GLAMORGAN director of cricket Mark Wallace says Newport have earned the return of County Championship action thanks to their hard graft.

Matthew Maynard’s team will host Gloucestershire at Spytty Park in Division Two from Tuesday, May, 14.

The Welsh county last played a Championship game in the city in 1965 when Warwickshire were entertained at Rodney Parade.

Newport moved to Spytty in 1990 and turned it into a venue that was used by Sri Lanka as a training base in the 2013 ICC Trophy and hosted Glamorgan’s one-day clash with Pakistan in 2016.

That fixture was a success and the club’s reward is next month’s four-day clash against neighbours Gloucestershire.

Wallace, who was appointed by Glamorgan at the end of last year, is a member of Newport’s team that will defend their Premier League title and has seen first-hand the efforts of those behind the scenes.

“I don’t want to sound biased because I have been playing for the club, but they have done so much over recent years with a huge amount of work put in by Mike Knight, Dave Knight and others on the ground,” said the wicket-keeper.

“It is a really good club with a thriving junior system and after hosting Glamorgan seconds and minor counties games it is so well deserved that they get a first-class game like this.

“They passed the test with the Pakistan A fixture and hopefully this one will go well with plenty of support coming across the bridge from Gloucestershire.

“Hopefully the club will get the weather and it should be a really good four days.”

South Wales Argus:

Newport received another winter boost when their batsman Callum Taylor earned a Glamorgan contract.

The 20-year-old, born in the city but raised in Australian, joined the club ahead of the 2016 campaign and immediately caught the eye.

Taylor was named as young player of the year when helping Newport win the title in his first season at Spytty and landed the player of the year award honour for the last two years.

“It’s a really good message for people playing league cricket because he hasn’t got his contract at Glamorgan through coming through the pathway, it’s on the back of really strong performances in club cricket,” said his teammate Wallace.

“That earned a chance to play for Wales Minor Counties and then the second team. He has worked hard and deserves this contract.

“Callum is a very talented cricketer, he is raw but the ceiling as to where he can go is huge. He could be a very good player in the future and has started well here.

“There is a gap between amateur and semi-pro, then semi-pro and professional but those gaps aren’t insurmountable.

“You might have to consistently do well to impress people, but Callum has done that by going from batting seven at Newport and bowling a bit to number four and getting more overs, to last year really dominating.”

Tickets for the Gloucestershire match are available through the Glamorgan website and hospitality tables of 10 can be purchased by calling Mike Knight on 07793 823294.