Ripley hoping home run will help Steelbacks to a T20 Blast-off

The head coach is happy to at long last be handed some home comfort at the beginning of a limited overs competition, but has also admitted he is taken aback as to how ‘hectic’ the opening days of the Vitality Blast tournament are going to be.

The fixtures were announced last week, with the Steelbacks being handed three home games to start their North Group campaign - all in the space of just four days!

They start off on June 11 with a County Ground date against Worcestershire Rapids, before reigning champions Notts Outlaws come to town and then Birmingham Bears.

It is the start of a pretty manic opening spell, as the County go on to play six games in their first nine days - and they will have completed half of their 14-match group stage with the tournament just 12 days old!

Asked about the fixtures, Ripley said: “I have to be pleased with it, because in the past couple of years I have complained because we always seem to start the one-day competitions away from home.

“I did point it out that we do always seem to start away in both comps (the T20 and Royal London One Day Cup), so I am glad we are starting at home.

“I think it is good to start at home, but the slight problem is if we do have crowds, I am sure Ray (chief executive, Ray Payne) won’t be too happy about three games at home in a few days in terms of attracting punters! So that is not ideal.

“But on the whole it is just so busy. There are those three games and I think in the first nine days we have six matches so it is a very hectic start.”

With so many games being played in such a short space of time, getting some positive momentum going is going to be so key for a successful campaign and the run of early home games should help with that.

Momentum is something that the Steelbacks experienced last season, both for them and against them.

Five games into the truncated 10-match group stage they were sitting pretty at the top of the table and unbeaten, with four wins to their name.

They went on to lose their next four matches, and only squeezed into the quarter-finals thanks to a remarkable back-from-the-dead win against the Bears at Edgbaston on the final day of group games.

So Ripley is all too aware that his team need to hit the ground running.

Asked about momentum, the head coach said: “It is important and we saw that last year with our Blast campaign.

“We were playing well and on a roll, and then we started playing not quite so well and we were then on a roll with that!

“That is T20 cricket, and when it comes to it you need individuals to stop the rot for you.

“For me, T20 is about match-winning cricketers, and the more of those you have in your team the better, and the more chance you have of somedbody stopping a rot and putting that performance in that wins you a game.

“I am pretty confident when I look at our side that we have those guys, but there is no doubt momentum is important in T20 cricket particularly.”