CHRIS Dent is ready to repay a debt to Thornbury Cricket Club for helping him become a professional and, on Saturday, reach the pinnacle of the domestic game – a final at Lord’s.
It will be personal for the Gloucestershire opening batsman when he steps out onto the home of British cricket for the first time in his career, proclaiming: “I need to give something back to the club (Thornbury).”
Gloucestershire take on Surrey for the Royal London One-Day Cup and Dent wants to play his part in bringing the big prize home to the West Country.
His performances this season have received good reviews, with Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson saying that ‘Denty’ played a big part in the first ten overs to set-up victory over Yorkshire in the Royal London semi-final.
Raised through the Thornbury CC ranks, Dent said: “It is one of my ambitions to get into any final with the club (Gloucestershire) but to get to Lord’s makes it more special.
“Thornbury is a great club. I went there when I was quite young  and I have always had a great deal of time for them.
“I need to give something back to the club as they are the ones who got me into cricket. If they did not give me any chances, I might never have played for Gloucestershire.”
The 24-year-old former England Under-19s cap has consistently hit scores close to and above half-centuries this season, notching up 73 and 52 in the LV= County Championships clash with Leicestershire at the start of the season and holding up his end with 28 in that One-Day Cup semi-final against Yorkshire.
And the left-hander says he would never want to leave Gloucestershire, saying: “I have been here since I was young and I would like to stay at this club for all of my career. I want to win things for this club.
“Gloucestershire gave me my chances when I was young and I love to be around here. Ideally, I would love to have a successful career and, for what we have done this year, we are going in the right direction.”
But Dent recognises that the job is not yet done and only winning the title at Lord’s will be good enough for Gloucestershire and their army of fans who are making the trip to St John’s Wood for the game.
He said of the final: “I think it is 50-50. They have good players – but so have we. We are such a close-knit team and we play for each other.
“The Yorkshire game has set us up well for this. It was a good occasion and we played in front of a big crowd. That was as much pressure as a final. Everyone wants to get in there (at a final) and now we are there.”
Surrey will be playing just around the corner from their home ground – there is only five miles distance between The Oval, where Surrey play, and Lord’s – Dent said Gloucestershire will not be deterred by a possible large ‘home’ following. 
And while Australian Michael Klinger, the county captain, has been the bedrock of Gloucestershire this season, Dent said everyone must contribute to the final push for the cup.
“I will go into the final and try and take the pressure off him but, if he gets out, then we have other people who will score runs. 
“For a lot of people, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime thing and if we win, it is something I would remember and would probably be the highlight of my career,” added Dent.