Richard Harvey says Staffordshire have displayed all of the traits associated with the county in the early weeks of the NCCA season.
Harvey, the county’s cricket committee chairman, is well versed in what is required to represent the famous Knot.
He is a former Staffordshire captain and is rated as one of the finest batsmen of his generation to play for the county.
His association with Staffs is now in a ‘backroom’ capacity – and he’s been delighted by how the players, led by the coaching team of Chris Milward and Pete Wilshaw, have tackled the early-season challenges.
There might have been some trepidation in the first few weeks as Staffordshire ventured into another 50-over campaign.
It’s not been a source of success for Staffs in recent seasons, with the previous three years seeing them fail to progress beyond the group stages.
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However, they have bucked the trend this summer. After losing to Norfolk, James Kettleborough’s side reeled off three successive wins to book their place in the quarter-finals.
And that feel-good factor was transferred into the T20 Cup format last week. Staffordshire opened those particular commitments with a win and a tie in their double header against Northumberland at Stone SP.
Runs and wickets have obviously been key, but Harvey points to other factors as being essential to an impressive start to the campaign.
‘Resilience’
“Going into the final group game of the Trophy (against Lincolnshire) there was already a sense that performances had been better than previous seasons,” said Harvey, above.
“One of the targets for the season was to simply make improvements in the 50-over competition and we felt we had.
“So to progress to the quarter-finals is just reward for playing good cricket enabling us to win three in a row to qualify.
“We’ve shown resilience, undoubtedly. There are always going to be ebbs and flows. A bowler may have a decent spell or a partnership may cause problems, and in all of the games there were elements of that.
“But the lads really stuck to the task, showed their quality, and as a unit made sure they came through the tough phases to win. There have been some excellent individual performances too, led by Ketts’ weight of runs, and Ollie Walker’s all-round contributions, but the mentality of the side is strong and I love that.
“To start the T20s with a win and a tie is good and sets the tone for hopefully a good campaign.
“Obviously Nils (Priestley) came back into the side and showed how important he is for us in that format.
“Again the mentality is worth mentioning. We were down and out at one stage in the second game before Matt (Morris), Joe (Hawkins) and Sam (Keeling-Wright) rescued a tie from nowhere really.
“That extra point could be vital by the time we get to the end of the group phase.”
‘Away date’
Staffordshire head to Wem on Sunday to take on Shropshire in their second instalment of their Twenty20 Cup Group One schedule.
Harvey is now looking for another positive day to put the county firmly on track to reach the Super 12s stage of the competition.
It’s a win and a tie for Staffordshire to open NCCA Twenty20 Cup campaign
“We’re well set and have a great platform to kick the season on,” added Harvey.
“There’s such talent in the team and although we’ve played well it actually feels like this squad is capable of even more which is really exciting.
“As I’ve said before the standard of cricket is high so it will always be tough, but I do feel we’ve got a good combination of skill and ability backed up by the grit any successful side needs to do things consistently.”
‘Strengthening’
Staffordshire embarked on a recruitment drive in the winter to strengthen their hand across all three formats.
Herefordshire duo Ollie Walker and Sam Keeling-Wright joined, while former Berkshire skipper Dan Lincoln also signed on.
Sam Kelsall was another name back in the fold after he returned following a spell playing for Bedfordshire.
“When we signed them it was obviously exciting, we knew what they were capable of bringing to the squad and it’s worked out exactly how we would have liked,” explained Harvey.
“There’s a really positive feel in the whole squad in my opinion. It was there in the winter and has continued into the season.
“But they’ve all contributed really well on and off the pitch which has helped them to settle in obviously.”
‘Competition for places’
It’s not just the first team who have impressed in the formative stages of the season.
The newly-named second XI kicked off their fixtures in the week with a 78-run success against their Cheshire counterparts at Knypersley.
Callum Leese hit 108 and Ethan Berlusconi made 99, before the former picked up three wickets to secure the win.
“I’m really pleased for Callum and Ethan to score big runs. They’re really important members of the squad and to have an opportunity to knock on the door is one thing but to take it in the manner they both batted at Knypersley is credit to them,” said Harvey.
“And right through the second team there are players, who I feel could do a job if or when needed in the first team.
“Yes, there’s obviously a step up in standard but again there’s no doubting the ability levels of the players and I get the feeling there’s a hunger to do well so the selectors have one or two decisions to make.”
‘Pitching in’
The performances on the pitch may be leaving Harvey with a smile on his face at present.
But he’s keen to point out that’s only possible due to clubs being willing to stage county fixtures.
“It’s just a huge thank you to our host clubs so far this season,” he added.
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“West Brom always host our games expertly, the efforts of the Bignall End ground staff in getting our game on was a huge factor in our qualification, and Stone SP was absolutely glorious for the opening T20 fixture last week.
“It’s not by chance that our home games are the envy of so many counties, and I just wanted to thank those clubs – it’s really appreciated.”
Staffordshire have made two changes to their 12-man squad for this weekend’s matches.
Tom Brett and Reeve Evitts return to the fold, with Sam Atkinson and Niall McHale dropping out.
Main image: Staffordshire opened their NCCA Twenty20 Cup campaign with a win and a tie against Northumberland. Picture: Roger Byrne