Anthony McGrath will be looking for his side to make an immediate response to last night’s 7-wickets defeat to Hampshire when the Essex Eagles face Gloucestershire at The Bristol County Ground this evening in the Vitality Blast.
The Eagles Head Coach said: “There are still games to play and the league is still pretty tight. We’ve got a new captain (Simon Harmer) in this format this season and he has wanted to do things slightly differently.
“The games come thick and fast and it is a tough group that we are in, so we just need to try and string two or three wins together to gather some momentum and give ourselves a chance going into the remainder of the T20 season.
“We are hoping that the presence of Mohammad Amir can have an impact but it’s not all down to him. We have to be a bit more consistent as a team and build some momentum over the remaining games in the competition.
“A lot of the teams are playing more bowlers than batsman, that’s the formula they’ve gone for and we are trying to find the right balance ourselves. But not having our best asset in Amir available hampered us at the start of the competition as it would do any team. But that was out of our control, we just got on with it. Hopefully, he will aid our performances from here on in.
“The more options you have as a captain the better. It is a difficult game for bowlers and so the more weapons and variations you have the better. With Amir being a left-armer, that does make things better for a varied attack.
“But generally, in T20, if you have a couple of players who are enjoying a great match, that goes a long way towards winning the game.”
Essex Eagles squad to face Gloucestershire:
Simon Harmer (11) (captain)
Mohammad Amir (5)
Aaron Beard (14)
Sam Cook (16)
Cameron Delport (89)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Matt Quinn (94)
Shane Snater (29)
Paul Walter (22)
Tom Westley (21)
Adam Wheater (31) (wicket-keeper)
Adam Zampa (88)
