DORSET captain Chris Park feel his side’s sterling one-day form will hold them in good stead as they begin their three-day campaign on Sunday away to Shropshire in the MCCA Championship (11am).

The county side have progressed to the quarter-finals of the MCCA Knockout Trophy thanks to wins over Cornwall, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Their back-to-basics philosophy have given them a great start to the season and Park hopes for more of the same on Sunday.

Park told Echosport: “Myself and the coach (Paul Prichard) had a meeting on Wednesday to discuss how to win the game on Sunday and we came to the conclusion that we need to stick to the principles we set in the one-day games with intensity, with batting, making sure we hit the top of off stump.

“These are simple things and we just want them to do them for longer.

“Each session is 40 overs long, so as long as the guys can apply themselves and show high levels of concentration, I don’t see why we can’t apply the same rules to three-day cricket.

“I’m also looking forward to the debutants stepping up and showing what they can do over the three days.

“I believe in all of the young lads and in the whole squad. It’s about putting it all together.”

These debutants are Josh Digby, who has played one-day cricket for the minor county, Rob Pack – making his Dorset debut – and Tom Arnold, who comes in for Ryan Scott.

Scott, who has pulled his hamstring, will be out for four weeks, meaning he will miss next week’s Knockout Trophy quarter-final against Wiltshire at North Perrott.

This will put greater responsibility on fellow opener Masoor Khan, and Park feels the experienced batsman will be one to watch in the longer form of the game.

He added: “I think Maz Khan, who has been our leading run scorer for the past couple of seasons, hasn’t hit his high heights this season and he’s been a bit in the shadows of Lewis McManus, Luke Webb and Max Waller.

“So looking forward to him leading from the front in the three-day format.”

Both Dorset’s professional players, Lewis McManus and Max Waller, are unavailable for the clash in Crewe as they are both playing for their county sides in Twenty20 games, but they should both be available for next week’s quarter final.

Dorset will have six fixtures in the three-day competition’s Western Division over the summer with the top-placed team facing off against the top Eastern Division side in the final.

Dorset: Khan, Arnold, Webb, Park, Thomson, Wolstenhome, Digby, Hayman, Pack, Lilley.