Aneurin Donald hopeful of positive reception on return to Sophia Gardens with Hampshire

Welshman Donald came through the Glamorgan academy, rising from Under-11s to first-team before moving to his current county last year

Aneurin Donald is hoping he will avoid using his instinct to walk into the home dressing room at Sophia Gardens when he makes his return to Glamorgan.

Welshman Donald came through the Glamorgan academy, rising from Under-11s to first-team before moving to Hampshire last year.

The 22-year-old will make his first pilgrimage back to his cricket schooling in the Vitality Blast on Friday night.

"It is always nice to play against some of my best mates and go back to where I spent a lot of my time as a junior coming through the ranks," Donald said.

"It is a bit of a treat really and hopefully I'll have a lot of friends and family down there as well. I'm looking forward to going back home.

"I need to make sure I don't turn into the home dressing room as it is my first time back there. It will be a different feeling for me."

Hampshire team-mates Sam Northeast and James Fuller have received negative receptions on their comebacks to face old clubs Kent and Gloucestershire in recent times.

But Donald is hopeful he will be given a pleasant greeting at Sophia Gardens, rather than a barrage of boos.

He said: "Who knows, but hopefully, I get a nice reaction. I was always treated very well while I was there by everyone involved, including the fans.

"It will be nice to see some old faces and hopefully they won't get on my back too much. I'd like to think that if there was anything it would be pantomime rather than bad feelings."

^{Aneurin Donald moved to Hampshire from Glamorgan in 2018}

Donald has already become part of the furniture at the Ageas Bowl after an impressive debut campaign at Hampshire.

It has been his Specsavers County Championship form which has caught the eye, much to the surprise of many Hampshire members, with an average of 50.90 in 11 innings, including an incredible 173 against Warwickshire.

And Donald reckons his entire game has improved on the English south coast.

"It is a different experience but it is something I'm glad I've gone through," he admitted. "I already had a few mates down here and then I came down here and settled in really well.

"It has been difficult to pop home whenever I would have liked but that is professional sport. It has been nice to settle into a new city and a new way of life.

"I feel like my game has improved a lot since I've moved down here and I've shown what I can do in red-ball cricket.

"White ball hasn't gone to plan but I think I have shown a little bit of what I can do but it is trying to get more consistency across the board.

"I don't think my red-ball form has been a surprise from my part, but it has probably been a nice surprise for Hampshire and their supporters.

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"I've played slightly more than I expected after getting my foot in the door in fortunate circumstances, whether that be guys getting in World Cup squads or getting injured.

"I have always put my hand up straight away and I think I have added a new dimension to the middle to lower order.

"Being able to come in and play my shots and dominating that latter stages of the batting innings, while getting after that second new ball.

"I knew I could do it but now it is all about converting a few more starts into fifties and hundreds – that is my next step up the ladder.

"From a professional stand-point, it was the right move for me, which has been shown by reaching a Lord's final and being towards the top of Division One for a large part of the season, while playing against top attacks week in, week out."

Courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network