ANDREW Salter is the heir apparent to Robert Croft at Glamorgan but the 20-year-old off-spinner is intent on making his own name at the county.

Comparisons between Salter and Croft are too easy not to make – just as one retired at the end of the 2012 season the other emerged the following year to fill the void.

Salter featured in the latter stages of Glamorgan’s run to the YB40 final last season while a wicket with his first-ever ball in the LV= County Championship in August didn’t fail to turn heads.

Croft, who possesses a first-class haul of 1,175 wickets and 12,880 runs, retains a heavy influence at Glamorgan as spin bowling coach and Salter admits his guidance is invaluable.

His predecessor’s own stats and facts do not preoccupy the 20-year-old however – impressing new head coach Toby Radford and LV= County Championship promotion his thoughts first and foremost.

“Toby has come in and the changes have been different for individual people, but for me a lot has been the same because Crofty’s still here and he’s been working with me a lot over the last couple of years,” he said.

“Whenever I’m asked about Crofty I speak highly of him and it’s nice to be compared to him, but I like to think I can show my own characteristics. It’s hard to say how we differ as I didn’t play that much with Crofty, though I’ve seen him play many times.

“But I love to attack with aggression, especially at the end of a four-day game. It’s crucial to my performance that I’m given the confidence to go out there and be an option to win the match – and I think I’ve shown that I can be adaptable too.”

Salter likes a worn track but his own journey into cricket was certainly off the beaten path, born in the Pembrokeshire village of St Ishmaels which at last count holds a population of less than 500.

“You’d struggle to find St Ishmaels on the map, it’s a very small village out in the middle of nowhere really,” he added.

“At school we didn’t have much of a cricket team, but my family played for the village club and I think initially I just wanted to be better than my brother James.

“It went on from there, eventually I got looked at for Pembrokeshire, Glamorgan, the Welsh team, and then I was lucky enough to be chosen as England under-15 captain.

“I think every player strives to play for England but I know as long as I’m playing well for Glamorgan everything will come from that – that’s my main focus.”

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