News

Q&A with Steve Snell – The season so far

8 July 2022

Gloucestershire Cricket performance Director Steve Snell sits down to discuss the first half of the season for The Shire, and looks ahead to a shift in focus, the return to County Championship action and the upcoming Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival.

Q: We’re halfway through the season now and are just coming off the back of a tricky end to the Vitality Blast campaign; what’s your assessment of Gloucestershire’s performance in the tournament and where do you think we can make improvements for next year?

A: There’s no doubt we’re not where we want to be in terms of results and performances, the T20 competition was really disappointing with us not qualifying for the quarter-final stage but we didn’t really deserve to go through. We didn’t play consistent enough cricket throughout the tournament and we didn’t win the match-defining moments, we were inconsistent throughout the competition and it was really disappointing.

I’m not going to give the typical management speak of ‘we’re looking to take the positives’ from it because there weren’t many to take from a playing group that we expected to compete and progress through to the next stages, so we were really disappointed to be in the position. The losses we suffered in most of the matches were largely as a result of us not seizing the big moments.

Q: Expectations were high going into the Vitality Blast tournament, what was missing from our performances that led to us falling short?

A: There’s no doubt our death bowling wasn’t particularly strong in certain matches but equally we didn’t have guys making player-of-the-match performances in the batting positions, one to five, and we didn’t have guys playing with a huge amount of consistency or making match-defining innings that really shape matches. Too often we were looking to claw our way back into games rather than setting the tone and putting the opposition under pressure, and you don’t win many games of cricket when you’re in that position.

It's worth noting that it wasn’t particularly helpful with our overseas bowling options, there’s a significant reason why we signed someone like Naseem Shah with his death bowling and his pace, so from a strategy perspective it was difficult not having him. To be able to call on someone like Mohammad Amir was great but from a match fitness point of view, in that last game, losing him to injury was really disappointing and a key moment.

Q: What analysis of the Blast campaign has taken place within the dressing room so far this week?

A: We have been catching up as a group to reset and take stock but equally if you look at our matches, it’s not difficult to see where we could have been more effective. In reality we didn’t do enough things right to progress and we need to be working on certain aspects of our game in order to improve; we want to make sure our skills are sharper.

We’ve got some good, exciting players in our squad with a lot of experience but we have to make sure we’re winning the key moments in matches.

Q: Looking ahead the attention switches again to the County Championship and an away match v Essex on Monday, is the aim from here to put the Blast campaign behind us and concentrate on getting back to winning ways in Division One?

A: Having not played in the Blast quarter-finals the playing group have had a bit of rest so I’m sure that has been hugely beneficial for the squad, and the belief within the squad that we can go to Essex and get a result is there. It’d be worrying if I was sitting here and saying we’re not optimistic and feel we can achieve a result at Essex and in the forthcoming fixtures in Cheltenham v Hampshire and Northants.

We’re approaching a hugely exciting time of year, the Cheltenham Cricket Festival is an iconic event in the sporting calendar and the players are really looking forward to going up there and seeing what we can do.

Q: We all know this group of players have a huge amount of character and will want to bounce back and put things right. Have you seen that in dressing room over the last few days?

A: Absolutely, we have to stay positive and the belief is there in the group, but belief also comes from those match-winning performances. We need to ensure there are match-winning performances from a batting perspective, we’ve scored quite a lot of hundreds in four-day cricket this season and of course we’ve got Marcus Harris returning following a month away on international duty. He’s a welcome addition and the guys have shown decent form with the bat in red-ball cricket, we just need to be making sure we’re the team putting the opposition under pressure.

Essex will be tough opposition, there’s no doubt, but I certainly believe we’ve got the playing group to go there and get the result.

Q: Looking even further ahead Glos enjoyed a really good August and September last year, the conditions suited the likes of Zafar Gohar really well, is this something yourself and Dale take into consideration when you look at our position in the County Championship and look to target a run of results?

A: We are set up with an overseas spinner so tactically, as the wickets get drier, you’d hope that’d be an advantage for us but whatever time of year you play you need to adapt well to the conditions and the opposition in front of you. I think that’s certainly something we could have been smarter at but equally the players are trying really hard and the coaching staff are working their socks off behind the scenes to make sure the players are properly prepared.

I think it’s about being ruthless when it counts with the bat and ball, and I think that’s what we need to see from our players for the second half of the season, those defining match-winning contributions.

Q: Can you tell us what is going on behind the scenes with the Head Coach, Dale Benkenstein, to ensure our fortunes do changes and we start to see more winning performances?

A: Dale is an extremely positive person and is a born winner, he’s used to winning, so I think this has been quite an unusual cycle for him as we have had some obstacles, in a number of ways, on and off the field, which has made it a challenging start. His attitude is very positive and he is looking at solutions to how we can get back to winning ways.

Like in any new job, it takes time to bed in and it’s not an easy, smooth ride to begin with, but I can certainly see how he’s influencing the players in a positive way. I know we’ll see the fruits of that in the months and years to come, but I know the supporters want to see immediate results, as do we. It’s important to remember that opposition teams are allowed to play well as well, but we do believe we have the players who can produce those key performances when it matters.

Q: There’s still a lot of cricket to be played this season, what is your message to Glos fans taking into account where we find ourselves at the half-way point of the season?

A: We are as equally frustrated as the supporters, we take a lot of pride in our performances and similarly, when the performances aren’t there we take a lot of hurt from that so we do feel the pain too. We have to remember that Division One cricket is tough and we have been hamstrung with injuries that have meant we’ve haven’t been able to take our best XI onto the field at points.

Equally, we are remaining very positive and optimistic about the next three to six months and we recognise the support from the fanbase is invaluable. We want to put on good performances for the supporters, we are doing everything we can to ensure that happens, but admittedly it has taken a while to get the balance right on the field. There are no assurances in sport that you’re going to win, but we are giving it our all to ensure the performances are there for the remainder of the season.

• Previous
• Next