Published: Sep 13, 2016, 11:21 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 13, 2016, 11:31 AM (IST)
Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson backs his team to move up the league table and finish third as they have two games to go in County Cricket Championship. Ryan ten Doeschate captained Essex are currently leading the league tables as they need to win or draw against Glamorgan in their penultimate match of this league. Gloucestershire are currently placed at fourth spot in the points table as they trail by 6 and 29 points against second placed Kent and third placed Sussex respectively. They need to win against Northants at Northampton which started yesterday. Dawson also want a couple of players to reach milestones at the end of this season as it will boost their confidence for next summer. ALSO READ: Ryan ten Doeschate’s Essex ready to wrap up Division Two title
The 36-year-old told Stround News & Journal, “A top three finish would be a great confidence boost for next season and that has to be the aim,” said Dawson. We saw a big improvement in our Championship form in the recent game at Derby and we then did even better to beat Glamorgan at Cardiff. It’s important we take that momentum into our final matches. I believe we are still progressing in the right direction and ending up in the top three would support that.” ALSO READ: Chris Russell released from Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Dawson also wants his players to reach milestones. He wants Craig Miles to complete 50 First-Class wickets this season who is just one wickets shy from the feat. But all eyes will be on New Zealand batsman Hamish Marshall who will be bidding farewell to Gloucestershire after this season. Dawson wants 37-year-old batsman to complete 1,000 runs in this season as he needs to score 83 more runs to reach this milestone. Marshall is in good form having scored a century in the last game.
“That would be great for Marshy [Craig Miles].He has been a fantastic servant to the club and centuries in two of our last three games show he is still a class act. Craig Miles is a bowler of huge potential. He is only 22 and still maturing as a person and a cricketer. Unfortunately, he picked up a side injury in the University game and missed the start of the season. But he has bowled really well recently and is also making valuable runs at number eight. For most of our players every Championship match is still an education and the Northants match will be no exception. With Michael only playing the one-day competitions and Hamish leaving, we need to recruit a batsman,” said the head coach. Apart from that my main priority is to make sure we hang onto our current players because I am sure there is more to come from them,” Dawson added.
