There's much that could be said about the quota system in South Africa; but at least it is an improvement on the system that was in place for most of the 20th century when the quotas were Whites 100%, everyone else 0%.

Looks like the game is drifting peacefully to a draw, with runs for Yates and Malan.

This is a disturbing picture of the rest of the season, especially for those of us who are not drawn to The Hundred:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/doubts-grow-over-viability-of-county-competitions-as-clubs-face-difficulty-putting-out-sides-1269618

That looks and sounds really interesting.
Also, my colleague on Deep Extra Cover, Huw Lloyd, has done a whole series of interviews with former players, including Paul Smith. They can be accessed here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/back-to-the-pavilion/id1509596768__

The ECB states that "confirmation on the awarding of points from the match will be announced in due course."

Yes, we need Sibley and/or Malan to go on to big scores.

I agree that the David Hopps report makes for excellent (if painful) reading. The last five words of his article say it all: " the Bears succumbed to desperation."

I can't find on Cricket Archive that Matt Lamb, Ian Bell or Sam Hain scored a hundred for the second team or even came close at age 15.
I thought about Dennis Amiss but I don't think he did either. He batted down the order in his early games.
Maybe there are others who managed it but I can't think of too many more likely names.

Highveld wrote:

Yes, as stated in the report on the club website!

Probably the majority of players who go on to have county contracts have played some county 2nd team cricket when they were 15.

I wasn't commenting so much about the fact that he was playing for the second team at 15 as that he actually scored a hundred, which must be incredibly rare.

Am I correct in thinking that Amir Khan is only 15? If so, what a prospect!

Highveld wrote:

Even if the entire squad went down with COVID they wouldn't be that desperate, Even the Warwickshire over 70's wouldn't be that desperate!

I'm checking my phone every five minutes just in case.

He may do just fine; but on the face of it, in T20 he is an occasional bowler who has never taken a four wicket haul and a batsman who averages 16 and has scored one fifty in 54 innings. On that basis, I think I'll go and clean my boots in case I get a call.

K Smith three overs for 76 runs - I think you could just be right.

K Smith three overs for 76 runs - I think you could just be right.

Agreed about the need for someone to replace Keith Barker. Just to rub it in, in the match just ended for Hampshire v Surrey, Barker had match figures of 7-33. His second innings analysis, which takes some believing, was 22 0vers, 17 maidens, three wickets for nine runs.

mad wrote:

Durham deducted 2 points for slow over rate on Monday. I noticed they were -4 behind the over rate for most of the day and going into the final half hour. No spinner used with Borthwick in the side?? Also unlike Notts they didn't have a couple of backroom staff stationed on the square leg boundary to ferry kit and equipment on and off the field between each over which would have sped things up at that city end

It's not as though the rate needed is all that quick. The need for someone to come on and off the field with kit, drinks etc. seems to be out of control. As the great Tom Dollery said on a hot day when someone called for drinks: "Drinks? What do you mean, drinks? When we were in the desert during the war, we only got two pints of water a day - and one of those was for the tank."

Exiled Bear wrote:

Whatever happened to Lamb's legspin?

I seem to remember that Dom Sibley was dabbling with leg spin at one time.

This isn't an advert - just to say that I got a 10% discount on new glasses because of my WCCC membership. I think this is a benefit that was advertised in the past but I can't see any current reference to it.
My local branch in Bristol, who were very surprised to see me in my Bears Scrivens shirt, checked with their HQ before confirming the discount.

I am having flashbacks to the time, a decade or so ago, when our dear late friend Kim would leap to the defence of Jonathan Trott whenever he was accused of slow scoring. Kim always had a statistic or two on hand to show how often a big score from Trotty led to a win for England or the Bears, regardless of his scoring rate.

So Ethan Brookes in for Danny Briggs.