Bears’ batting coach Matt Walker was pleased to see the months of technical and mental work start to bear fruits in last week’s Rothesay County Championship game against Surrey and is now hoping to stick to their strengths during this week’s trip to face Sussex.
The entire Bears’ top five reached half centuries against Surrey last week, with Dan Mousley making a career-best 144, and confidence is high ahead of this week’s trip to Hove with batters in the runs and the bowlers having shown how they can operate as a group – particularly on the first day when Surrey were reeling at 65-6.
Walker, who scored more than 20,000 career runs and averaged over 50 in a season on three occasions with Kent, including 2006 when he hit 1,419 runs at an average of 61.19, has worked closely with the batting group over the off-season and is now pleased to see that work being converted into performances in the middle.
“I think when you spend a lot of time indoors in the winter and in a number of cases, some significant work done, to see that in the middle, because you’re never sure, is really pleasing.
“I think everyone always holds their breath a bit because there’s nothing quite like getting out in the middle and really putting it into practice because you can’t really ever prepare for that.
“Some of the technical work Rob [Yates] has done over the winter, to now see that in the middle and trust that up top, dealing with a tricky opening spell, was really encouraging. Same with Al [Davies], a few little technical changes, a few mental challenges over the winter to get him really concentrating ball by ball, to see that in evidence was great for that 100 partnership.
“Then obviously the 200 partnership between Dan [Mousley] and Hainy [Sam Hain] is what we talked about a lot last year, about putting big partnerships together, trying to post runs at the beginning, and secure as many batting points as possible.”
The stand-out man in that top order batting performance was Dan Mousley, who chalked up his maiden County Championship century and Walker was delighted to see the 24-year-old grab the opportunity with both hands.
“It’s an important spot, number three. No one really grabbed that position last year but we think Dan can do it. Westy believes in him 100% and gave him that responsibility this year to start. I think the evidence we’ve seen over the winter, indoors here, when he went to Australia to play out there and a bit of the Lions, he’s tracking superbly.
“There’s no doubt in our mind that he could do that role. For him, it’s always the challenge in the brain and just keeping calm and trusting his skill, I suppose. When he does that, like he did this week, all the pieces fell together for him, and there’s no question of his skill level.
“He can play all the shots and he’s playing them at the right time in a calm fashion, which he did. It’s a big thing getting your first hundred. I know he’s got a couple away from Edgbaston, but that first one’s always really tough to get.
“It sounds strange, but you always don’t know how to do it until you do it. I expect more of him now, and I think that will give him incredible confidence moving forward because you know you can do it against a good Surrey attack. Hopefully now that sets him up beautifully with the first of the season.”
The visit to Hove this weekend presents the Bears with another tough challenge against a strong outfit, but Walker says the travelling squad will be full of confidence and stick to the values they believe give them the best chance of success.
“They’re a feisty outfit, Sussex. I think they’ve been a really competitive workmanlike side for a few years now and with some great quality in that side. Ollie Robinson is obviously a standout player in their team, one of the best English bowlers, I think, in certainly early season conditions, if not throughout the whole season. They’ve got some good batters and they work well for each other.
“It doesn’t really alter at all from our point of view. I think we respect their team and do the research as you would do for any game. I think nowadays you play at these grounds so often you know the conditions a little bit, the pitch challenges that you can face down there, it’s usually a pretty good wicket.
“It’s a smallish ground but I think we try if we can to concentrate on what we do well and not overanalyse your position. Of course you’re very aware of what these teams bring and the analytics are certainly there for everyone to see but I think that always, certainly from my point of view with the batters, is make sure you do what you do well. There’s so much quality in that group and it’s the same with the bowlers. If we bowl our best ball over and over again, it’s going to be good enough, I like to think, against most teams. We’ll be full of confidence going into Hove and hopefully we can start like we did last week.”