Success all in the head for Gold Coast side

A SHIFT in mental approach could hold the key to Queensland Premier Cricket success for the Gold Coast Dolphins as they embark on their two-day campaign against Valleys today.

After two losses and a washout from their opening oneday fixtures, the Dolphins will head to Ashgrove’s Peter

Easton Oval at 10am desperate to begin the two-day competition in style.

They missed a golden opportunity to register their first win away to South Brisbane last weekend, collapsing to 214-all out chasing 6-231.

At a time when Twenty20 cricket has redefined the expectations on the strike rates of batsmen, coach Jerry Cassell said the old-fashioned approach of patience and hard work would be the Dolphins’ ticket to two-day success.

“Talking to other coaches, we’re all dealing with guys that play lots of shots now instead of batting for time,” Cassell (pictured) said.

“It tends to be that the clubs with the oldest players are the better batting sides. At the moment, because (our squad is) so young – the average age is 20, which is probably the youngest group I’ve ever seen – we’re just getting them to play good cricket and obviously as their confidence grows the results will too.

“I think the guys are starting to understand and realise you can’t just hit every ball for four and six.”

Two-day minor premiers last season, the Dolphins’ second grade side will play their first two-day fixture against Valleys at Cheltenham Oval today before facing Sunshine Coast in the quarterfinals of the one-day competition tomorrow.