Glos call up Hammond and Payne for championship action

TWO of Gloucestershire’s lefthanders, bowler David Payne and batsman Miles Hammond, will appear in the County Championship team for the first time this summer when the Cheltenham Festival gets underway at the College Ground today with the visit of Sussex (11am).

Payne missed the early part of the season after an ankle operation, while Hammond gets his opportunity because Benny Howell is still sidelined by the injury he suffered in the Vitality T20 Blast game against Middlesex at Uxbridge.

The one other change from the last championship game at North- ampton sees the return of Craig Miles to a side that contains seven frontline bowlers. Along with Howell, George Hankins, who has a knee problem, and Chris Liddle are the ones to drop out.

Head coach Richard Dawson said “Miles Hammond opened the batting last season in the second XI and again through all of this season, and this is an opportunity for him. He’s always been a talented lad, but very rarely does your career path progress without taking a few knocks. You have to reset and go again. Miles has been hitting the ball beautifully and now he has the chance to show how skilful he is.”

Hammond’s last first-class appearance was nearly three years ago - against Glamorgan in August 2015 - while Payne went into the final match of 2017 on 198 firstclass wickets. Rain and a flat pitch at the Brightside Ground meant he only bowled in one innings against Derbyshire, so he goes to Cheltenham still shy of a personal landmark having not played in the championship since.

“People have reminded me of that, but it’s not something I have thought much about,” said Payne. “It’s already been a long season for me in terms of rehab after the operation, but it’s definitely been worth it because of how I have felt over the past month. I don’t have any concerns about my ankle and I’m looking forward to getting into some four day cricket.

“The one thing about bowling at Cheltenham is you mustn’t get carried away with the bounce. You’ve still got to try to bowl a full length and bring the batsman forward. It’s exciting to play there and generally there’s a bit more in the wicket for the bowlers. You only have to go back to the Glamorgan game last year when 25 wickets fell in a day. Sussex have a good pace attack, but we have to be confident and back ourselves to bowl them out.”

Gloucestershire’s two festival matches in the T20 Blast are both sold out, and while the club has made a good start in the shorter format, head coach Richard Dawson wants to see that transferred into four-day cricket.

“Doing well in the T20 picks everyone up around the club,” he said. “Now we’ve got to refocus on our redball cricket with some different faces in the team. We must get back to doing the simple things well - being patient with the ball and making good decisions when we bat. With the weather we’ve had spin may come into play, so it’s a chance for George Drissell to continue his development.”

Gloucestershire: Dent (capt), Hammond, Bracey, Roderick, van Buuren, Higgins, Noema-Barnett, Miles, Payne, M.Taylor, Drissell.