MATCH PREVIEW: Dawson asks batsmen to 'stamp their name' on the season
12 April 2018
Head coach Richard Dawson's challenge to the Gloucestershire top order over the next six months is a simple one - be the batsman that makes the difference.
Dawson starts his fourth summer at the club with 13 of the squad he inherited in 2015 still at the Brightside Ground, but with a different structure to the group and no overseas batsman he believes the team has a new set of demands to confront them.
"I cannot fault the efforts of the players over the winter" Dawson said. "Some went away to play, some worked hard at home. The weather in pre-season has frustrated us but it's been the same for everyone. For the season itself, I've highlighted us playing hard cricket and being resiliant, like we were against Nottinghamshire and Durham at Bristol last year. We've got to do that session after session, day in, day out."
"Since Chris Rogers has come in to help the batsmen, we've talked a lot about how to get the most out of everyone, especially in early season conditions. It's a challenge, but it would be boring if it wasn't. I want two or three of them to fill up the runs made before by an overseas batsman and stamp their name on the season."
Dawson's first selection for Friday's opening Championship game against Kent sees a squad of 13 travel to Canterbury, although Liam Norwell is not included purely as a precaution due to a lack of time on the field since injuring his hamstring.
Squad :
Dent (c), Howell, Roderick, Bracey, J.Taylor, van Buuren, Higgins, Noema-Barnett, Miles, Worrall, M.Taylor, Liddle, Hankins.
Dawson revealed that Gareth Roderick would keep wicket and that one of the options tried at the end of last season - with Benny Howell opening the batting alongside Chris Dent - could continue, reflected a re-moulding of the team.
"It was good to see Benny perform like he did at the end of last summer, and adding Ryan Higgins and Dan Worrall got us thinking about different tactics. It might not be that a player makes massive technical improvements but a change of circumstance can make them perform better and it was pleasing to see Benny make 83 against Cardiff MCCU when we gave him another chance."
"Overall we've got a different outlook with Chris Dent as a new captain. We've chatted about how we can do things that aren't the scripted solutions, and we'll support him because the path won't be smooth all the time."
Kent have added New Zealand fast medium bowler Matt Henry and South African batsman Heino Kuhn on a Kolpak deal ahead of the new season, the latter scoring a century in a match last week against Surrey. Joe Denly leads the team with newly appointed captain Sam Billings away at the IPL, and Gloucestershire will be wary of veteran all rounder Darren Stevens, who signed a contract extension during the winter after taking 62 wickets last year.
Coverage:
You can follow the match via the live scorecard on the website, or via Twitter @GlosCricket.
Ball by ball commentary is also available online via the BBC Sport website.
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