MICHAEL Klinger is back at Gloucestershire following a winter to remember at home in Australia and confident of leading a strong assault on the Royal London One-Day Cup.

The 36-year-old batsman, who ranks among the most popular players ever to represent the county, finally earned an overdue international call-up for a T20 series against Sri Lanka after helping Perth Scorchers win the Big Bash in January.

Now Klinger is gunning for more success in the twilight of his career. Gloucestershire won the Royal London cup under his guidance two years ago and after a disappointing defence of the 50-over competition last season, he expects a successful group campaign.

It starts against Glamorgan at the Brightside Ground, Bristol on Thursday and Klinger knows the importance of a winning start.

He said: “Because it is a relatively short competition you cannot afford bad patches. Last year we made a slow start and couldn’t gain any momentum.

“The previous year we qualified with two group games still to play so it was the exact opposite and we need to begin well this time around.

“A lot of rival teams have strengthened, particularly with the arrival of a number of South African players.

“In any case it is a tough competition to win, with all 18 counties involved. What we did a couple of years ago was pretty huge when you think about it.

“The first step is to reach the knock-out stage and we have to do that and take things from there. We know we are capable of lifting the trophy, but what happened in the past counts for nothing.”

Gloucestershire’s team to face Glamorgan is likely to feature numerous changes from their Specsavers County Championship line-up.

Among the players looking to make their season’s debut will be one-day specialists Ian Cockbain and Benny Howell, while left-arm seamer Matt Taylor has recovered from a few early-summer niggles.

Slow left-arm bowler Tom Smith is another who will come into consideration, along with young all-rounder Brandon Gilmour after an impressive pre-season.

Klinger said: “We have lost Hamish Marshall, who was a fantastic player for us in all formats and that leaves a bit of a hole.

“But Phil Mustard coming in as a top order batsman will hopefully fill Marshy’s spot and we have the players to be very competitive.”

Of his own international call-up at the age of 36, Klinger said: "It was not just great for me, but for my family. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of tight games and ultimately the series, but I hope I did enough to keep myself in the selectors' minds."

Scored of 38, 43 and 62 against Sri Lanka from such a prolific T20 player may have done just that.