Match Preview – Gloucestershire v Northants Steelbacks
26 August 2020
Gloucestershire will face Northants Steelbacks behind closed doors tomorrow at 2pm in their opening game of the Vitality Blast at the Bristol County Ground.
Richard Dawson’s side head into the T20 competition off the back of four congested Bob Willis Trophy matches in the Central Group. The previous home match in Bristol had seen Gloucestershire defeat Warwickshire in a gripping encounter, spearheaded by Ryan Higgins who will be hoping to continue his fine form into the shorter format of the game.
Gloucestershire have announced Jack Taylor as the new T20 captain, taking the place of the now retired Michael Klinger. The 28-year-old, who made his debut for the Club almost a decade ago, is seventh on the all-time Gloucestershire T20 scorers list with 928 runs. He also ranks eighth in T20 appearances for Gloucestershire.
Dawson is very captain Jack is the right man for the captaincy:
“Jack is a very confident performer and dynamic player himself, who has been part of our T20 side for a number of years now,” He said.
“He learned a lot from Maxy (Michael Klinger), but now intends to be his own man as skipper. We have talked about things he wants to implement and areas where we can improve.
“Jack is a good communicator and the sort of character whose glass is always half-full, rather than half-empty. He is very positive in the way he plays, which rubs off on team-mates, and it is really exciting to have him leading the side.”
Graeme van Buuren who has today extended his Gloucestershire contract to the end of the 2021 season is currently Gloucestershire’s top run scorer in the Bob Willis Trophy with 222 runs. He will be looking to replicate his fine form with the bat in the Vitality Blast.
Gloucestershire’s squad has been bolstered by James Bracey who has returned from international duty with the England Test squad. He has yet to feature for The Shire this summer but has been keeping fit and training with some of the best coaches in the country in the England bubble.
Ian Cockbain and Miles Hammond will also be available to bolster the batting line-up. Left-arm spinner Tom Smith has proved adept at taking pace off the ball and stifling opposing batsmen in mid-innings, while David Payne has the ability to rank among the best death bowlers in the competition.
Gloucestershire have reached the quarter-final stages in three of the last four years of the competition. Richard Dawson’s side will be looking to reach finals day this year as they seek to produce their fine form with the white ball from previous seasons.
Gloucestershire's 14-man squad for tomorrow:
Northants head into the game on a high having picked up their first win of the season in the Bob Willis Trophy against Glamorgan.
They will be hoping to improve on a seventh-place finish in the North Division in last year’s Vitality Blast especially with the counties split into three groups.
They will be without their joint highest wicket-taker from last season Faheen Ashraf’s but earlier in the year added Brandon Glover to the bowling attack. Glover played a key role in Netherlands’ victory in the World T20 qualifier last autumn.
Paul Stirling is also now available for the duration of the tournament and the Irishman will add some big hitting to the top of the order. He has been in sensational form as of late making 142 off 128 in Ireland’s recent ODI victory over England. He has also played in a T20 for Northern Knights in the Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy in which he was 41 off 24 before the game was lost to the weather.
Each of Gloucestershire’s behind closed doors matches at the Bristol County Ground will be streamed on the Gloscricket Match Centre which can be accessed here.
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