Grieshaber included in squad for Festival finale
23 July 2016
Academy wicket keeper Patrick Grieshaber has been included in a squad of 13 for Sunday's Royal London Cup match against Sussex, which brings down the curtain on the 2016 Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Cricket Festival.
The 19 year old has played in the first team once before, when he was called up at the last minute for a Championship game against Glamorgan in 2014 after Cameron Herring broke a finger during the warm up. The match was drawn, Grieshaber making 10 in his only innings, but keeping wicket for 159 overs as Glamorgan made 615-7 declared.
Speaking on Friday, head coach Richard Dawson revealed that although Chris Dent had kept wicket in the Championship match against Leicestershire, all options would be considered for Sunday.
"We are looking at the possibility of signing a 'keeper on loan but for Sunday we'll be picking from within the club" he said. "Patrick and the other Academy wicket keeper James Bracey are starting out in their careers and Sunday may be an opportunity for Patrick to stake a claim in a first team match."
The squad of 13 for Sunday includes eight players who have bowled in the Royal London Cup this season, and two possible wicket keepers in Dent and Grieshaber. Liam Norwell and Josh Shaw are both rested.
Squad :
Klinger (c), Dent, Cockbain, Marshall, Van Buuren, Howell, Noema-Barnett, J.Taylor, Smith, Grieshaber, Payne, Miles, M.Taylor.
Sunday's game brings together the bottom two teams in the South group. At this stage neither is out of contention for a place in the quarter finals, but Richard Dawson knows only one team will be on Sunday evening.
"I don't need to look at the table" he joked. "We need to win all four pool games from here to have a chance of going any further. Sussex have some influential, potentially match winning players in Luke Wright and Chris Nash, and they are normally a very good fielding unit. For us, Ian Cockbain batted really well in the T20 last Sunday - in fact he has done all season - so we're hoping he can take that into the longer game."
Around 3,000 tickets have been sold in advance, so another big crowd is expected. Gates open at 9.00 am with the Festival service in the College chapel starting an hour later. Play gets underway at 11.00 am and head coach Richard Dawson would like Gloucestershire to leave Cheltenham still having a live chance in all three competitions.
"There has been some good, tough Championship cricket and a high scoring T20 game. The Leicestershire match was really interesting for the spectators because the game was always moving on, and the England Lions won their game against Pakistan A chasing a score in the mid-200's. Certainly from our point of view to get three wins out of four would be good and that's what we are looking for."
Coverage :
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @Gloscricket
