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Promotion Is On If We Beat Kent - Hamish

20 August 2013

Hamish Marshall believes Gloucestershire will be right in the thick of the LV=County Championship promotion race if they can beat win the match againt Kent at Canterbury, starting tomorrow.

Michael Klinger’s team go into the game third in the Second Division, but with a 27-point gap to close on second placed Northants and 47 behind leaders Lancashire.

With five matches to go, three of them at Bristol, Hamish sees every chance of putting pressure on the top two, but admits Gloucestershire will have to overcome a bad habit of finishing Championship seasons poorly.

He told this website: “We have a bit of catching up to do on Northants, but you are only talking about one big win for us and hopefully a bad defeat for them.

“It’s nice to be in contention, but in the past we have fallen away at the end of seasons and cannot allow that to happen again.

“We have a fit squad and a lot of the guys are in good form, so we are in a good position. We just have to go out there and do the job.

“Hopefully, we can take the momentum from the YB40 win over Glamorgan into the Kent game.”

Hamish scored 55 in the thrilling two-wicket victory over Glamorgan to put himself in confident mood for Canterbury.

He said: “I haven’t got going in the one-dayers this season, so I was pleased to get some runs on Sunday.

“The four-day format has gone quite nicely for me, but it was nice to spend some time in the middle against Glamorgan as a preparation to face Kent.”

The win at Cheltenham was Kent’s only one in the Championship this season. But they have been beaten just twice in 11 fixtures and Hamish warns against underestimating them.

He added: “They may be out of contention for promotion, but we know they won’t fall over for us on home turf.

“Having beaten us at Cheltenham, albeit when we set up a game, they will fancy their chances again. They have some very good players and we will need to play well to come away with a victory.”

Hamish makes no attempt to disguise the significance of the game or the other remaining Championship matches, which include a visit from Lancashire.

“Promotion in the Championship is always priority when you start a season in the Second Division,” he said. “We all want to challenge ourselves against the best sides in the toughest standard possible.”

Gloucestershire (from) M.Klinger (capt), C.Dent, G.Roderick (wkt), A Gidman, H.Marshall, B.Howell, W.Gidman, T.Smith, D.Payne, C.Miles, L.Norwell, T.Shrewsbury.

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