Essex v Gloucestershire
Vitality Blast
Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford
Tuesday 30 May
6pm Start
Essex welcome Gloucestershire to CM2 for the Eagles’ first Vitality T20 Blast fixture of the 2023 summer.
Daniel Sams makes his return to Chelmsford after arriving from the IPL at the weekend and goes straight into the squad.
Our visitors have already played three games in the competition, and head to Chelmsford after their match against Middlesex this afternoon.
Squad:
Head Coach Anthony McGrath has named a 13 player squad that will take on Gloucestershire. Australian Daniel Sams slots straight into the squad after joining up with the team after a stint in the IPL for Lucknow Super Giants.
After scoring 132 against Ireland, Robin Das has also secured a spot in the squad.
Gloucestershire squad: Jack Taylor (c), James Bracey, Ben Charlesworth, Chris Dent, Marchant De Lange, Zafar Gohar, Miles Hammond, Danny Lamb, David Payne, Ollie Price, Grant Roelofson, Josh Shaw, Tom Smith, Matt Taylor, Graeme Van Buuren.
The Opposition:
Gloucestershire are a team in transition following the departure of established stars Benny Howell, Ian Cockbain and Ryan Higgins. Financial pressures have precluded the return of overseas batsman Glenn Phillips and South African wicketkeeper-batter Grant Roelofsen has been recruited to help plug the gap in the top order. Pakistani spinner Zafar Gohar has been contracted for the entirety of the competition.
The side from the West Country visit Chelmsford after taking on Kent, Glamorgan and Middlesex in their opening there games.
View from inside the camp:
Adam Rossington:
“Over the last couple of years I’ve probably not scored as many runs as I’d have liked in the four-day stuff, but I’ve had a good 18 months or so of T20 cricket,” says the 30-year-old Rossington. “Hopefully I can put together a few match-winning contributions for Essex.
“This winter’s been brilliant. The opportunity to play in different conditions with different people has been great. You see how other players go about their businesses and pick little things up here and there.
“You see a few more overseas players you haven’t met before. You’ve played against them now, and sat in team meetings discussing what they do, and that can only help when it comes to the Blast.
“Cricket is a game where the more you play, the more experiences you have; the more different situations you find yourself in, and the more of that you can do when the pressure mounts the better equipped you are to handle them.”
Rossington also hit his stride towards the end of Essex’s 2022 T20 campaign, smashing a career-best 95 in the penultimate group game against Sussex at Hove during a purple patch when he accumulated 165 runs in three innings.
He recalls: “We got on a roll towards the back-end of the season but then just didn’t put in a good enough performance in the quarter-final [against Lancashire Lightning]. That’s something we’ll definitely learn from and if we’re in that position again hopefully we can put it right.”
How To Watch:
Enjoy our live stream is available on Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel and the Matchzone at essexcricket.org.uk.
Join our commentary team and guests from the stands with our free public Wi-Fi also available this season by simply logging on to ‘ECCC-Public’ in-ground.
