Cricket Howell: We’re a match for anyone on our day
BENNY Howell believes Gloucestershire are ready to challenge the best teams in this season’s Vitality Blast.
And the all-rounder hopes to see proof of that in two key South Group matches over the weekend – against Surrey at The Kia Oval tonight and Middlesex at Radlett on Sunday.
Howell has long been a key member of Gloucestershire’s T20 team and, after Wednesday night’s win over high-flying Kent Spitfires at the Bristol County Ground, he exuded confidence over the remainder of the competition.
“I feel like we are really strong in T20 this season,” he said. “We know what we are doing and if we execute our plans properly we are a match for anyone.
“Powerplays have been an issue, which we have recognised and are ready to put right. If we do, I think we are a really serious team in this format and one to be reckoned with.”
Gloucestershire have lost only two of seven group matches, one of them in controversial circumstances against Sussex when the umpires enforced a six-run penalty for a slow over-rate.
But two washouts and a tie against Glamorgan at Cardiff means there is still ground to make up to reach the quarter-finals.
“I don’t look at tables too closely,” said Howell. “Jack Taylor tells me we can afford to lose two more group games at most if we want to reach the knock-out stage.
“He may be right, but I don’t like thinking that way. I want to win every match we play.
“We are in London over the weekend and if we can do well in the two games we will be well placed.”
Gloucestershire are likely to face a 20,000-plus crowd under The Kia Oval floodlights, but it is a challenge Howell welcomes.
He said: “We are aspiring to get to
Benny Howell in Vitality Blast action for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Cheltenham last month the next level and part of that is getting to love big crowds. We need to enjoy the atmosphere while also making sure we turn in a performance.
“You don’t like to make excuses, but I do feel we have had some rough luck in the competition so far, with the weather and in the way the Sussex match ended.
“We felt hard done by that night, but things like that are beyond our control and the important thing is to move on quickly.”
Howell is renowned for the variety of deliveries he can produce with his medium pace and has an economy rate of just 6.45 in claiming ten Blast wickets this summer.
He hopes to have a few surprises in store for Surrey.
“I have been working on a few more different balls and have brought a couple out,” he said. “We will see how they go. As a bowler in T20 you constantly have to develop your skills.”