Some real positives to take from this, despite a very dodgy start to our innings and what looked like a few umpiring howlers. Be nice to see the likes of Yates, Malik and Shaikh find some form in the remaining matches, but certainly plenty to celebrate from today.
Good win. Hopefully they take a lot of confidence from that, they battled back a few times. The end of this Rugby festival run on Friday I think we'll know for sure where we are with Middlesex just above us and Kent below. I'm confident we're looking up now though and I think we should be favourites for those games.
I was also wondering where we stand with the 100 players. As I see it its only Mouseley and Bethell playing with no game time for Garton, Briggs or most surprisingly Hain. Of those, I think its only Garton I could see coming into the side as rotation. Hamza and Malik haven't had any runs yet and we know our middle order is quite weak. However I think they need the chance to turn it around. With Sheikh today, maybe a duff decision for an lbw (was it? In the end?) but it was a loose waft he shouldn't have been playing. A temperamental fail.
Crazy that one of best best batters in the country, Sam Hain, has hardly played at the heart of the season with paternity leave followed by not getting a game in The Hundred.
Brilliant performance. Good day. Pleased for Alex Davies, it's a match winning knock really. Listen, I said years ago I'd have never signed him and he wouldn't be my choice of 4day captain right now but the stick he gets sometimes is way over the top and people are never so readily forthcoming with praise when he does well. The lad tries and it was great to see him play such an excellent knock today.
Taz Ali was terrific, barely bowled a bad delivery, excellent control. Outbowled Chahal who is a fantastic white ball leggy. Can clearly bowl genuine wicket taking deliveries and he has a googly, so encouraging. Looks like he can hold a bat too. Also, the reaction from the team collectively when he got his 5fer was brilliant, they were all over the moon for him, lovely.
Rugby School, the food and drink situation don't bother me that much but if that's right that you can't get a beer on tap then that needs rectifying. Would prefer more comfortable seating (folding chairs for 7 hours are uncomfortable) and better toilet facilities. A temporary stand wouldn't go a miss. At Scarborough we were practically sat with the live stream commentators at one point so for the whole media/hospitality area to be cordoned off at Rugby is just bizarre. The lack of PA system grated too, more than i thought it would. I'll get slated for saying this but I love outgrounds (ill be at Aigburth too) and want them to be good, we should have high standards on this sort of thing. Heard some grumbling about the walk from the train station but its closer than New Street station to Edgbaston tbf. Apparently Northants play some 2nd team games at Rugby School which makes us being the home side seem a bit funny in a way. Like I say, it ain't bad, but it definitely be improved. That's a good thing.
Hundred. Hain is missing his 2nd game in a row now so that means he's available for our game on Wednesday? Dunno.
Might be something, might be nothing. Probably nothing. But that's 2 games in a row where the white ball really has nipped about a lot in the first hour of the day. Maybe just a coincidence...
Zen Malik has gone 0,0,0 since his epic 142 v Worcestershire. Cricket, a great leveller.
Northants seconds have played away fixtures against Warwickshire at Rugby because believe it or not Northamptonshire borders Warwickshire and Rugby is therefore a logical place to play that fixture. Geography really isn’t that hard.
As for the rest not worth responding to. Its like the first cuckoo signalling spring,
Great day and look forward to the next two games!
*borders i think you mean.
Very aware of that thank you.
A familiar cry baby.
Changed it for you. Hopefully now you know a bit more you’ll give it a rest for the next two games and concentrate on the cricket!
Who's hurt you?
But go on, ill bite, did you not see my comments about Alex Davies and Taz Ali? Hain availability? Or Zen Malik ups and downs? Think I've discussed a bit more cricket than you here my friend...
Enjoyed the game but don't enjoy being made to feel inferior/second class to hospitality. The only other ground that had had this affect is the self styled home of cricket (Lords rather than the actual 2025 home of cricket, Mumbai)
A perfect illustration of what's wrong with the game IMO
To be clear the stewards and other public facing staff were fine. I assume it's Rugby school who decided where we were welcome (or not)
I remember on the old forum there was a guy who got equally obsessed about Stratford as you do about Rugby. Bizarrely he lived in Warley!
Crikey if I deconstructed Edgbaston after each day attending the Championship.
Absolutely pointless and destructive IMO
Really hope the Club don’t cave in to vested interests! This has gone on for years. Remember it happening to Griff & Coton and Cov & North Warwicks. Ludicrous!
I enjoyed last year at Rugby and today's game but not the approach taken to spectators.
I'm entitled to my opinion as is everyone else and I'm not blind to the issues Edgbaston stadium poses and would like to see more games at out grounds facilities permitting. However having my reasoned comments labelled as "ludicrous, pointless and destructive" means I'll leave the forum to others
Sorry to be clear that wasn’t aimed at you. I can see you’ve had a bad experience today although I’m perplexed as we sat to the left of the pavilion for almost all of the day then when the evening sun came we moved to the right of the pavilion with no problem whatsoever.
As I say it was the repetitive criticism of not playing in Birmingham I was responding to not your frustrations. Apologies that wasn’t clear!
I’d actually posted it before your last but one comment came up. Probably shouldn’t have bitten to the wind up merchant anyway!
As I said earlier I hope we can all just comment on the cricket for the remainder of this week!
BosworthBear, i dont know what your talking about there or who its even aimed at.
We've all had a good day in great weather in a nice atmosphere at a lovely venue that can be made even better still with some minor tweaks and changes. It's so encouraging. We all enjoy outgrounds. We all have our gripes about Edgbaston too, none more so than me.
And you're in here howling at the moon. To call peoples comments pointless and ludicrous etc is totally out of line.
Someone mentioned Alex Davies up the thread and delighted for him he got a score today. We need him to be playing well in a green middle order. He paired up well with Kai I thought - in a weird way. Davies started very skittishly but that morphed into busting energy, trying to engineer runs. I think Kai at the other end playing the same way calmed him down a bit and made him act like the senior partner.
Excellent win to get our campaign up and running. Tough choice between Davies and Taz Ali for man of the match. Both made match winning contributions.
Room for improvement though. Yates, Malik and Sheikh can all score big but they just need to get going and find form. Lintott could do with improving his economy but he is an important player when in rhythm. Booth continues to impress.
Andy wrote:
Brilliant performance. Good day. Pleased for Alex Davies, it's a match winning knock really. Listen, I said years ago I'd have never signed him and he wouldn't be my choice of 4day captain right now but the stick he gets sometimes is way over the top and people are never so readily forthcoming with praise when he does well. The lad tries and it was great to see him play such an excellent knock today.
Taz Ali was terrific, barely bowled a bad delivery, excellent control. Outbowled Chahal who is a fantastic white ball leggy. Can clearly bowl genuine wicket taking deliveries and he has a googly, so encouraging. Looks like he can hold a bat too. Also, the reaction from the team collectively when he got his 5fer was brilliant, they were all over the moon for him, lovely.
Chahal is the all time leading wicket taker in the IPL so its some 'scalp' for Ali to take, so to say. My first time seeing Ali and it was an absolute pleasure, the control ,the variation of speed and flight, and he gets good bounce too being tall for a spinner.
Devon_Bear wrote:
Fair play to Davies, that was a great innings. Perhaps batting at 4 suits him better than opening?
i have said for ages that I would swap him and Hain in T20. I think Davies's straightjacketing himself as the 'aggressive opener' with a 'Bazball' mindset has led to his lack of scores beyond 50, I think Hain as our clearly best batsman should face the maximum possible number of deliveries, and actually I think Davies may be better suited as a 'finisher' type or coming in in the middle overs at 4/5. he's a busy player against spin, which, Hain can sometimes let spinners bowl at him, and I feel like he works the ball square and backward of square against spin possibly better than anyone else we have.
Andy wrote:
sdobbs wrote:
Poor experience at the ground. Only 1 entrance, spectators limited to half the boundary (rest is reserved for VIPs/hospitality and radio), no announcements, no on tap beer, members discount...not taking a day off work on Wednesday to be made to feel unwelcome
I agree Dobbs. The fact that we're only limited to half the ground is terrible, it's not a great viewing ground anyway. I want this outground experience to be good but I can only tell it how it is I'm afraid. Need more toilets too, there already filthy.
filthy doesn't match my experience of the toilets TBH mate I thought they were about as good as it gets for portaloos. maybe my expectations are slanted by nightmare festival experiences in the 1990s but i had no complaints at all on this front
As the late queen allegedly said (not about the Rugby toilets), recollections may vary.