This Has To Be A Year Of Improvement - Bracewell
6 January 2013
John Bracewell is setting Gloucestershire some tough targets for 2013, describing promotion in the LV=County Championship as "a minimum requirement."
In an exclusive interview for this website, the club's director of cricket insists that having a small and young squad will no longer be a legitimate excuse for failing to challenge in all three domestic competitions.
John said: “The players have to start showing improvement. That is the bottom line because you cannot go on being described as promising forever.
“We have confidence that a number of the guys are good enough cricketers to start becoming competitive in all forms of the game.
“They now have to start putting numbers on the board. It is as simple as that and they have been made well aware of it.
“We can no longer provide an environment that allows for excuses. This is the start of a new beginning for our club on and off the park.
“Promotion in the Championship has to be looked at as a minimum requirement. The Second Division is increasingly competitive when you consider that Lancashire have come down a year after winning the Division One title and have a far greater budget than ourselves.
“We have to be realistic about that, but at the same time look to improve in all formats of the game and start challenging for honours.
“Like all young teams we have been inconsistent. What we have to do is develop the necessary resilience to play our best cricket over longer periods.”
“It is a question of being competitive day-in, day-out. We don’t have the biggest squad so we are asking a lot of the players, but at some point both they and the coaching staff have to be held to account.
“We are investing in the squad with an excellent new captain in Michael Klinger and therefore our members are entitled to expect improvement."
