Alex Looks Forward To Big Challenges
8 March 2012
Alex Gidman admits that managing Gloucestershire’s young bowling attack will be one of his biggest challenges in the season ahead.
The skipper is looking forward to the continued development of players like David Payne, Ian Saxelby, James Fuller, Liam Norwell and Jack Taylor this season, but recognises the need to protect them from too big a work-load so early in their careers.
Alex told this website: “We will have to manage our bowlers very carefully. They will need to be honest about any aches and strains or even tiredness because I would rather they miss one game than break down completely and be out for a month.
“They are very fit and strong young kids so that aspect won’t be a problem. But there will be fatigue issues, particularly over the first month of the season when we are on the road for four of our first five games.
“There is not a huge amount of recovery time between those fixtures so they must be aware of the need to communicate if they feel any undue stress on their bodies.
“Injuries are usually out of your control, but what we have to prevent are those that can occur through over-working.
“Games come thick and fast once the season starts and, while we want as strong a team on the field as possible at all times, we have to be sensible in not demanding too much of young players.”
When it comes to Gloucestershire’s batting this summer, Alex acknowledges the responsibility he and vice-captain Hamish Marshall face in a top order boosted by the signing of Dan Housego from Middlesex.
The skipper said: “Myself and Hamish are really looking forward to the challenge, but there will be a lot of inexperience around us in the batting line-up.
“That brings added pressure, but on the other hand there will probably be less expectation on the team as a group, which takes a bit of pressure off.
“We can hopefully relax and thrive off each other. Chris Dent now has a couple of seasons under his belt and Will Gidman is experienced in one-day cricket so it is not as if we are a complete blank sheet when it comes to the batting side.
“Dan Housego is a prolific scorer in second XI cricket and has banged out a couple of first class centuries, one against Sri Lanka, which shows he has some class.
“Middlesex were such a strong team last summer that it limited his chances. I regard him as a first team cricketer, rather than a second XI player, and feel we are very lucky to have him.”
