No Mousley. No Glees. Tariq in? Taz in? Woakes back? Webster 3? Shaikh in? Where Garton? He's not played any 2's as far as I can tell.

Andy wrote:

No Mousley. No Glees. Tariq in? Taz in? Woakes back? Webster 3? Shaikh in? Where Garton? He's not played any 2's as far as I can tell.

I feel like Taz has to play as we aren't just short of Briggs and Lintott but also the various batting spinners we've been able to take for granted for the last several years with Maxwell/Moeen/Mousley all of whom being big contributors with the ball. but then i'm massively biased towards home grown youngsters and leggies in particular and just want to see him given the chance.

I feel like Webster coming in around 4-5 as the Paul Walter/ Tristan Stubbs type big hitter in the last 10 overs is the best place for him tactically, pretty sure that's been his role in the BBL

Where Garton? He's not played any 2's as far as I can tell. jeez. inconsistent as he can be this doesn't fill you with any confidence does it. Can't imagine he'll be trotting in to let his first delivery go with real confidence, and given his documented issues there it's a concern

i was always of the opinion that with his excellent death bowling and hitting from 6/7 in the order (6 may be a tad high but he's a proven late order hitter, actually that is one thing Garton did pretty well last year) Thompson might make Garton surplus to requirements anyway, unless they really lust for a left arm option who can swing the ball early (on his good days at least).

I feel like it'll be the weakest team on paper that we have put out in time, given Mousley and Gleeson's absence. also the one where before game 1 there are the most unanswered questions in terms of who will actually play

I'll just mention once and hopefully manage to leave it the rest of the year but I'll never understand why Hain doesn't open. in just about every other team the best bat gets to face maximum number of balls. and someone like Hain who doesn't really have the knack of coming in and scoring quickly can sometimes end up putting themselves and the team under a lot of pressure if they end up coming in after over 10. plus he would have the power play to pick up the odd cheap boundary to get him going.

I guess the logic is either not wanting him exposed to the new ball or having him there to finish the innings (I get the latter point), but I feel like with his style he could do that as an opener anyway, I mean he ends up coming in before the end of the power play at least as often as not in any case. coming in at 4 also means if the top 3 do well he will nearly always come in when the spinners are on, he isn't great at attacking the spin, at all, he often seems to get bogged down overs 8-15 or so and its virtually guaranteed he takes his first 10/15 balls at a run a ball.

Woakes back? Woakes back and on form would be a major bonus on all 3 aspects of the game. bit worried about his lack of cricket over the last year or so

all in all I feel like this may be the first year in donkey's we don't submit ourselves to the annual torture of the quarter final capitulation and get a win ratio just over 50%

I agree that this is our weakest team for a few years. Briggs is a huge loss and I can't see Tariq or Taz (yet) making the impact that he did. Also lost Moeen, who did contribute at times. As you say take out Mousley and Gleeson and that's four of the starting XI from last season gone. No Bethell either.

The two overseas are going to have to go very well for us to make an impact on the competition this year.

My guess at the XI - Yates, Davies, Hain, Barnard, Jani, Smith, Garton, Thompson, Woakes, Ali, Tariq.

If Garton isn't fit then I would expect OHD to be the seamer and everyone else shuffle up the order. Or perhaps OHD plays anyway and one of Smith/Jani drops out.

You missed out Webster. Briggs will be a huge miss this season in the T20. Feels like the fast bowler attack looks stronger than it has, but we are a solid batter short. Really annoying some of the the pointless fixtures that always seem to rob us of key players. Surely, the players would benefit far more developing and playing with their counties.

Also, what about Bamber, he is a wicket tacker that could cause damage upfront and he can also hit

Mikkyk wrote:

I agree that this is our weakest team for a few years. Briggs is a huge loss and I can't see Tariq or Taz (yet) making the impact that he did. Also lost Moeen, who did contribute at times. As you say take out Mousley and Gleeson and that's four of the starting XI from last season gone. No Bethell either.

The two overseas are going to have to go very well for us to make an impact on the competition this year.

My guess at the XI - Yates, Davies, Hain, Barnard, Jani, Smith, Garton, Thompson, Woakes, Ali, Tariq.

If Garton isn't fit then I would expect OHD to be the seamer and everyone else shuffle up the order. Or perhaps OHD plays anyway and one of Smith/Jani drops out.

No Bethell either. oh jeez I'd forgotten that.

Also lost Moeen, who did contribute at times.
as hit and miss as his batting was I feel like his contributions with the ball will be missed much more. having that genuine spin option batting in the top 5 and being able to bowl minimum 12 overs of 'proper' spin is an invaluable option.

I think Tariq will do pretty well, i imagine he'll be tight or even very tight but he won't offer the wicket-taking threat, breaking of key partnerships and taking key wickets, that Briggs did. His weird action and only short spells to work him out will keep him difficult for people to get used to. hopefully.

pretty much as you say I think Briggs will be the one who is most missed, though.

jani over (say) Shaikh or Malik is an interesting one- out of interest what's your reasoning there?

whitelightning wrote:

Also, what about Bamber, he is a wicket tacker that could cause damage upfront and he can also hit

i was thinking the same about booth haha, but is he injured?

whitelightning wrote:

You missed out Webster. Briggs will be a huge miss this season in the T20. Feels like the fast bowler attack looks stronger than it has, but we are a solid batter short. Really annoying some of the the pointless fixtures that always seem to rob us of key players. Surely, the players would benefit far more developing and playing with their counties.

Sorry yes I did. Webster over Smith probably

ITE7376 wrote:

Mikkyk wrote:

I agree that this is our weakest team for a few years. Briggs is a huge loss and I can't see Tariq or Taz (yet) making the impact that he did. Also lost Moeen, who did contribute at times. As you say take out Mousley and Gleeson and that's four of the starting XI from last season gone. No Bethell either.

The two overseas are going to have to go very well for us to make an impact on the competition this year.

My guess at the XI - Yates, Davies, Hain, Barnard, Jani, Smith, Garton, Thompson, Woakes, Ali, Tariq.

If Garton isn't fit then I would expect OHD to be the seamer and everyone else shuffle up the order. Or perhaps OHD plays anyway and one of Smith/Jani drops out.

---

No Bethell either. oh jeez I'd forgotten that.

Also lost Moeen, who did contribute at times.
as hit and miss as his batting was I feel like his contributions with the ball will be missed much more. having that genuine spin option batting in the top 5 and being able to bowl minimum 12 overs of 'proper' spin is an invaluable option.

I think Tariq will do pretty well, i imagine he'll be tight or even very tight but he won't offer the wicket-taking threat, breaking of key partnerships and taking key wickets, that Briggs did. His weird action and only short spells to work him out will keep him difficult for people to get used to. hopefully.

pretty much as you say I think Briggs will be the one who is most missed, though.

jani over (say) Shaikh or Malik is an interesting one- out of interest what's your reasoning there?

Jani has shown more in the 50 over stuff in terms of ability to score quickly/hit big and his form in the seconds has been better than Shaikh's. I don't see Malik as a T20 batsman.

Mikkyk wrote:

Jani has shown more in the 50 over stuff in terms of ability to score quickly/hit big and his form in the seconds has been better than Shaikh's. I don't see Malik as a T20 batsman.

good point he showed that at Southport and taunton last year IIRC

I guess for me if everyone is fit I'd go something like

yates
davies
barnard
Hain
Webster
Thompson
Woakes
Garton
Booth
Ali
Tariq

the all rounders start relatively early in the order and Thompson maybe a place high but there's really good 6-hitting ability from 5 all the way up to 9. heavy on seam options light on spin but i don't see much alternative to that in fact the lack of spin options almost makes me want another seam option to make up for it.

Shaikh after his ton Monday will get the nod over Jani perhaps? I dont remember Jani doing overly well in the ODC last year apart from the game at Scarborough?

Are the T20 matches live on YouTube this year?

Are the T20 matches live on YouTube this year?

Craig Miles in the Gloucestershire squad.

No sign of Garton in the squad. He must be having a long weekend at home in Brighton.

Looks like Gilchrist or OHD for the final bowling spot and either Jani or Sheikh as the batter?

At a glance id say so.