Asa Tribe: Glamorgan batter staking England claim with Lions share
If Tribe realizes his ambition and becomes the first Glamorgan player to play for England since Simon Jones in 2005, he will be spared the temptation to pack his bags and move on where the opportunities to play and develop are.
He had never played a game outside Jersey before leaving the island to study in Cardiff when he was 18, but joined Glamorgan on a rookie contract in 2023 before signing an improved deal last year.
Since then his travels have taken Tribe to the National Cricket League in Texas, played Grade cricket in Adelaide for a while, then participated in a Nepal T20 before being picked up by the Paarl Royals to play in the South African T20 tournament last winter, and also struck a deal to play grade cricket in Australia.
His involvement with Paarl Royals in particular is paying off; Tribe have managed to improve their technique ahead of this mini-series against South Africa.
“I made a few technical changes and it helped me a lot here,” he said.
“I’m more on the side now and I added a little trigger there and made sure I added a few more shots.
“So even if the players are slightly offside I can punch that and try to narrow the bowler’s margin of error.
“My movements are also a little more precise and accurate.
“It gave me the ability to know what the bowlers were doing with the ball.
“That definitely helped me against their talented bowlers and gave me an indication of what they were doing.
“The reason we have this type of cricket to play against other countries’ second teams is because it is of a better standard than what we would potentially face in the County Championship.
“In the Championship you talk about slightly slower bowling whereas on this wicket there is more pace and bounce. These are different challenges.
“I liked the idea of us having the opportunity to play in them because if you get exposure to Test cricket then it goes quicker.”
It remains to be seen whether Tribe will be on the fast track to playing for England, but the already well-traveled youngster continues to do his best to make his dream a reality.
