btw for me a real sliding doors moment was that short wide one that Dickson uppercutted off Gleeson in the 19th. That was a poor option IMO, and then next delivery Gleeson seemed to come pretty close to nailing the wide yorker but Dickson to be fair timed the cover off it to hit that for 4, too. but those 2 deliveries turned it from an impossibility in the last over to a merely unlikely possibility. Its a bit unfair to Gleeson to be too critical as he still only went at 8s, but those 2 consecutive balls massively changed the momentum and got their fans right back into it and made them believe it was possible, and the pressure on Barnard increased greatly as a result. Like i say i thought it was a real sliding doors moment, if we go for say 6 runs off those two balls we win

In the penultimate over? After the boundaries Gleeson closed out that over with 2 dot balls to almost get us the momentum back and keep Dickson off strike going into the last. 2 massive dot balls at such a crucial moment.

Interesting, didn't watch the game, only took periodic looks at cricinfo, I didn't realise how far ahead we were at certain points in those late exchanges. If I was, I probably would be more gutted, as it stands I wasn't that disappointed as I did expect Somerset to win and was really looking for a closer game and for us to play a bit more confident cricket than in prior QFs. From the start of our innings I thought I saw that.

This is probably an iteration of the the above point, but I think beating ourselves up about the wrong bowler at the death is probably not going to help. Somerset are a stronger team than us (as are Surrey today). It will take a long time to change this and there are many causes: Selection, recruitment, academy production, management - etc.

Personally I thought we were heading in the right direction here - though if it is the case we bottled it (was the slowdown in scoring with the bat lack of confidence/bottle too?) then it does have echoes of the end of the Robinson era.

Wide Yorker length balls are useful but problematic if they go wrong. The thing is, batsmen are more adept at scoring from them now and the problem is, you take clean-bowled and lbw out of the game and unless you get it right, a batsman can throw everything at it and often get 4 or 6.

If you are doubting the character of Ed Barnard, the same question needs to be asked about all of the members of the squad who have got out playing inappropriate shots for the match situation throughout the season, especially the more experienced players who do so repeatedly, putting more pressure on the rest of the side.

As he was running in to bowl, Ed Barnard was probably thinking: "If I mess this up, what will those so-and-sos on Bearsfans say about me?"

Andy wrote:

In the penultimate over? After the boundaries Gleeson closed out that over with 2 dot balls to almost get us the momentum back and keep Dickson off strike going into the last. 2 massive dot balls at such a crucial moment.

also true! Momentum is a fickle thing in T20. i was mostly whinging about the poor option of the short wide one

Highveld wrote:

If you are doubting the character of Ed Barnard, the same question needs to be asked about all of the members of the squad who have got out playing inappropriate shots for the match situation throughout the season, especially the more experienced players who do so repeatedly, putting more pressure on the rest of the side.

Have you mentioned that before?

I may well have to ask it again, when relevant too!

Haha!

Its being replayed on Sky here...

is it allowed before the 9pm watershed?

Haha

Sadly, that was almost certainly the last time we’ll see Danny Briggs in a Bears shirt, barring a call up to the CC side, which is highly unlikely. We’re certainly going to miss him in T20 going forward, can’t see us playing both Taz and Jake so not sure who will come in for him as a finger spinner.

Yes we should wish him well and send him on his way with thanks for all his T20 wickets.

Danny has been an absolute joy in T20 cricket, turning many games in our favour with wickets and economy rate. At present I cannot see how we replace him, either through the current squad or by acquisition from another county. I think the only route is through an overseas acquisition. Many thanks Danny for some absolutely splendid performances!

MalmesburyBear wrote:

Danny has been an absolute joy in T20 cricket, turning many games in our favour with wickets and economy rate. At present I cannot see how we replace him, either through the current squad or by acquisition from another county. I think the only route is through an overseas acquisition. Many thanks Danny for some absolutely splendid performances!

I said on this thread a couple of days ago, that an overseas acquisition of a spinner is our No 1 priority this Autumn and he should be considered as a likely new Captain.

MalmesburyBear wrote:

Danny has been an absolute joy in T20 cricket, turning many games in our favour with wickets and economy rate. At present I cannot see how we replace him, either through the current squad or by acquisition from another county. I think the only route is through an overseas acquisition. Many thanks Danny for some absolutely splendid performances!

I couldn't agree more an absolute joy is exactly what he has been, its not quite the wrench that Jeetan's retirement was for me but he will be greatly missed and I'd be surprised if we manage to recruit anyone to directly replace him. Like you say nobody on the county circuit comes to mind, the names of left armers who come up to me would be, say, Callum Parkinson, Tom Hartley, decent bowlers but different styles and they don't have Briggs's stature or certainly not his prolific wicket-taking. It seems more an more common that finger-spinners are batsmen who bowl part time, the specialists seem to be a declining breed due to the prevalence of wrist spin?

I am fairly sure last season (2024) in the T20 marked his best single season's haul in terms of wickets with i think it was 29, so we may even have seen him at the apex of his powers. That's what I will be telling myself anyway. His record will stand for a long, long time I suspect.

my favourite thing to remember about Briggs is, the number of times batsmen would get out trying to repeat their 4/6 shot against him. Comparing him to Jeetan it seemed like Jeetan absolutely hated to get hit at all, whereas Briggs, it seemed like he wanted to tempt them just enough, getting them to hit a six and get excited was almost like he had them just where he wanted. I lost count of the number of times he got them out trying that 2nd consecutive big shot, to the point where I thought it was a bit of scouting/stat work they must have neglected, 'if you hit Briggs for six, whatever you do don't try repeating it'. He's all time leading wkt taker for a reason and if you think you've got his measure, its you thats the mug, now off you go boy.

Bald_Reynard wrote:

MalmesburyBear wrote:

Danny has been an absolute joy in T20 cricket, turning many games in our favour with wickets and economy rate. At present I cannot see how we replace him, either through the current squad or by acquisition from another county. I think the only route is through an overseas acquisition. Many thanks Danny for some absolutely splendid performances!

I said on this thread a couple of days ago, that an overseas acquisition of a spinner is our No 1 priority this Autumn and he should be considered as a likely new Captain.

I didn't see him but that Aussie chap Rochiggiani (sp?) got excellent reviews on here, was there any talk of having him back? we knew Briggs was on his way out at the time

Solbear wrote:

Sadly, that was almost certainly the last time we’ll see Danny Briggs in a Bears shirt, barring a call up to the CC side, which is highly unlikely. We’re certainly going to miss him in T20 going forward, can’t see us playing both Taz and Jake so not sure who will come in for him as a finger spinner.

2 wrist spinners is 'bold' for sure, I will note though that in the 100, the all-conquering Oval lot have always played Sowter and paired him either with Zampa or Rashid Khan for a lot of it. The latter 2 are top line internationals for sure but I do believe two quality wrist spinners can co-exist in a T20 lineup, especially if different styles, left/right, taller/shorter, flatter/more flighted, which kind of describes Taz and Jake

realistically i don't think its likely to happen which is a shame as I absolutely love watching wrist spin launches into 'do you remember when we had Imran Tahir' lovestory