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Match Preview - Gloucestershire v Sussex Sharks

3 August 2019

Gloucestershire look to get back to winnings ways in the Vitality Blast as second placed Sussex visit the Bristol County Ground on Rainbow Day.

Richard Dawson’s side suffered defeat for the first time last night against Essex and will be looking to make amends quickly against Sussex Sharks on what will be a special day, especially for spinner Tom Smith.

The home side will host Rainbow Day, a charity day in support of Rainbow @ Grief Encounter who support bereaved children and their families – families like Tom Smith’s. Players from both sides will sport bespoke shirts on the day with the signature rainbow of the charity across the torso.

Head Coach Richard Dawson commented on the Rainbow Day fixture:

“There are two things. One is the support we want to give Tom and his family and to enjoy the day for him but also, we want to still play good cricket. We haven’t played as well as we could’ve done last night and against Glamorgan but we want to support Tom and his two little ones first and foremost.”

Benny Howell and Ryan Higgins shone in Friday night’s match, Howell picked up two wickets and restricted the Eagles’ batsmen to just 13 runs in four overs and Higgins posted a 77 not out off just 43 balls with six fours and three sixes.

While those two names might be on the lips of Gloucestershire supporters most, Dawson was quick to point out others who deserved recognition.

“Payne has been exceptional as well. He’s bowled beautifully and the partnership Jack (Taylor) had with Ryan was quality. We’ve got match winning players in our side but what we can’t do is rely on one or two players, we need six or seven firing.

One of our strengths is our fielding and we haven’t been sharp enough the last few games, we’ve dropped some chances. We’re giving boundaries away and we’ve not been clinical in our shot making.

That could be down to us having somewhat of a stop-start competition with washouts but we’re in the think of it now and we have to make changes or before we know it we’ll be at the back end of the group stage.”

Gloucestershire’s 13-man squad to face Sussex:

Klinger, Hammond, Cockbain, Bracey, Higgins, J Taylor, Howell, Tye, Smith, van Buuren, Payne, G Hankins, Liddle.

Sussex are the only side yet to taste defeat in the South Group of the Vitality Blast with three wins, one tie and one no result. The Sharks boast an embarrassment of riches in their bowling attack with number one ranked T20 bowler Rashid Khan and Reece Topley who has taken seven wickets in the competition thus far.

Their batsmen have fared well in the competition so far with a different top scorer in each game - Salt (73 v Hampshire), Wright (76 v Surrey), Carey (78 v Somerset), Evans (65 v Kent).

Dawson on whether he would game plan against Sussex’s star players:

“As it’s such a quick turnaround we have to identify what we didn’t do well and then highlight some things that we can put right. If we worry about the competition too much, we might lose site of what we are trying to accomplish.”

The Shire have threatened to be one of the most difficult teams to play in the competition with a talented variation of bowlers and one of the deepest batting lineups in the country, however their ascent has been stalled by bad weather and game-changing moments that have gone in the opponents favour.

Their only defeat in the Blast this season coming last night when things might not have gotten so out of hand if Delport, who had set Essex’s platform, had not been fumbled by the unlucky Andrew Tye.

The match between Gloucestershire and Sussex begins at 14:30 tomorrow, gates open at 12:30.

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