Mitchell aiming to be more positive with batting - The Worcester Observer

Mitchell aiming to be more positive with batting

Worcester Editorial 24th Jan, 2016 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

WORCESTERSHIRE skipper Daryl Mitchell said he is contemplating a different mindset to batting in County Championship cricket this summer.

Mitchell was the second highest scorer in the country in Division Two in 2014 behind James Vince when leading the county to promotion and Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes felt he should have at least come under consideration for England selection.

The 32-year-old has averaged 40 as an opener in first class cricket over a decade and has been awarded a deserved benefit for 2016.

But Mitchell said he went “too much into my shell” last season although he still scored two Championship centuries – including a double against Hampshire – and again in T20 Blast cricket was Worcestershire’s leading run-getter.




“My own form in 2015? It didn’t go according to plan. I would have liked to have got a lot more runs. I still got a couple of big hundreds but would have liked to be more consistent,” he said.

“I don’t think there is a lot to put right as such. Maybe mentally with my approach, I went too much into my shell last year, maybe should be looking to score a bit quicker in the four-day format.


“If you look at the amount of balls I faced, it was probably not a lot different to the amount of balls I faced the year before when I got 1,400 runs.

“It is just a case of being a bit more clinical and putting bad balls away and trying to manipulate the bowling a bit more and get off strike and look to score all the time rather that survive.

“My natural instinct if things are going quite well is to try and battle it out and grind it out.

Unfortunately, I never seemed to grind my way out of trouble last year.

Mitchell said he would also have liked to score at a quicker rate last summer in the T20 Blast despite his consistent form.

“Even in T20, I played okay but would have liked my strike rate to be a bit better than it was,” he said.

“If I could have scored the same amount of runs at a 130 strike rate like the year before than it would have been more pleasing.

“But in one-day cricket you are sometimes dictated by the condition of the game and what you think is a good score and the target you are chasing so that is slightly different.

“Hopefully things can click into place and if you get into a good run of form you’ve just got to make sure you cash in,” he added.

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