Captain Sam Northeast, who will re-join Kent for 2025 as he prioritises his young family in his home county, was also keen to emphasise how far the team had come since that disastrous first month.”At the start of the season we wanted to win Division Two, Northeast told BBC Sport Wales.”In the last few weeks a lot of rain has played havoc with the game, so to come here and get the points to make sure we’re promoted, it’s a great effort from everyone considering where we were after the first four games when we thought we were in trouble.”It takes great guts and determination from the team, and it’s been a team game where everyone has contributed so that’s the most pleasing thing. “The message from Daws (Richard Dawson, about first innings runs) has been really clear and the first few days has always put us in a good position. When we’ve got the likes of Ben Kellaway and Mason Crane to finish off games with the ball, we’ve always believed we could get the 10 wickets.”More than two decades have passed since the promotion of 2004, when captain Robert Croft and coach John Derrick took Glamorgan up in the Championship as well as winning the One Day League.”When I signed (in 2010), we got really close and I didn’t think it would take this long to get here again, there’ve been a couple of near misses,” reflected Glamorgan’s longest-serving player Chris Cooke.”We’ve been building a core of players for five or six years, we’ve got really close and we’ve got a sprinkle of quality with some players coming in and a different coach, maybe that’s made the difference. “It wasn’t looking great getting zero points at Lord’s in the third game and being bottom of the table, but to go on the run we did is testament to the players and coaching staff, and everyone associated with the club.”Richard Dawson hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel, he just wants us to play good, hard cricket and do the basics well, and the atmosphere’s great.”But Cooke realises how different life in the top tier could be – as Glamorgan’s current squad try to do what their predecessors in 2001 and 2005 could not do and stay there.”It’s going to be tough in the First Division so we can’t rest on our laurels and go up to compete, to try to stay up, and the hard work starts now,” he said.
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Glamorgan defy early odds to win County Championship promotion
