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Dent puts prolific start down to becoming a dad

6 May 2016

Chris Dent is putting his prolific start to the season down to becoming a dad.

The 25-year-old has made 407 runs at an average of over 100 in his first three Specsavers County Championship matches since his son Sonny was born in January.

Chris said: “Becoming a father seems to have had a really positive effect on my batting.

My son Sonny is now four months old and I have found that when I get home I am straight into my responsibilities as a dad and not thinking so much about cricket.

“To see him smiling when you get through the door, you just forget about everything else and focus on him rather than worrying about batting.”

Chris is currently the third highest runscorer in the country behind Essex pair Alastair Cook and Tom Westley.

He has already registered two centuries – 180 v Derbyshire and 138 not out v Worcestershire.

Both knocks came at the Brightside Ground, Bristol – a place Chris hadn’t scored a Championship hundred until his stunning 268 v Glamorgan in the final match of last season.

His change in fortunes at home has seen him score a remarkable 645 runs in his last four innings at home.

Chris said: “I think I found it easier playing away, when you are staying in a hotel and you have more of a set routine.

“But getting that first hundred against Glamorgan, and it being a big one, has given me the confidence that I can get big scores here.

“I haven’t really made any technical changes. I have just tried to focus on trying to bat long periods and rather than be happy with scoring a hundred, I want to try and make big hundreds. It is the scores of 150-200 that make the big difference to the team and have a real impact on a game.”

With no player yet to cement their place alongside Alastair Cook at the top of the order for England since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012,  Chris’ form has seen him join a number of county openers staking his claim for international recognition.

But the left hander is refusing to get carried away by his early-season form, acknowledging that consistent run-scoring is the key to achieving his dream of pulling on the three lions.

He said: “It has been a great start to the season but it has only been three games and I won’t be getting ahead of myself – there are still 13 matches left.

“In the back of your mind you always have the ambition to try and play for England but I know there are a lot of people ahead of me and I need to score runs consistently – not just this season but year on year which is something I haven’t always managed to do.”

One of the highlights of Gloucestershire’s first three County Championship matches was Liam Norwell’s maiden hundred against Derbyshire after coming in as nightwatchmen.

Chris was out in the middle at the time and admits to being more nervous when his team mate reached the 90s than he would have been if he had been in the same position.

He said: “It was much worse than when I get there as I couldn’t do anything. I tried to make sure he made good decisions and was telling him to wait for the bad ball but I was hoping he would just smash a couple of sixes and get it over with as quickly as possible.

“The lads were all so happy for him and hopefully it will give him the confidence to kick on and establish himself as a reliable number eight batsman that can chip in with a few 50s each year.”

Chris is hoping to keep his fine form going when Gloucestershire travel to Kent in search of their first County Championship of 2016 win this Sunday.

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