Glamorgan's odds of playing Division One cricket in 2015 – only Leicestershire have longer odds to win the second flight title – but recent history is offering Rees some hope.

He said: "We saw Northants go up last year, a side who wouldn't have been one of the favourites at the beginning of the season, and the previous year Derbyshire went up.

"If we are being honest, we are probably in that bracket of not being the favourites, but within our group, if you look at the experience and tools we have got, if you put it all together we should be in the promotion mix."

Glamorgan start their campaign against the favourites for the Division Two title when they head to the Oval to take on a Surrey side that boast international greats Graeme Smith and Kevin Pietersen in their ranks.

"Playing Surrey first up is the perfect start," said Rees. "There will be no pressure on us, Graeme Smith is captaining them and they have a lot of international cricketers.

"If we can turn them over, it sends out a good message to the rest of the division."