Dawson looks internally for Championship progression
21 July 2018
Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson says that the club has decided to blood their own young players rather than look to external additions as the Championship season turns into the second half with the visit of Durham to the Cheltenham Festival on Sunday (11.00).
Injuries to Liam Norwell and George Hankins are restricting Dawson's options but he says the remainder of the season represents a window of opportunity for some of the club's emerging talent.
"There are two trains of thought in our situation" Dawson said. "One is you sign an overseas player or a loanee, the other is that you back our lads who have shown ability, and that it what we have decided to do. We knew we wouldn't have an overseas player at this point even if Dan Worrall hadn't been injured, and it has opened up opportunities for the likes of Miles Hammond and George Drissell."
"We saw what Miles can do against Sussex and George got into his work well on a small ground where it is tough for a finger spinner against batsmen who are brought up nowadays to hit spinners out of the ground."
The squad for the match is certain to see one change from the side defeated by Sussex, with Graeme van Buuren omitted. Jack Taylor and Benny Howell come into the 12.
Squad :
Dent (c), Hammond, Bracey, Roderick, J.Taylor, Howell, Higgins, Noema-Barnett, Miles, Payne, M.Taylor, Drissell.
"We're getting to a point now where not overloading the bowling unit is important" Dawson added. "Obviously we have to take 20 wickets, and we've decided to change the side a bit by playing one less specialist batsman to try and do that. If the boys aren't doing 25 overs in a day they are fresher and an extra option can reduce their bowling time by a spell, possibly more."
Durham's last visit to Cheltenham was back in 1999, and the expectation is that their two England stars, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, will both play having been released from the international squad to get some red ball cricket. Stokes hasn't played in the Championship this season, whilst Wood took a career best 6-46 on his only appearance against Derbyshire at Derby in May.
"We played against Wood at Bristol early last season, and it will be exciting to play against him and Stokes if they are selected" Dawson concluded. "We won't have seen a lot of some of their side, so we'll have to be ready to face whoever they bring down on what I hope will be another excellent wicket. The one for the Sussex match had bounce for four days, you could score runs on it and it kept the bowlers interested. You can't ask any more than that."
Coverage:
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @Gloscricket.
Ball by ball commentary is also available on the BBC Sport website.
