Ones to Watch - Harry Friend

Harry Friend looked to take inspiration from Wales team-mate Will Smale as they recently closed their National Counties Trophy campaign against Buckinghamshire at Slough last weekend.

It was another opportunity for Friend to impress and push his claims for elevation to the professional ranks with Glamorgan. 

This is exactly what Smale, who is also a team-mate of Friends for Cardiff UCCE, has done this season. 

Having made runs for Wales NC in National Counties cricket and for Glamorgan’s Second XI, Smale was called up by the Welsh county two weeks ago and played for them in last week’s Vitality Blast matches against Surrey and Somerset. 

Friend has been on Glamorgan’s radar for some time as he made his Wales debut as a 16-year-old in 2019 while he was still a pupil at Monmouth School. 

Friend also spent time on Glamorgan’s Academy and has played for their Second XI and he opened the batting for the county against his university side at the start of the 2022 season. 

This year Friend was in the Cardiff UCCE side that beat Glamorgan by three wickets at Cardiff alongside fellow National Counties players Smale, Ben Morris, Ben Kellaway and Morgan Bevans (Wales NC), Rhodri Lewis and Adam Searle (Berkshire), Chris Gibson and Xavier Clarke (Cornwall), Tommy Rex (Oxfordshire) and Elliot Mason (Herefordshire). 

Friend also took part in the second National Counties Player ID Day at Loughborough University at the start of March where he was one of the players who put themselves in the shop window for a professional contract by performing in from of coaches and scouts from the first-class counties.