Chris Hungry For More White Ball Runs
4 May 2014
Chris Dent is aiming for greater consistency in one-day cricket this season, while building on his already well-earned reputation as a leading run-maker in the LV=County Championship.
The 23-year-old opening batsman hit more than 1,000 first class runs last summer at an average of 45.6 and already has 331 to his credit this season at 66.2, including a double century against Cardiff MCCU.
But his 384 Yorkshire Bank 40 runs in 2013 included 151 not out in one innings against Glamorgan, while his average in Twenty20 cricket was a disappointing 20.2.
Chris told this website: “I was pleased with my four-day form last summer and will be looking to carry that on. The target, as always ,will be 1,000 runs and, as I am always looking to improve, I hope to beat last season’s tally (1,049).
“I am enjoying batting with Michael Klinger again. I learned a lot from him last year because he is so calm at the wicket and expect to learn more this season.
“But it is also a major target to really kick on in white ball cricket. I had an okay season in the one-day competitions last year, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
“I played quite a lot of white ball cricket in Australia during the winter and honed my skills somewhat. In fact, I felt at my strongest in that format over there, which surprised me.
“Hopefully, I can take the development in my game into this summer’s one-day competitions and really make an impact.”
Gloucestershire's one-day season starts on Friday week with a visit from arch-rivals Somerset in the NatWest Blast T20, a competition Chris is looking forward to.
He spent from last October to March in Australia. “I went to Melbourne for five and a half months and played in a good standard of cricket,” he said.
“My club Northcote had struggled the previous year, but recruited a few players, which enabled us to compete until the end of the season when we tailed off a bit
“We played every Saturday or over two days at weekends. I also played a couple of T20 games for the Darren Lehmann Academy when they came over to Melbourne so I got in a lot of games and trained hard in between.
“I managed a few scores in the 80s. It was a mixture of two-day cricket, which was 90 overs a day, plus 50-over and T20 fixtures, so it was great experience.”
Chris is optimistic that Gloucestershire will be competitive in all forms of cricket this summer, but lists promotion in the Championship as the major objective.
“You can’t win the Championship playing in the Second Division, so the sooner we win promotion the better,” he said.
“We want to get into the First Division to show we are a serious club. In the four years I have been playing we have knocked on the door for promotion three times, so I see it as a realistic target.
“Some our young bowlers are a year stronger and we are all a year wiser. It has been great seeing Ian Saxelby bowling again and having him available strengthens our squad.”
