Cosker turns in

The County Championship wheel of fortune spun dramatically in Glamorgan's favour yesterday as they overcame Gloucestershire's stubborn resistance at Swansea.

The unlikely hero of an attack boasting the huge presence of the Pakistan Test ace Waqar Younis was a 19-year-old spinner who normally has to live in the shadow of England's Robert Croft. Dean Cosker played a crucial role in Glamorgan's elevation to the top of the table - the England under-19 star finished with match figures of 7-146 but that only told half the story of his performance.

Perhaps the best indication of his talents was the fact that he removed the obdurate Jack Russell in both innings. The only thing that appears to faze Russell is when his favourite variety of baked beans fail to arrive.

Yesterday afternoon he was at his dogged best, sharing in a stand of 66 with the skipper Mark Alleyne as the Glamorgan bowlers toiled in the sunshine. Even when Steve Watkin removed Alleyne for 42, Russell looked ready to start again with his new partner, Martyn Ball.

But Cosker had different ideas, spinning a ball from outside off-stump which turned to catch the edge of Russell's bat before leaping into the hands of Matthew Maynard at silly point. With Russell gone, it was only a matter of time before Glamorgan sealed a vital win in the title race.

Ball showed some spirited resistance and his lusty blows saved the visitors from the embarrassment of an innings defeat, taking them past the 186- run landmark required to force Glamorgan to bat again.

But Waqar is rarely out of the limelight for long and he came roaring in after tea to give a fine example of how to bowl out the tail. In the first over after the resumption he whipped a delivery through Jonathan Lewis to send his stumps cartwheeling. And when Ball took one risk too many Waqar took full advantage to wrap up the Gloucestershire innings, leaving Glamorgan needing just 48 for victory.

It was a fitting finale for Glamorgan's overseas import, who had toiled in the first hour of the day for little reward as the opener Nick Trainor and the night-watchman Richard Davis survived a testing period.

Waqar's new-ball partner Watkin was particularly unlucky, passing the edge of the bat with monotonous regularity. He must have looked on in utter disbelief when Darren Thomas replaced him and immediately had Trainor caught behind by Adrian Shaw. That sparked a collapse of five wickets for 19 runs before lunch with the 22-year-old seamer Thomas taking three and Cosker accounting for the potentially dangerous Monte Lynch and Shaun Young.

Gloucestershire, 116-6 at lunch, briefly held up Maynard's men who wasted little time when they did bat again - knocking off the 48 runs required in quick time. Steve James finished proceedings by hoisting Davis for a straight six to give Glamorgan high hopes of putting up their stiffest Championship challenge since the title-winning side of 1969.