Steve Snell is banking on the magic of the Cheltenham Festival and the return of Zak Chappell to boost Gloucestershire’s ailing County Championship campaign.
The club went into the current match against Hampshire at the College Ground 17 points adrift at the bottom of the First Division table with just five games left to play.
With the format of next year’s Championship yet to be decided, head of performance Snell does not underestimate the importance of a strong finish to the campaign.
He is hopeful that the change of environment, plus seam bowler Chappell’s decision to spend a second spell on loan from Nottinghamshire for the two red ball games at Cheltenham, will provided a timely tonic.
A change of luck with injuries would also help. Matt Taylor has been ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of a foot, while David Payne missed the Hampshire game with a hip problem.
Snell told me: “If there were a couple of things I could change from the first half of the Championship season, they would be our failure to win key moments in games when on top and the number of players we have lost to injury or being unavailable for other reasons.
“In a couple of matches, we got ourselves into good positions without quite being able to force home the advantage.
“First Division cricket in the Championship is unforgiving and it is tougher to maintain intensity over four days, particularly during a hectic run of fixtures such as we faced at the start.
“Having a big squad like some of the bigger counties in a major advantage. We are less equipped to cope with injuries and have had more than our fair share.
“The players have been looking forward to Cheltenham and hopefully we can do well there. The pitches are excellent so there should be some high scores.”
Chappell impressed in his first loan spell with Gloucestershire, bowling without luck in taking two for 91 in the Championship game with Somerset at Bristol and sending down 27 overs in the following match against Kent at Canterbury.
In the Vitality Blast, the tall paceman claimed eight wickets in five fixtures, with a best of three for 24 against Kent at Bristol.
Snell said: “We are delighted to have Zak back with us, not just for his bowling but because he is a great guy to have in the dressing room. His pace and bounce should be suited to the Cheltenham pitches and we liked what we saw of him during his previous loan.”
Snell would not commit over whether Chappell might become a permanent signing at some stage, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
