Tom Could Get Chance To Stay On
29 July 2013
John Bracewell is ready to open talks with Middlesex about extending the loan of Tom Smith beyond the final Friends Life t20 group match against Glamorgan at Cardiff tomorrow night.
The original deal applied for the duration of Gloucestershire’s participation in the competition and, with the quarter-finals beyond reach, Smith is due to make his final appearance against Glamorgan.
But Gloucestershire have a key LV=County Championship match against Northants starting on Friday and Director of Cricket Bracewell would like to have the left-arm spinner available for that game.
John told this website: “It would be nice to keep Tom for a couple more weeks and the loan process allows for that. He is very good in the dressing room and has shown that he is a learner.
“I think he is a very good bowler. He arrived here short of match practice and the more he has bowled the more effective he has looked.
“It would be nice to have him for the Championship game at Northants, but that will depend on discussions with Middlesex.”
Meanwhile, John has issued a stern warning to Gloucestershire’s players that there must be no repeat of the poor performance against Somerset last Friday night as they conclude their Midlands/Wales/West Division campaign against Glamorgan.
He said: “We have to learn how to win games of T20 cricket and how to comply to a strategy.
“I read a quote about Shane Watson the other day that said he had played 33 Tests, but the same Test 33 times.
“That’s the sort of stuff that really annoys a coach. When guys repeat the same mistakes it is very frustrating and there are certain players in our team starting to do that.
“They need to learn to learn or their careers will be shortened. I’m not sure anyone else would take them on.
“We had a strategy against Somerset that we knew would put them under pressure and failed totally to stick to it. That cannot keep happening.”
