PREVIEW: Dawson highlights fielding as factor in T20 form
12 July 2017
Head coach Richard Dawson believes maintaining the standards Gloucestershire set in the field during the tied T20 match against Middlesex last Friday can be a significant plank towards a good T20 campaign.
Kent come to the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday (2.30) having impressed in their first match against Essex, which they won with some comfort thanks to an innings of 90 from Daniel Bell-Drummond, who signed a contract at the club this week.
Gates Open 12:30pm
Match Starts 2:30pm
Tickets will be available on the gate
"We've watched some footage from that game and they batted very well" Dawson said. They have added two good overseas players in Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham to a good squad including people like Billings and Denly as well as Bell-Drummond."
"Our game with Middlesex was topsy turvy. We were in control for the majority of it and some of our catching and ground fielding was exceptional. We talked about that after the Royal London Cup because we didn't field particularly well and we've put an emphasis on it since. We did a lot of good stuff but Ryan Higgins played a special innings and in hindsight there were one or two things we might have done differently so we have to learn from that."
The arrival of the club's second overseas T20 signing, Thisara Perera, has been delayed, and therefore Cameron Bancroft is available for selection for Thursday's match in a squad of 13 which is unchanged from the tie with Middlesex. Captain Michael Klinger has overcome an ankle injury and has declared himself fit.
Gloucestershire squad :
Klinger (c), Mustard, Cockbain, Bancroft, Hankins, J.Taylor, Howell, Roderick, Smith, Noema-Barnett, Payne, M.Taylor, Liddle.
Kent have added bowlers Calum Haggett and Imran Qayyum to the team that beat Essex at Beckenham for the first of two matches against Gloucestershire in the space of six days. The return fixture is at Canterbury on Tuesday.
Kent Spitfires squad: Bell-Drummond, Denly, Northeast (c), Billings, Blake, Neesham, Stevens, Coles, Ball, Milne, Tredwell, Haggett, Qayyum
Coverage :
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @GlosCricket
