Lovely weather for it...

Unchanged team.
We bat first, & Davies fails again, playing a bad shot.

Seems thats the case every game!

37/1 off first 6 - slow start.

Well after that slow start that was some partnership that really up the run rate. Then 67 in the final 5 overs with Moeen getting a good knock. But why did he refuse a single in the final over as if his partner was a tail ender.

With some decent bowling we should win this.

Even Ed Barnard sometimes slips up - a poor last over, showing how difficult it is to bowl yorkers under pressure.

GerryShedd wrote:

Even Ed Barnard sometimes slips up - a poor last over, showing how difficult it is to bowl yorkers under pressure.

Hard to put any blame on Barney, given the position he was put in. Some credit to Notts though, no matter how well they play, they really are the club it's impossible not to hate. That really takes some doing!

No blame on Ed, he has performed superbly for us so far this season. But why only one over for Garton? Why only a couple for Moeen? What is the point of picking Kai Smith as a batsman when he hardly gets a bat?

It all came down to a partnership we couldn't break until it was too late and then it took a run out. We had a couple of attempts for a six falling just short of the ropes. Can't criticise a defeat off the last ball.

It all came down to a partnership we couldn't break until it was too late and then it took a run out. We had a couple of attempts for a six falling just short of the ropes. Can't criticise a defeat off the last ball.

Yes, the refusal of a single from Moeen to put Barnard on strike was strange, does he not think Barney can hit a ball. Lots of things are strange though in our cricket, why is Garton in the side if you think that it is mainly his bowling and he only has one over and it might have been better to see him than Hasan who was awful, miles too short and bringing him back was poor captaincy. He has been successful bowling full and straight, tonight he did neither. Lintott has to be dropped and Smith is wasted too low down or should also go. Poor death bowling tonight, the exact opposite of last night and can Davies explain 2 fielders on the fence with a single needed off the last ball. Nothing worse than getting parked up, getting a good seat and you get home at 10.30 having lost.

Thought we batted well in the last 8 or so of our overs.

They batted really well at the end, but our bowling wasn’t good enough. To me, and it’s a recurring theme now, the captaincy was the ultimate difference.

We let it meander at the start of that big partnership. They weren’t really under any pressure, took singles easily and cashed in on the bad balls which were at least once an over.
Then the bowling changes, Garton got 1 over after going for 6, but you’ve got Hassan going at 12, Mousley at 11, Barnard at 11, bowling 4 each. And it wasn’t like they had 1 bad final over, they were pretty consistently expensive in all their overs from the start.
And as pointed out, 1 to win but 2 on the fence, but not 2 out with a plan, 2 out hoping for awful batting. Made to look worse by a 70mph wide full toss.

I think Moen not taking the single showed a great degree of arrogance previously alluded to in other match threads, even more so considering Barnard at the other end had a higher strike rate!

You sometimes wonder about ego's which can cause disharmony, and can effect the whole changing room.

Ed Barnard would probably be first choice on my team list; but I still maintain that he bowled a terrible last over last night.
And those who disagree with me can console themselves with the words of Isaac Asimov who said:
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do."

Davies inspires no confidence whatsoever in his captaincy, he's not inspirational in any shape or form. I hope Westwood seriously considers taking the captaincy off him because we need better leadership out there than what we are getting now. It has to be Latham for me, look at his batting - how many wild swings of the bat do you see Latham doing compared to Davies? He is always composed and leads by example. Davies is hit and miss - like his captaincy.

Time for a change Mr Westwood.

I agree about Barnard's last over. He got his lengths and his line just right on Friday but a lot of his bowling yesterday, saw him try to go too full and end up bowling a full toss like ball 19.1 which Sams hit for 6. It was exactly what they HAD to get to make it a little easier for the rest of the over. Cannot understand Hasan's lengths either as his success is in bowling straight and full but I feared for the game when he was given one final over. At that point there was only Moeen and Garton who could have bowled as Lintott looks shot of confidence. I would have fancied Garton if only because Hasan had bowled poorly and really didn't appear to know where he was bowling and let the situation get to him. Disappointing to have made 2 big scores against this lot and still lost, maybe the reason we were inserted. Having to watch one of their old boys, Tubs Patel score a winning innings as well, never liked him always making excuses when he failed but like yesterday when he had a good game, it took him ages to be prized off the pitch as the cameras waved about.

I’ve never looked at Barnard and thought he’s a death bowler. Because of his pace, he has to be absolutely perfect in his execution. And that’s asking a hell of a lot.
Is it a lack of faith in Garton? All you’re doing at this stage is denting his confidence further by barely using him. Seems very odd.
There’s a few players offering very little at the moment, either due to their own form & performances (Lintott), or are being misused/not used (Smith, Garton).

I wonder if there is a power struggle going on with Westwood & Davies? Certain players have been under bowled in both formats so far this season - Simmons & Taz Ali in the CC and Garton & Lintott in the VB. Is this Davies' way of saying he doesn't want them in the team? Surely Westwood would question him as to why these players haven't bowled much in certain games?

As for Kai Smith, is he the first player in cricket history to be chosen primarily as a fielder?

I can understand Garton not being brought on to bowl the final over. He has been hammered in earlier games coming on near the death. If that had happened again last night his confidence would really have been demolished. No, he should have been used in the early overs - 6 off the first was not a bad return - and in doing so would have left a couple of other bowlers with a spare over available. That would have given the captain a choice depending on what was needed. Another alternative it would have given and that would be not to have used Hassan for 4 overs when he was clearly not on form. Is that the problem with Davies, totally inflexible when it comes to a game plan?

Sorry to sound rude but if there is a “power struggle” between Davies and Westwood we are in bigger trouble than we might of thought. Two of the most uninspiring individuals that have ever been in charge of Warwickshire CCC, in my opinion, of course. Briggs will be missed in white ball cricket, as well. A far better cricketing brain than the captain.

It was also notable (audible) that when the game starting getting away from us, Davies started shouting at fielders - which was absolutely not what was needed.

He lost the plot last night.