Interim head coach Mark Dekker believes Kent’s Marcus O’Riordan is suited to batting at the top of the order in white-ball cricket.
O’Riordan top-scored for Kent Spitfires in their five-wicket One-Day Cup loss to Middlesex on Sunday with a 33-ball half-century.
He’s already earned praise from T20 captain Sam Billings for his contribution in the shorter format of the game in the top four.
And Dekker was equally impressed with the 26-year-old, who bounced back from a 12-ball duck against Hampshire last week.
“Marcus has that glint in his eye when he goes about his batting,” said Dekker. “He showed bits of it in the Vitality Blast and what’s pleasing is we’re starting to see that ability to shift the gears.
“It’s always hard for a player to come into the team and get nought, he’s gone out there and played with his version of confidence and you never want to take that away from him or any other player.”
Dekker believes O’Riordan, a player he has worked with in the 2nd XI at Kent and Tunbridge Wells, can deliver at the top of the order.
“Especially in white ball, when he gets it right, he really puts the opposition under pressure,” added Dekker.
“The way he put their bowlers under pressure in the first 8-10 overs was fantastic.
“I’ve always got a sense with Marcus that opening is a really great spot for him as it’s more of a reactive type of batting as [opposed] to a planned type of batting.
“If the ball is in areas that he feels he can score, he is going to take it on. I compare that with someone like Harry Finch, who plans an innings while Marcus reacts to an innings. Which is fine, they’re both right. It’s allowing both players to access their super strength.”
Dekker was more concerned about his game management when asked if O’Riordan now needs to convert promising starts into bigger and better scores. Making the right decisions at the right time will ultimately see the runs take care of themselves.
“A more nuanced way to view it is those moments where precise game management might reap a slightly different outcome,” stated Dekker.
“I always get nervous when you say to a player you’ve got to convert. A player might make 150 and make a really bad decision, or one that’s not nuanced for the match, you can do that on 10.
“It’s the nuance of decision-making that you want to see and we’re starting to see that creep into his game. You can make a bad game-management decision on zero or on 200, that’s the art of getting better or finding ways to get better.”
Kent have two wins and two defeats from the first four games in the One-Day Cup. They resume their campaign at Worcestershire today.
