With the recent news around Webster and Ali, it feels that once again we have failed to deliver a Blast Squad.

Webster was always going to be selected for the Australian squads as Green is returning from injury

Ali..well his contract should be terminated..nothing against him but he's not worth the mess about

Off to Ireland v West Indies tomorrow and Friday..will see if anyone is free !

Is Moeen Ali playing this year? I've lost track.

It is just really annoying that we seem to get it wrong every year. If Webster was an obvious departure then where is the planning? we knew who was going to be involved with England Guess its a bit of bad luck with Ali, but lets face it, he seems to be not worth the hassle.

Think we will have to try and get someone in from overseas now for this competition. Not sure Latham plays much T20. Moeen is available, then the likes of Garton, Gleeson, Briggs and Lintott to be added to the championship team. Maybe Woakes and Bethell also available?

Garton is another mercenary white ball player. Its a shame he hasn't got the enthusiasm for the red ball as we are crying out for a quality left arm fast bowler. At least he is usually available for the T20 but he must be on good money for the dozen games he plays every year.

Just nothing exciting about our squad, decent players who do a decent job. Would love to see some young exciting batsman, who gives it a real go.

Bethell and Mousley are interesting here. The former I am not too sure given England white ball internationals and IPL. The latter should have a big role though as per the other chat - we're not sure what role. He played a larger role with the ball last year but would really want to see more responsibility or contribution with the bat.

Tayls79 wrote:

Bethell and Mousley are interesting here. The former I am not too sure given England white ball internationals and IPL. The latter should have a big role though as per the other chat - we're not sure what role. He played a larger role with the ball last year but would really want to see more responsibility or contribution with the bat.

Mousley as well as Woakes included in two 4 day friendlies for England Lions ruling them out of the first 5 or 6 Blast games.....great!

Yep further underlines the point, Woakes and Mouse now missing at least the first 4 / 5 Blast Games. The Blast tournament is by far the most exciting county tournament yet the Bears "attempt" is undermined before it even starts. At least we wont have to witness the lads bottle it in the quarter finals this year.

Starting line up could be:

Davies
Moeen
Yates
Hain
Latham
Barnard
Smith
Garton
Briggs
Lintott
Bamber

Unavailable initially:

Bethell
Mousley
Woakes
Gleeson
H Ali

No longer available:

Webster
Booth

Other possibles:

OHD
Rushworth
Miles
Simmons
T Ali
Hamza
Zen Malik

Forgot that we have lost Gleeson for the 1st 2 matches. Seriously, it is a joke trying to even get a team together. The fans really get short changed, after the marketing team go to town pushing the Blast.
The potential squad looks exactly what it is, short of at least 2 players with zero options.

"No longer available:
Webster
Booth"
Does that mean that Anne Ziegler is unavailable too?
(PS - a less than topical joke!)

GerryShedd wrote:

"No longer available:
Webster
Booth"
Does that mean that Anne Ziegler is unavailable too?
(PS - a less than topical joke!)

Made me laugh, Terry. Thank you.

I feel sorry for Westwood. Circumstances have seriously weakened his planning.
I wonder what the sporting director guy is doing to help. He won't have any contacts in the cricket world to call on, unlike say a Giles or a Farbrace.

Not to be overly pessimistic, but do we think Moeen plays the first game? His final game in the IPL is the 25th. First Bears game is the 30th.
Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a player need a “break” following arrival from another franchise tournament.
And as much as I love him as a player, I don’t get the feeling from him that he’s so passionate about the club that he’ll play no matter what.

I get the "circumstances have worked against him" but it happens every single year. They knew that Ali is a liability with call ups and injuries, Webster would likely be called up, England could well take Woakes, Bethell and Mouse. Mo plays in the IPL. Personally, the blame lies firmly with management, I mean come on, they have signed players before. who are available for most of the qualifying games and then not around for the quarter final or finals day??

whitelightning wrote:

I get the "circumstances have worked against him" but it happens every single year. They knew that Ali is a liability with call ups and injuries, Webster would likely be called up, England could well take Woakes, Bethell and Mouse. Mo plays in the IPL. Personally, the blame lies firmly with management, I mean come on, they have signed players before. who are available for most of the qualifying games and then not around for the quarter final or finals day??

Agreed the only one that is potentially unforseen is Mousley. We've been left with a squad that needs reinforcements with very little time left.

Latham should have been back up to two overseas t20 signings who were 90% likely to be available. Webster was clearly not going to be available and there's always a good chance Ali isn't going to be available and I personally don't think he's a great t20 signing.

If the management do not have a back up plan for overseas players then it is really poor planning

More on the Blast squad:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c628e801456o

I think that's fair enough, Robinson would have panicked and got any old overseas in, even if just for a couple of games, they'd have likely underperformed and it would have been pointless. The Blast should be an opportunity to blood youngsters, particularly the early stages of the comp.