PREVIEW : Thisara Perera touches down for Festival finale
15 July 2017
Sri Lankan all rounder Thisara Perera has landed in England in time to be available for the last day of the 2017 Cheltenham Festival as Gloucestershire host Sussex in the NatWest T20 Blast.
Perera, whose signature was eventually secured after it was clear Andrew Tye would be unavailable because of injury, has never played in county cricket before but he is known to captain Michael Klinger who previously played alongside him in the IPL.
Gloucestershire v Sussex - Cheltenham Cricket Festival - 2.00pm (Sold out)
"Andrew Tye is a big loss to us but Perera will add a bit of strength to the lower order" said Klinger. " He can hit the ball a long way and being a left hander can help us as well."
Head coach Richard Dawson confirmed Perera is more of a genuine all rounder than Tye.
"He's a World Cup winner who has played all round the world in different conditions. He can bowl with a new ball and at the death, so he gives us options and he has more pedigree as a batsman. You need more than one way of playing in T20 cricket and and we're looking forward to getting him involved."
Without Perera, Gloucestershire have taken three points from their first two fixtures against Middlesex and Kent, so his inclusion in place of Cameron Bancroft is the only change to the squad for Sunday's match.
Squad:
Klinger (c), Mustard, Cockbain, Hankins, Roderick, Howell, J. Taylor, Noema-Barnett, Perera, Smith, Payne, M.Taylor, Liddle.
Opponents Sussex were also the visitors on the final day of the 2016 Festival, when Gloucestershire won by 51 runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup. So far they lost twice, in both cases batting second, although Luke Wright has been in impressive form with a century at Arundel against Glamorgan and 50 in the defeat to Hampshire at Hove.
Left arm spinner Tom Smith has started both Gloucestershire's matches to date and he says despite a sluggish start his former county can still recover.
"It's a 14 game competition and there isn't a huge gap between the teams" he reflected. "Sussex have Ross Taylor as their captain and Chris Jordan as well as Wright. We beat them in the 50 over game at Eastbourne and we've played them in the Championship too so we know a lot about them and it's important that if it's another tight game that we come out of it with a win. You want to get momentum early, be up at the top of the table and stay there."
Smith, Ian Cockbain and Benny Howell have all been heavily involved in white ball cricket this summer but have yet to play in the Championship, so Smith accepts this is now a stage where they need to shine.
"It has been a strange summer for us" he went on. "We all played in the Royal London Cup, and then we've been out of the red ball games, and I think it's all our dreams to be in that team. I guess it shows how cricket is going with players becoming more and more specialist. We now have to try and perform in the T20, which is a strength for all of us. I'm certainly pleased with the way I've been bowling and it's good when you feel you are playing well and the games come thick and fast."
Coverage :
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @GlosCricket
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