I wonder if he’ll be picked up at the next IPL and beyond, given he hasn’t played this time around and is now out of the England squad as well?

Well the good news is that we haven’t lost a game yet. The bad news is that we haven’t won either. Still a pretty solid start to the season, I’d say.

I wouldn’t put it past the ECB to deny him the opportunity to play for us and then expect him to go into the test squad fully firing.

If that was the case then I don’t know why he would have agreed to play as a sub in the last game.

Much more likely that it’s a family issue for Sam.

Given that he's played test cricket recently (in Australia) and made a big impact, I'd definitely say that he's an upgrade on Miles. For one thing, I assume that he's got a lot more pace/bounce than Miles?

BristolBear wrote:

I’m starting to find the Hain situation a bit odd.
I assume him playing in this is to get some match play in after 3 weeks off.
I’ve heard various rumours of why he’s not playing, none substantiatee, but do find it odd he’s been off for so long, but has been around to sub field, play second xi etc.

Maybe whatever the issue is/was meant that he wasn’t able to commit to being available for a full four day game (if he needed to be on call for something, for example) but that still meant that he could be in and around the matchday squad

The Hampshire stream isn’t very good is it? Poor camera angles from one end, commentary ahead of the picture, scoreboard updating slowly.

Shame about the late wickets but still an excellent day. Hopefully we can push on tomorrow morning and get to 400 for the fourth batting point at least. 110 runs in 14 overs for maximum bonus points is probably a stretch too far!

Seems like it was a pretty good effort to take 16 wickets on that pitch with the Kookaburra ball?

We’re 2nd in the table after that round of matches, despite all the doom and gloom around our squad I’d say that’s a pretty solid start and with Hassan and Hain to come in for the next game as well. Hopefully Rushworth will be ok as it’s back to the Dukes ball (I think?), didn’t he skittle Hampshire last season at the Rose Bowl?

We’ve had worse days!

Pleased for Davies, he’s had a lot of criticism since he joined us, some deserved, some undeserved, so great to see him get a big score.

Streetly_Bear wrote:

This opening stand must be winding up Highveld.

Beat me to it! 🤣

Quite a nice scoreline to wake up to

Any news of Hassan Ali?

I seem to remember seeing images online of drainage work at Edgbaston that took place during the winter, so hopefully that will improve things.

Josh Cobb has signed for Worcestershire

I’m sure he wouldn’t have been everyone’s choice but I just hope that everyone can get behind him and not get on his back from day 1.

He’s been named as batting consultant for the England Lions tour of India this month.

From the Cricinfo live text: “(On the hamstring) We’ll say it is a cramp (smiles) but will have to assess with the physio. We will see how it is”

He was never consistent enough for me, he’d have a great game followed by a shocker. In four day cricket he was always a bit expensive. If he can find that consistency then he’ll be a good player.

I’d be in favour of a festival of some sort. I think it would be good to make it a bit more than just a game at a different ground, make it something that not only the county diehards will want to go to.

BosworthBear wrote:

GerryShedd wrote:

Regarding out-grounds, I agree that it will be interesting to see which locations are chosen.
Middlesex are so strapped for cash that they are playing two of their T20 matches at Chelmsford on dates when Lord's is unavailable. According to The Telegraph, this will save them "a six figure sum" even though they will pay Essex a hosting fee.

At the end of season dinner the CEO and Performance Director said they were actively looking for an outground and would make an announcement in due course.

I always felt this was logical given the square was so over used at Edgbaston last year and the 50 overs matches became a joke as did a couple of proper County matches towards the end.

At the dinner he said South Warwickshire but I wrote saying this would be a major PR blunder if announced as majority of population live in the North of the County and there is a greater tradition of County cricket played there. He reassured me saying they were looking at the whole of the County.

But given that one of the purposes of outground cricket is to expose people to the game that might otherwise not attend, somewhere in the south might not be a bad idea?

I think one of the main things is that it needs to be easily accessible by train. Somewhere like Leamington or Stratford would fit the bill on that basis, though I have no idea if there are suitable grounds there.