JAMES COYNE: The Somerset allrounder will captain the Lions in Australia as he attempts to banish the memories of his displays on his first international bow
England Lions captain Lewis Gregory feels he has a point to prove after performing below his expectations on his international debut in New Zealand.
Gregory, 27, made his full England debut in the T20I series in New Zealand. Skipper Eoin Morgan turned to him for just four overs in five T20 outings and found himself coming in at No.7 needing to score quickly from the off.
A fully-fit and firing Gregory cannot be too far from the selectors’ thoughts across the formats, however, given his call-up to the squad for the Ireland Test on the eve of the Ashes last summer.
He feels the brevity of the T20 format did not perhaps give him the opportunity to show what he can do with bat or ball.
“It was amazing to receive my first cap," he said. "It was obviously brilliant to get a series win but on a personal note, it was a very frustrating trip.
"I don't think I had the most amount of opportunities to show what I can do, but equally, it's international sport and you're there to win games. It's frustrating personally but equally, you're there to win games and Morgs [captain, Eoin Morgan] would have been doing everything to win those games of cricket.
“No.7 in T20 is a hard place to feel like you can affect a game. It is a hard skill-set – to basically go out from ball one and clear the ropes. Especially against the best bowlers in the world, in my case.
England Lions seek to buck a trend on winter tour of Australia
“I don’t feel like I did it to the best of my abilities when I had those opportunities. I feel like from that experience I’ll be able to go back and learn and do things differently if I get another opportunity.”
Gregory feels he was slightly impeded by a foot injury which limited him to just four matches in the Vitality Blast, in which he captains Somerset.
“I don’t think international cricket was more of a step up [in standard] than I thought it would be," he lamented. "I hadn’t played as much T20 cricket leading into that, missing the whole of the Blast due to injury. If you’ve got the confidence behind you it’s easier leading in and execute what you’ve been doing.
“T20 cricket is a volatile game where you can easily go four or five games in that position where you don’t get a score. And that’s the nature of the beast. There are times when I went a little bit too gung-ho at times. But it’s about learning from mistakes and opportunities.”
Gregory is hoping he is over the worst of the stress fractures which have occasionally hindered his career up to now but are standard for a young seam bowler.
Lewis Gregory took a wicket with his first ball in international cricket in the second T20 - but his fortunes failed to improve
He turned out for Rangpur Rangers in the Bangladesh Premier League alongside Somerset team-mate Tom Abell, which was a prime opportunity to further develop his white-ball bowling options.
“It was really good. Five weeks in Bangladesh is quite long! But the cricket side of things was really good. There were some quite different surfaces that I bowled on, compared to what you’d get in England. It was good to get some experience of playing on some low, slow spinning wickets in England, which is very different to what I’m used to in Taunton. The competition was run really well.
“I got an opportunity to ply my trade with both bat and ball. I think I got 95 per cent of my wickets with slower balls. You have to try and adapt as quickly as possible to what’s in front of you, judge the surface each day and go with what you think will work.
“The majority of the wickets spun a bit, so it was taking some pace off and get them to put some energy back on the ball. We had a lot of experienced guys in our team who were brilliant to chat to and learn from, and I think I came back a better cricketer.”
With two T20 World Cups shoehorned into the cycle in the space of 12 months – the first in Australia, the second in India – Gregory must sense the opportunity to be a part of England’s quest to hold both major ICC short-form titles.
The Somerset allrounder was unable to star with the bat, averaging just 7.00 in three innings
“I definitely have that aim. The England white-ball team is a very difficult one to break into. But there’s no reason why I can’t do that, or anyone here or anyone in county cricket can’t do that. It’s about putting in performances, keep knocking on the door and hopefully, that call comes.”
The Lions leave next week for five List A and three first-class matches in Australia – a crucial staging post ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year and the Ashes in two years’ time.
Tom Abell, the club captain at Somerset, must have been another option for the Lions captaincy. But Gregory got the nod and says Abell will be a key confidante. With Richard Dawson as head coach, and Marcus Trescothick (batting) and Jason Kerr (bowling), the make-up of the squad leadership shows the current strength of cricket in the West Country.
“Tommy’s a beauty. He’s one of the guys you want in your team, he’s 100 per cent with everything he does. He captained one of the games out in Bangladesh, which I do back home [in the Blast] and I’ll be captaining him out in Australia. We’ll be bouncing ideas off him and he’ll be helping me all the time. He’s a good guy to have around so he’ll be all right.”
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.