DAVID Harrison aims to spearhead a charge to the quarter-finals after being appointed as Glamorgan head coach for the One Day Cup campaign.
The 39-year-old former seamer from Panteg will deputise for Matthew Maynard, who will part of the Welsh Fire coaching set-up in The Hundred.
With club captain Chris Cooke and vice-captain David Lloyd also in action in the new tournament, batsman Kiran Carlson will be skipper for Glamorgan in the 50-over competition.
Harrison is a club stalwart and, after making his debut in 1999, took nearly 400 wickets before retiring through injury in 2011 and joining the coaching staff.
He has filled a number of roles โ head analyst, bowling coach and currently assistant โ and went on the England Lions tours of United Arab Emirates and India in 2018/19 and Australia in 2020.
Now Harrison will call the shots with the aim of earning knockout cricket for Glamorgan.
He said: "It's a massive honour and privilege to be head coach of the club I've been at for more than 20 years - it's a different challenge but something I'm very proud of.
"I've been lucky enough to have had some very good coaches as a player, and having been part of the coaching team for a time, you learn from different coaches.
"In particular the last three years since Matt Maynard has been back, I've spent a lot of time with him on and off the field, and it's stood me in great stead to pick his brains.
"There's been a lot of talk about the 50-over competition being alongside the Hundred, but our mindset is to try to win games for Glamorgan.
"It's an exciting opportunity for players who wouldn't have had it otherwise, to show what they can do.
"If we play some good smart cricket, there's an opportunity of progressing to the quarter-finals but there's a lot of work to do first."
๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฝ
โ Glamorgan Cricket ๐ (@GlamCricket) June 30, 2021
Batsman Kiran Carlson will captain the side, while David Harrison will step up as head coach for our @RoyalLondonCup campaign #GoGlam
Read more ๐https://t.co/NTLzlqAMa2
Carlson will be Harrison's captain after a fine start to the season by the Cardiff batsman, who leads the side's County Championship run-scoring charts with 580 at an average of 58.
Earlier this season against Sussex he became the first Welshman to score a hundred in both innings of a match since 2005.
"It means a lot to lead the boys out, I'm chuffed the powers-that-be think I'm the man for the job. I'm very excited and hopefully I can do the job well," said Carlson.
"I enjoy the tactical side of the game and I'll have guys around me with a lot of experience that I can look to, hopefully Michael Hogan will be around in the one-day competition and can pass on his knowledge, and then I can take that and put my own spin on the captaincy.
"With the Hundred going on at the same time, there'll be less household names on view but it's a massive opportunity for younger guys to have a run of games and for guys like myself to show we can be the senior players and win games for Glamorgan.
"It'll still be a very high standard and a tough competition, and we need to have the same intensity and commitment we would in any other game."
Director of cricket Mark Wallace, who was wicket-keeper when fellow man of Gwent Harrison was bowling, believes the pair are the perfect fit for the competition.
"With Matt and Chris away for the Royal London Cup, this is a great opportunity for them to step up and take on more responsibility," he said.
"Dave is an excellent coach with plenty of experience with Glamorgan and England Lions and it was the natural progression for him to become head coach with Matt away.
"Kiran has impressed everyone this year, not just with his cricket but his maturity and leadership. He's an extremely popular member of the dressing room and despite his youth is a person all the boys look up to."
Glamorgan start their One-Day Cup campaign against Warwickshire at Sophia Gardens on July 22.
They then face Northamptonshire, Somerset, Derbyshire, Surrey, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire in Group B.
The winners go straight to the semi-finals while the second and third-placed teams face their rivals from Group A in the quarters.
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