Match Preview – Gloucestershire v Durham
19 May 2019
After battling it out with Glamorgan at Spytty Park in a well contested draw, Gloucestershire, bolstered by the addition of Josh Shaw, now travel to the northeast to face Durham.
Fast bowler Shaw, who featured for Gloucestershire in their opening match against Derbyshire, travels with the squad today in preparation for tomorrow’s game at Durham.
Head Coach Richard Dawson is pleased with the variety and competition Shaw brings to the team:
“Josh gives us options with our bowling attack. We’ve got a game straight after this at Cheltenham which means we’re going to have some tired bodies and we’re going to have to manage our players to make sure we’re getting the most out of them.
He also adds competition for places, so it works on a lot of levels. He’s a fine bowler and a young lad who’s enthusiastic so he gives us a new face and a different element.”
BREAKING - Josh Shaw returns to Gloucestershire🏏
— Gloucestershire Cricket🏏 (@Gloscricket) May 17, 2019
🗣️"The last three times, I’ve really enjoyed myself, it will be a great opportunity to go back to try and execute my skills"
Read here
⤵️⤵️⤵️
Shaw will likely be most familiar with the surroundings on Monday having played for Yorkshire in four-day cricket at Emirates Riverside and making his debut there in 2016. Gloucestershire haven’t played Durham in Durham for a number of years which is something Dawson believes might play a factor.
“It’s not the distance we have to travel that gives us a disadvantage, it’s more the fact that we’ve not played there for a very long time. That being said, there’s no pre-conceived ideas because there’s nothing to compare it with so we go up there with eyes wide open”.
The team will be looking to approach the game in the same manner they did against Glamorgan, by focusing on their own game and aiming to put themselves in a position to dictate the game at the midway stage.
“If we do what we did in the first two days at Glamorgan and just added to that then we’d be progressing and getting ourselves in a position to win games of cricket. We need to make that habitual, that’s what the best teams do in every sport,” Dawson said.
Gloucestershire's 14 man squad for tomorrow's game:
Dent (c), Hammond, Bracey, G. Hankins, Roderick, Howell, Higgins, van Buuren, Drissell, Payne, M.Taylor, H.Hankins, J.Taylor, Shaw.
Durham head into the game after losing their opening three games of the competition. They played significantly better in the One-Day Cup but still have players who can cause issues like former Gloucestershire player and Durham captain Cameron Bancroft and Alex Leech who picked up a five-for in their last outing.
Durham's 13 man squad:
Cameron Bancroft (c), Alex Lees, Gareth Harte, Graham Clark, Jack Burnham, Ned Eckersley, Liam Trevaskis, Ben Raine, Brydon Carse, Ryan Pringle, James Weighell, Matt Salisbury, Chris Rushworth.
Dawson admits the two teams facing each other will be very different and although they have lost their opening three games, “we can’t have any complacency; we don’t have any superstars, we rely on teamwork and everyone pulling in the same direction so we need to make sure we’re focusing on that”.
