Klinger targets teamwork to deliver T20 results
2 July 2017
Limited overs captain Michael Klinger believes a big collective effort can see Gloucestershire compete effectively in the 2017 NatWest T20 Blast tournament as the Australian returns to the club.
Klinger jetted back to Australia after the final group game in the Royal London One-Day Cup and has taken part in Western Australia's domestic pre-season programme in preparation for the T20 tournament.
"There are some teams with one or two high profile players who can take a game away from you" Klinger said.
"The way to overcome that is to have more players contributing, and it doesn't necessarily have to be the same people all the time. Last year although one bowler would generally go for a lot of runs we had four others bowling well and taking wickets.
"If one or two of the top order batsmen got out cheaply the middle order stepped in, and if you look at when we have done well in short format cricket it's been when everyone plays their specific role."
For the second season running, Gloucestershire's T20 group is the same as for the Royal London One-Day Cup, the only difference being that rather than playing each team once, they play all the teams twice apart from Hampshire and Surrey.
"I chatted with Richard Dawson while I was in Australia to work out what we think tactically is the best team" he added.
"T20 is a different format to 50 over cricket and although with a small squad we can't make huge changes there may be a slightly different make up to the side. The opposition is familiar so we know our opponents pretty well individually and as a group, although you can't really say that it's an advantage as everyone is in the same boat."
The calendar is a testing one - 14 matches in 41 days - and despite two Championship matches being squeezed in as well, Klinger is a fan of scheduling the matches in one concentrated block.
"You can basically concentrate on one format, and that should make it a better tournament in terms of skill levels" Klinger said.
"T20 is about high intensity. It's about concentration for 120 balls and having a plan to execute for each one. It probably took a couple of years for me as captain to get that message across, having played a lot of T20 in Australia and having the experience which some of the other guys didn't."
"It was the attitude we took into last year and you saw how it worked out. We always talk about doing the little things well, the things we can control. The one disappointment for me in the Royal London One-Day Cup was the fielding, so we need to make sure in the T20 it is up to scratch and then I think we can again have a good tournament."
Tickets to watch Gloucestershire Cricket in the NatWest T20 Blast are now on sale. Click here to view the fixtures and book tickets
