Gidman made his Gloucestershire debut in 2001

Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman admitted his side's batting was again below par in the CB40 defeat by Essex.

Gidman's side made 184-8 in their 40 overs, a total Essex reached with six wickets in hand and two overs to spare.

"If we had constructed another couple of partnerships and got ourselves up to 200 we'd have had a better chance," Gidman told BBC Gloucestershire.

"Essex had the better of the conditions but we didn't keep enough wickets in hand for the last ten overs."

We've got be aggressive and focussed in terms of what we want to achieve against Holland Alex Gidman

Gloucestershire have three matches remaining in the group, two of them against Holland, but even wins in all three may now not be enough to get them into the semi-finals.

Young batsman Jack Taylor will be added to the 11 on duty against Essex, and Gidman is wary of what Thursday's trip to Rotterdam may hold.

"The forecast for this week over there is appalling, but hopefully that may change," he said.

"We know looking at the scores that we're not going to get a 300 wicket. We need to grind out a score because if you go there expecting to thrash them you could be embarrassed.

"We've got be aggressive and focussed in terms of what we want to achieve in what will be - I would imagine - pretty tough cricketing conditions."

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