ajones1328 wrote:

Some really positive batting from the tail enders, Wagner was very impressive. Always been a fan of his, would like him as our overseas for next year.

Not sure the bowling was that bad, notice we are a very quiet side, bit of pumping each other up might have kept the momentum going.

I think the quietness has more to do with the fact that realistically there’s nothing on the line for either side. Hard to get up for a game where it’s cold and damp, you expect it to be a rain effected draw, and you’ve nothing to gain from it. To the players third, fourth or fifth makes very little difference.
Seen them noisy as a group before, but typically when they’re still challenging for something.

Do think we’ve bowled well though. Some good balls keeping up pressure, aided by 2 shocking leaves.

I do believe sometimes teams get caught up in thinking too much about hypotheticals, potential scenarios, and the forecast. Instead of just deciding to do the obvious best thing in terms of the current weather and state of the pitch.

They clearly never learn, the drainage issue at the start of this season was caused by work they carried out too late last year.
A Somerset friend of mine said they dug up part of the outfield, but took too long or did it too late, so when they relaid the turf and sowed the grass seed, the grass didn’t take and grow properly. And that’s why it was so sandy and drainage so poor in that specific part of the field for our match at the start of the year.

One thing that was abundantly clear from that match is that Eoin Morgan does not like Hain.
No idea why, because his supposed issue of “starting slowly” left him with a higher strike rate than Jacks. And never stopped Morgan picking Livingston or Root, who both have a history of chewing up balls early on. Wonder if it’s more personal than performance.

I think we’re going to get stopped by the weather. Though maybe not if we get this last one quickly.

Goes both ways though, we got robbed by the rain and drainage at Somerset, but saved against Lancashire.

The problem is, we’ve seen other players hired off the back of 1 or 2 good performances in the seconds, or who have done well in second team cricket and not made the leap. Just look at Chris Benjamin, Johal, Ethan Brookes.
Also the time of year means the bowling attacks in second XI cricket are very light. Clubs dealing with injuries after a long season, 2 squads worth of England call ups, retirements, plus you’ll have older players already hanging it up for the season and being told they don’t need to play.

Suspect it’s a case of just getting the batting points because unless the track completely changes overnight, a draw looks the only likely result. So get as many points as possible.

Can’t see us bowling them out currently for a total we could chase. And they won’t risk losing whilst Kent are doing poorly. So for them to get enough runs to threaten declaring they’d need to bat too long for it to be possible to bowl us out on a pitch only getting better for batting.

Good for Rhodes to get his century. Shame he got out so shortly after but imagine he was very relieved he finally turned threatening to do well in the last couple of matches into a decent score in this one.

I do wonder what Middlesex’s approach will be now. They’ll know that they can’t afford to have a worse result than Kent.

Tayls79 wrote:

Raining now and that'll finish it so not sure the bad light for 15 minutes will have made much of a difference. In any case, another 72 runs would be great here. Allow Rhodes and Briggs to get centuries, two batting points and still five sessions plus to bowl Middlesex out for under 180 with the odd shower delay. It will just have to be tomorrow I guess...

No you’re right 15 minutes won’t make a big difference in the scheme of things for this match. It’s just more a wider point in general, it’s a frustration of mine, that cricket always seems to shoot itself in the foot regarding time played or not played. There’s a million laws and regulations about when not to play, yet nothing that allows common sense to prevail and increase playing time when possible.

Why are we off for bad light, the batsmen had no issue. They were flaying it to all parts.
It’s now going to rain for the rest of the day. Seems a poor decision by the umpires.

Watching this I’m wondering why Murtagh is retiring.
He’s bowled some absolute beauties.
The balls to Barnard and Burgess were gorgeous. They’ve pitched in almost identical places, ones jagged back, the others moved away. Not just a little bit of movement either. Superb bowling.

Feels harsh on Johal. Looked really good the last time he played first XI. Hasn’t had a chance since. I appreciate he hasn’t really earned it in the seconds, but seems like he has the ability.

Our top order is really a shambles.
Rhodes seems to have found some late season form. But Yates, Davies, now Brathwaite, just so unreliable.

I think the idea behind outside investment is to allow more pro-players. Have some minor county players able to try to sign for a county. By being a professional for a year or 2. Plus funding travel etc.
Also from what I’ve heard, some of the theory behind it would be to allow counties to loan their younger players to minor counties. So the likes of Wylie or Simmons for the Bears could go play for someone like Staffordshire or Shropshire, in a competition that would theoretically be a higher standard than second XI T20’s.

Really seems to be potential here, but it’s can they work it out. Or is there just too much opposition from different stakeholders (ECB, Sky, Counties, potential investors), who all want different things and we know the counties are very much against trusting the ECB after the way the Hundred was essentially forced upon them.

Unfortunately these days at grounds like Edgbaston and the Oval, it’s not just black tarpaulins. Because county championship cricket is so regularly relegated to the extremities of the square so international matches, T20 and the hundred can have the best pitches, that we get white bed sheets too.

That makes sense to me up to a point.
I think the problem is, the counties will never abandoned the blast. You’d have to give them part ownership of their 18 teams. Which obviously isn’t something the ECB want to do.

But seems to me, what needs to happen is that the hundred and blast are amalgamated. 1 single short format competition. Think 39 teams but in 4 divisions is a great idea. Treat it like the football pyramid, you’d still have an elite league of 10 at the top. But the teams in it would be there by merit and performance. Teams always have something to play for, and it decongests the schedule.
Expands the playing pool as well, increases access to fans across the country, and you could shape it however you wanted to attract your target audience, matching women’s teams etc.

That’s twice in 2 weeks Burgess is the only recognised batsman to show some spine.

Think the pitch and the match situation played the biggest parts in the negotiations.
Both teams struggled to score on it, so that will have played a big part.
Also, Northants knew the bears were in control of the clock. We could have killed that game in the first innings to guarantee a draw, so had to be something really generous to make it impossible for Rhodes not to agree to it.

Not sure how we only got 5 wickets. Thought we bowled well for the most part.
So many balls going past the edge, some dubious leaves, countless play and misses. Always stayed on top of the run rate, just needed something to go our way.