Match Preview - Worcestershire v Gloucestershire
15 September 2019
Gloucestershire make the short trip to Blackfinch New Road to face Worcestershire in their penultimate Specsavers County Championship match of the season.
After suffering defeat to Sussex last week, Gloucestershire dropped down to third place in the Division Two table but remain in the promotion places and in control of their own destiny.
As the promotion race heats up, Head Coach Richard Dawson admits he is doing his best to ignore the Division Two table:
"It's incredibly tight and any one of five teams could still join Lancashire in going up. A lot of the sides involved have to play one another, but we cannot afford to get caught up in that,” he said. “We need to focus on our own performance and not worry about what is going on elsewhere. There are two games to play and we know we are going to have to win at least one of them."
Shannon Gabriel played his first match for The Shire against Sussex but things didn’t quite go to plan for the West Indian as he finished without a wicket and with more runs conceded due to his aggressive approach.
Dawson’s comments on Gabriel’s performance:
“It's not easy when you've just stepped off a plane and are expected to hit the ground running. I know his figures suggest otherwise, but he actually troubled the Sussex batsmen and went past the bat on numerous occasions.
He has played for Worcestershire and knows the conditions at New Road. A bit of fine-tuning and I'm sure he will be fine."
Gloucestershire’s 13-man squad to face Worcestershire:
Dent, Bracey, Roderick, Hammond, Smith, Higgins, Charlesworth, J Taylor, van Buuren, Payne, Shaw, M Taylor, Gabriel.
Gloucestershire beat Worcestershire narrowly at this year’s Cheltenham Festival after a sensational final day that saw Ryan Higgins take four wickets and David Payne take the final wicket with less than five overs to play.
A win over Worcestershire would see Gloucestershire’s promotion hopes strengthen but they will have to do so against a side that overcame fellow promotion chasers Glamorgan by 155 runs.
