Hose at the T10: “There is no room for working your way in”

Bears batsman Adam Hose expects to play very few defensive shots as he strives to power Bangla Tigers towards success in the Abu Dhabi T10 Cricket League this week.

Hose has played two games for the Tigers so far in the quickfire  tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Batsmen are still working out the best approach to the shortest format of all and contrasting strategies were tried by opposing batsmen in those games.

In the first, Maratha Arabians opener Abdul Shakoor, to the ire of some supporters, batted through the ten overs for an unbeaten 34 (30 balls). His team totalled 103, which the Tigers passed comfortably for a six-wicket win, Hose finishing off the job with an astute unbeaten two from three balls.

In the next game, Northern Warriors’ West Indian star Nicolas Pooran took a slightly different approach to Shakoor. He smashed 89 from 26 balls to set up a total of 162 – enough for a 30-run win.

“To be fair to Shakoor, he gave a few chances and tried to score more quickly and get out a few times, I think,” said Hose. “There’s quite an interesting stat in this format that says the more wickets you lose the more likely you are to win the game, so that suggests that going harder from earlier is the way forward.

“Watching the guys play, they are very positive from ball one and that’s what I will try to do. There is no room for working your way in, especially in the middle order.

Adam Hose

“I am floating in the order, around five or six dependent on the left hand/right hand combo, so didn’t get much chance in the first two games. It was quite nice to go in in the first game with the game won and get familiar with the surroundings for when I bat in under a more pressure situation. It was good to blow some cobwebs, even if it was for only three balls.”

Hose is thoroughly enjoying his first experience of franchise cricket, as the Tigers try to battle way through the six-game group stage.

“It’s great to experience different teams with different cultures and see how they warm up and prepare,” he said. “It’s also really good for my development as a player to talk to the big-name players like Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles, who have played a lot of franchise cricket around the world, and delve into the way they go about things and learn from that.

“We had a bit of an interesting journey out here. We got out here fine but then there was a bit of a mix up at the border, where we had to be tested, so we got here a day late. And then we had four days quarantine. The hotel is fantastic, and we are being looked after really well, but it was great to get out in the fresh air and practice.

“We had two days prep and then got straight into the games which come thick and fast now. It’s just lovely to be out here in the sun playing some cricket.”