June 7th has been the date on the lips of every politician in this country. In the years to come, Darren Thomas will have other reasons for remembering June 7th, 2001.

In the morning session of the Championship match at Chelmsford, Darren Thomas created a piece of cricketing history for himself by making the highest ever score by a Glamorgan number eight.

Yesterday, Thomas scored his maiden first-class century, hitting 119* and shared in a 7th wicket stand of 163 with fellow centurion Adrian Dale. This morning, he subsequently extended his overnight score to 138, and past the previous best by a Glamorgan number eight - Malcolm Nash`s 130, scored in the opening match of the 1976 season against Surrey at The Oval.

There were certain parallels between both of these innings. Thomas came to the crease yesterday with Glamorgan lurching at 128-6, whilst Nash started his innings in 1976 with The Oval scoreboard reading 65-6. Nash then shared in a stand of 171 for the 7th wicket with Mike Llewellyn, with Nash mauling the Surrey attack by hitting two sixes and seventeen fours.

Thomas was equally aggressive, with nineteen fours and a six in his career best score. But there the comparisons end, as the 1976 match finished in a draw, with Glamorgan`s last pair stoutly defending the last 21 balls on the final afternoon to draw the game.

Thomas` career best 138 may prove to be a match winning innings, as Glamorgan made 370 in their first innings. By tea on the second day, Essex were already following on after being dismissed for 193 with Darren Thomas taking four wickets.

This is the third year running that a Glamorgan player has established a record score for a batting position, and as the table below shows, in the past two years it has been Steve James who has rewritten the record books, with the highest scores at number one and two in the order:

HIGHEST SCORES FOR EACH POSITION IN THE BATTING ORDER BY GLAMORGAN

 1  259   S.P.James      v Nottinghamshire      Colwyn Bay,     1999
 2  309*  S.P.James      v Sussex               Colwyn Bay,     2000
 3  223   A.R.Lewis      v Kent                 Gravesend,      1966
 4  243   M.P.Maynard    v Hampshire            Southampton,    1991
 5  280*  R.G.Duckfield  v Surrey               The Oval,       1936
 6  165*  D.Davies       v Sussex               Eastbourne,     1928
 7  151*  C.C.Smart      v Sussex               Hastings,       1935
 8  138   S.D.Thomas     v Essex                Chelmsford,     2001
 9  124*  M.A.Nash       v Leicestershire       Swansea,        1978    
10  101*  J.C.Clay       v Worcestershire       Swansea,        1929
11   73   S.A.B.Daniels  v Gloucestershire      Swansea,        1982

© Glamorgan CCC/CricInfo