We're not under the Royal London radar - Klinger
3 June 2016
One day captain Michael Klinger believes Gloucestershire WILL be given due respect by all their opponents in the 2016 Royal London Cup when the holders start the defence of the trophy they won at Lord's against Surrey last September against Somerset on Sunday.
From the outset the schedule has handed Gloucestershire three games in four days in the 50 over format, as they try to qualify for the knockout stages from a South group which matches that of the T20 Blast.
Listen to Michael Klinger's Royal London Cup preview here :
"The best teams can win the tight games and we were able to do that last year" Klinger said. "We have to make sure we can do that if it happens again. Short format cricket is about who brings their best game on the day. It's a bit of a different challenge this year and hopefully we're up for it."
SQUAD :
Head coach Richard Dawson has named a squad of 14 players for the two matches at Taunton and Cardiff, with extended options among the bowlers. Andrew Tye is ineligible as only one overseas player is allowed.
Klinger (c), Dent, Van Buuren, Marshall, Roderick, Cockbain, Howell, Noema-Barnett, J. Taylor, Smith, Miles, Payne, Norwell, M.Taylor
RECENT HISTORY :
Gloucestershire's trip to Taunton is a rarity for a List A match in recent years. The teams have met there only four times in last decade, Gloucestershire winning in 2006 and 2008, but losing on their last two visits despite Klinger making 131* in the last game in 2013.
"There will be a strong crowd against us but hopefully we'll have a lot of our supporters there too" said Klinger, who was well aware of Somerset's one wicket victory over Surrey in the last round of Championship games. "A lot of our players have been around for a few years now and we always plan well so we'll make sure we do that again."
Sunday's match at Taunton is followed on Monday by a day-night game at the Swalec Stadium against Glamorgan, who were beaten in 2013 when the teams last met at Cardiff in a List A fixture. It was a memorable occasion for Chris Dent, who made a career best one day score of 151*, just enough to help Gloucestershire to a win by seven runs.
Glamorgan have already lost at the Brightside Ground in the Championship this season but Michael Klinger felt that was of little relevance.
"It's hard to compare different formats" he said. "Teams will take us pretty seriously and we have to cope with that pressure. We did that last year so there's no reason why we can't do it again but we have to make sure we switch on."
Certainly Gloucestershire's own form could not be better at this point, the Championship win at Worcester being backed up by a tense victory in gloomy light at Merchant Taylor's School against Middlesex in the T20 Blast by four wickets, and then a seven wicket sucess at Beckenham against Kent in the same competition.
Jack Taylor had two quiet games in the T20 but his thrilling century at Worcester in a Royal London Cup style run chase emphasised his value to the team with the bat.
"It wasn't bad preparation was it ?" smiled Klinger. "Jack played a fantastic innings and hopefully he can produce more stuff like that going forward."
Two milestones could be reached in the early stages of the group matches in the Royal London Cup. Hamish Marshall is 84 runs short of a career tally of 7,000 in List A games, and David Payne needs two wickets to reach 100 for Gloucestershire in long format one day cricket.
COVERAGE :
You can follow the matches via the live scorecards available on the website, or via Twitter @Gloscricket
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