GLOUCESTERSHIRE star Phil Mustard believes there is a lot the county can improve on during the new season which starts on April 13 with a four-day Specsavers County Championship clash against Kent at Canterbury.

Mustard admitted things did not go well last summer, and said: “The one common thread across all the formats – and it’s something I experienced in my early days at Durham- was that we had a habit of losing wickets in clumps. The sooner we stop that, the more progress we’ll make.

“In a first class game, you don’t want to be losing top order wickets in the first session and a score of 120-3 is a rebuild for the team.

“In our white ball cricket, none of us really hit our straps either and there always seemed to be a wicket around the corner. Having the Royal London One-Day Cup and T20 competition in two blocks made for a hectic schedule and it didn’t allow you much time to practice in between matches.

“There were some mistakes in the 50 over competition which cost us, and in both tournaments we need to come up with a formula that can adapt to different situations.

“In the Championship, the top five in the batting order is the key to success and it was interesting to experiment a bit towards the end of last summer.”

And wicketkeeper-batsman Mustard said that Gloucestershire cannot rely on one main bowler to get the big wicket hauls every week. Paceman Liam Norwell was often the county’s saviour.

The seamer took ten wickets in a match twice last year, including the best figures in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two when he landed 8-43 in Gloucestershire’s ten-wicket victory over Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground, Leicester, on September 5.

Mustard added: “Liam Norwell was obviously our main wicket taker but, in my opinion, you need two bowlers taking 50 wickets if you are going to challenge for promotion and that’s something we need to look at.”

Gloucestershire begin their new season on April 1 when they host Cardiff MCCU in a university match over three days before facing Kent in Canterbury.

They are then at home for a Severn Bridge derby with Glamorgan in the County Championship over four days from Friday April 20 before travelling to Sussex on Friday April 27.

A trip to Lord’s in May is followed by the One Day Cup.