FRIENDS PROVIDENT TROPHY, Bristol:
Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
Venue: Bristol Date: Tuesday, 16 June Start: 1200 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Bristol (1548 MW) and the BBC Sport website

Gloucestershire director of cricket John Bracewell says his side's Twenty20 form will have no bearing on their Friends Provident Trophy quarter-final.

They won just once in T20 but Bracewell is sure his side will be at their best against Notts over 50 overs on Tuesday.

"A lot of our players feel comfortable with it," he told BBC Points West.

"They know how to control a game from that point of view, they like the big match of it and therefore we have a better feeling for it."

New Zealander Bracewell added: "We lacked power in our batting in Twenty20, especially through the middle.

"That's an area we've been pretty good at in terms of the 50-over game, being able to get our ones and twos and build towards a crescendo at the end."

Bracewell highlighted the absence of compatriot James Franklin, who missed the first stage of the competition on ICC World Twenty20 duty with the Black Caps, as a key factor in Gloucestershire's inability to kick on in the 20-over game.

And all-rounder Franklin will again be missing against Notts, although Gloucestershire will welcome back Ireland captain Will Porterfield, who scored 40 against Pakistan in his country's final Super Eight game at the World Twenty20 on Monday.

His experience will help boost the hosts, although despite home advantage Bracewell is not under-estimating his opponents in the shoot-out for a semi-final spot against Sussex on Sunday, 5 July.

Bracewell warned: "Some of their old heads are dangerous, Mark Ealham particularly on wickets that are a little bit lower and slower than the norm.

"I also think Mark Wagh's a fine player at the top if you don't get on top of him early. Obviously Adam Voges is an international-class player and Chris Read can be very dangerous if you don't pick him up in the first three or four overs as well.

"But our guys enjoy playing at home in the shorter forms of the game, they know the wicket and the angles of the ground and they also have the confidence of fielding on this surface as well.

"All things going well, we'll go into the game with good confidence."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version