Match preview: Sharper cricket will bring results - Dawson
13 May 2016
Head coach Richard Dawson has asked his players to raise their levels of performance across the board as the team return to the Brightside Ground on Sunday for the first of three back to back home matches.
Gloucestershire have drawn their last three matches, and face a Glamorgan side also still looking for their first win of the season.
"We've done well at times during each game but there have been phases where we've been poor, and that reflects how we've had to scrap really hard" Dawson said.
"The draw against Kent at Canterbury could have been easier than it turned out to be because we underperformed on the last day with the bat, but against that on the first morning we were 14-4 and still managed to get 337. That showed a lot of character."
The squad on duty at the St Lawrence Ground is retained for Sunday, but with the addition of all rounder Graeme Van Buuren for the first time. The South African made an unbeaten half century in the abandoned second XI game with Essex this week. Liam Norwell and Will Tavare are still unavailable.
Squad :
Dent, Bancroft, Cockbain, Roderick (c), Marshall, Hankins, Noema-Barnett, J Taylor, Shaw, Payne, Miles, Hampton, Van Buuren.
Last season :
Glamorgan's attack was put to the sword by Chris Dent in the final match of 2015, the left hander scoring a career best 268 in a high scoring draw. The match at Swansea in August saw Dent again in the runs, an unbeaten 65 guiding Gloucestershire to a seven wicket win despite the team being severely depleted by injuries. Four wickets in each innings for David Payne restricted the victory target to 108.
So far this season Glamorgan have drawn two of their four matches but also lost twice to Leicestershire and Kent, on both occasions by ten wickets, although that isn't form that Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson pays much attention to.
"It's still early in the season and Glamorgan have some quality players. I'm more interested in our game and how we can sharpen up our batting bowling and fielding." he said.
"It's been tough work for the bowlers so far. You have to try and build pressure from both ends with the ball and that's an area we need to improve on. We chatted about it on the third morning at Canterbury and were able to do it, but we need to do so more often."
"If the side batting first posts a big score there is always scoreboard pressure" he went on. "That side is then in a position to shape the game, and if you don't do that you're playing catch up, which we found ourselves doing a lot last season. So far we've found a way of getting that score, but we don't want to become reliant on one or two players. We want everyone to contribute."
COVERAGE :
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @Gloscricket.
