Dan Looking To Press Claims For Australia Recall
20 June 2013
Dan Christian has arrived at Gloucestershire and is looking forward to making his debut in the three-day tour match against Australia A, starting on Friday.
The Aussie all-rounder was welcomed to the County Ground by warm sunshine and a gathering of media representatives today.
Soon Dan was contemplating the prospect of facing his fellow countrymen in his first appearance for the county and talking of a major incentive to hit the ground running.
He told this website: “When I looked at the fixtures a couple of months ago I was immediately interested in playing against Australia A to blow some cobwebs away four or five days before the start of T20.
“I certainly haven’t given up hope of getting back in Australia’s one-day or T20 team and I’d still love to play Test cricket, so a good performance against the A team would do no harm
“It’s consistency that counts so I’ll also be looking to have a good T20 tournament with Gloucestershire and help the club to some success.”
Dan already boasts a T20 winners medal from the domestic competition in this country, having helped Hampshire beat Somerset in the final of the 2010 competition.
He was directly involved in an amazing conclusion to that game.
“It was an extraordinary finish and of course I have some very good memories from that season with Hampshire,” he said.
“I was facing the last ball with one needed to win and I had suffered a twinge in a quad muscle, which meant I called for a runner.
“The ball hit my pad and there was a big appeal for lbw. I was like a rabbit in the headlights and took off for the leg-bye, forgetting I had the runner.
“I got right to the other end and should have been run out. But Somerset didn’t realise what had happened and all the players started shaking hands.
“One of the umpires muttered to me ‘just get back up the other end, son, because you are out of your ground’ and I wandered back. The Somerset guys never took the bails off and all was well.”
Now Dan is hoping to repeat that success with a Gloucestershire team he feels have just the right blend of youth and experience for T20 cricket.
“I’ve only just met a lot of my new team-mates so I’m not sure what they do yet, but they reached the quarter-finals last year so they must be a decent side,” he said.
“There are a lot of young guys in the squad and that is great for Twenty20 because more often than not youngsters will go out and play with freedom, which is just what is needed.
“There is also experience in the likes of Michael Klinger, Hamish Marshall and Alex Gidman, so there is a solid base to the batting.
“If we can be consistent in putting big runs on the board and giving the bowlers something to bowl at we should do well.”
“I’ll probably fit in at four or five with the bat and bowl wherever Michael needs me, whether it is up front, at the death or in mid-innings.
“I’m adaptable as a bowler. I’m fast-medium and like to send down a few slower balls, which is the case whatever stage of the game I am asked to operate in.
“I hope I can hit a few sixes. I like the look of the way the boundaries have been brought in because of the ground redevelopment and I think I will be able to clear the ropes on a few occasions.”
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