Cricket: Ambrose Makes England Claim

Twenty20 Cup: Tim Ambrose hammered 39 runs off just 19 balls to put Warwickshire on their way to victory against Glamorgan.
If Jonathan Trott can consider himself fortunate to have been included in the England one-day squad, Tim Ambrose is entitled to feel aggrieved at being overlooked and the young wicketkeeper again outshone his Warwickshire team-mate with the bat as the Bears maintained their winning start in the competition. Trott's 44 off 40 balls, the highlight a straight six off Dean Cosker, had given the Bears a solid foundation but any score of about a run a ball is below par in Twenty20 and Ambrose's unbeaten 39 off 19 was critical. Warwickshire's coach, Mark Greatbatch, reckons he has not seen a better one-day batsman this season and the 24-year-old improvised impressively in taking the Bears to a testing target before a crowd of more than 10,000. That Glamorgan came within sight of reaching it was a tribute to the efforts first of Damien Wright, whose 31 off 14 balls included three sixes, and their wicket-keeper, Mark Wallace. Nicky Peng took 16 off Lee Daggett's opening over but tight spells from Neil Carter and, in particular, Heath Streak limited Glamorgan to 20 runs off the first five overs after the fielding restrictions were lifted. Streak's first over, the sixth of the innings, was a wicket maiden, Ambrose catching Tom Maynard while standing up to the Zimbabwean's medium pacers. Wright picked up the momentum by thumping Alex Loudon for consecutive sixes before the Bears' captain, Darren Maddy, brought back Carter. He was immediately rewarded when Wright skied an attempted lofted drive that Maddy, sprinting back towards the boundary from mid-on, dived and caught superbly. There was still Wallace to come, though, and after he twice pulled Carter into the crowd the Dragons needed 17 to win off the final over. Wallace swept Streak's first ball, a full toss, for four and took two off each of the next two deliveries before holing out to Loudon at deep mid-wicket. Streak's next delivery beat Ryan Watkins but Ambrose contrived to miss it as well and it ran for four. A six off the final ball would have won it but Watkins failed to connect cleanly. The margin of victory highlighted the crucial difference in the quality of catching, which cost Glamorgan, with Maynard having got both hands to a Jim Troughton pull that he ended up dropping over the boundary for a six and, towards the end of the Bears' innings, Dean Cosker doing exactly the same when Ambrose lofted Andrew Davies to long-on.