PURTON bowler Craig Miles says he is content with how his 2016 panned out at Gloucestershire as he marked a significant landmark before capping the year with a new deal.

The 22-year-old surpassed 50 Championship wickets with the County Championship Division Two side as he took his overall wicket count to 229 in all formats.

The medium pacer did enough to earn himself a contract extension at the Brightside Ground until 2019 and believes that there is plenty to be happy about reflecting on the season.

“If you look at number of wickets, then I was pretty pleased with my season, especially in the Championship stuff,” he told the Adver.

“Taking 50 Championship wickets for the first time was very pleasing and then getting the extension on the contract was a good way to round off the season.

“The 50 wickets was in the back of my mind I suppose, it is one of those milestones that everyone wants to get to as a bowler but I wasn’t trying to think about it too much.

“I was just trying to do my role for the team and hope that the wickets would come that way and take care of itself.

“Overall, I’m pretty pleased with how the season went. There are little bits that I would have liked to have gone a bit better but on the whole, I’m pleased.”

Throughout Miles’ fledgling career to date, the right-armer has been hindered with injuries but 2016 saw him enjoy a sustained period without ailment, something that came as a relief to the young cricketer.

“I felt pretty good within myself,” he added.

“I didn’t play much Twenty20, so I had a little bit of a break there and only played the one-day and Championship games.

“In terms of my body, I felt pretty good. Mentally, there were breaks in between games which helped and my body probably felt the best it has felt in my first three seasons or so.”

Miles admits there was no hesitation in penning the new two-year deal with the Bristol-based club and having been given the chance to prove himself, he is hoping he can find more consistency in his game to help both himself and the team moving forward.

He said: “I enjoy playing with the group of players we have got and we have enjoyed some recent success.

“I think we are building a team with a lot of potential who can compete in all formats and I want to be a part of that and stay at Gloucestershire for a few more years.

“So far wickets have always taken care of themselves, I’ve taken wickets quite regularly.

“For both myself and the team, if I can become a bit more consistent and a bit more economical, that will also be a benefit.

“I need to work on building pressure and bowling maidens and that is the biggest thing I am working on over the winter.”