T20 coach: James Kirtley

CAN WE GO ONE BETTER IN THE BLAST?

Writing this offered me the benefit of hindsight and also a fantastic opportunity to reflect. It reinforced what we did well and posed questions. Ultimately how do we go two wins further in the Vitality Blast this year so we can win it?

The 2021 campaign didn’t start at Bristol on 11 June. The serious planning began during the second XI T20 games preceding the tournament.

We got some wonderful momentum from those matches and hit the Blast running with some very convincing early performances. Archie Lenham emerged whilst we were without Rashid Khan, and Chris Jordan led the side brilliantly in the absence of Luke Wright, who split his webbing on the eve of the tournament. We were brave, ruthless and prepared to make positive decisions based on the information provided by our analyst Luke Dunning and the vast experience in the side.

Unfortunately, the weather hit us and a string of abandoned games followed, many at home. When we returned we looked a little rusty and more cautious. International call-ups and a couple of injuries disrupted our dynamic and qualification for the quarter-finals looked at risk. As coach I wondered whether we approached a few of those games more defensively. This could have been a confidence thing, but I wanted us to continue to make brave decisions as I was certain this would allow us to play to our potential in the knockout stages.

These questions will be posed to the players again this year. Luke Dunning and I have reviewed the whole campaign and I will sit down with new captain Ravi Bopara to get his observations.

There were none of the tight finishes we had seen in 2020. I believe this vindicated our way of playing and our decision making. We believed in the mindset we employed when we played well.

On an individual basis there were good performances from virtually everyone. This was massively important as it settled the inner belief in each player.

The opening partnership of Luke Wright and Phil Salt continued to dominate, and the performances of Travis Head, Ravi Bopara, George Garton, Chris Jordan and Delray Rawlins all dovetailed nicely. All the bowlers revelled in their roles. George found his at the top of the innings and Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills showed their class closing games out. Ravi and David Wiese bowled with wisdom and used their vast experience to their advantage. Will

GEORGE GARTON HAS FOUND A NEW ROLE WITH THE BAT IN THE BLAST

Beer continued to shore up the middle overs and take key wickets and Archie Lenham’s wicket-taking ability was invaluable.

We finally made the quarter-finals with a win over a weakened Kent at Canterbury. We were drawn against Yorkshire at Durham and our approach and preparation was outstanding. This showed in the belief we had to make some aggressive decisions such as Archie bowling the second over and promoting Rashid Khan up the order to finish things off in our successful run chase.

Finals Day beckoned and again I thought our preparation was great but the semi-final against Kent didn’t go to plan. The questions that arose and the subsequent answers are key to our improvement and our progress in this tournament going forward. They are all ifs, could haves, whys and should haves. I still believe with a measured start we could have chased Kent’s score, but we weren’t at our best for all the power play with the ball and perhaps we could have been more ruthless when Kent were 99/5. There are things to address and hopefully put right in 2022.

As with any season there are goodbyes, and last year was no different. The holes left by Chris Jordan, Phil Salt and David Wiese are huge.

Chris and Phil will be sorely missed not just for what they do on the pitch but the fantastic professionals they are. David is an outstanding professional and human being and with a gap in a top three batter/keeper role we have had to change our overseas balance.

We wish Mitch Claydon all the best in his next chapter too. Mitch didn’t play a big a role but his support off the pitch was gratefully received. I’d also like to extend my thanks to the coaching team that supported the squad and my personal gratitude to Richard Halsall for all his help, time and the wisdom he shared. We wish him well in his future endeavours.