I think Webster was only signed until the end of July and has since been called up by Australia for their tour of West Indies. Latham was signed for the season but I see that New Zealand have two Tests coming up v Zimbabwe so I don't know if he may be needed for those.
It also looks as if Pakistan are playing T20 and ODI matches in August, which may rule out Hasan Ali.
Who would be a county coach trying to sort out overseas players' availability?

Excellent performance from Hamza.

With the Durham v Leicestershire match being a no result,it is clearer than ever that a win on Friday will get the Bears into the quarter finals.

I haven't read this report,only the Guardian article;but I think it misses the point that whilst the counties are financially beholden to the ECB, the ECB needs the counties to grow and develop the players who reach international level and generate the ECB's income.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/15/hundred-share-sale-saved-six-counties-collapse-cricket-report

The Bears will have seven players missing from the 50 over competition because they will be playing in The Hundred.
They are:
Sam Hain, Jacob Bethell, Dan Mousley, George Garton, Richard Gleeson, Danny Briggs, Chris Woakes
Only Surrey (15), Lancashire (13) and Hampshire (8) have more players missing. Worcestershire with just one player absent (Adam Hose) are least affected.

mad wrote:

You have to wonder how much OHD is being paid to peddle this nonsense and encourage hapless county CEOs to back the horseshit sandwich of a future schedule

There are plenty of players who don't think they have enough games scheduled and yet this is completely masked by the PCA statement.

I guess OHD is just doing his job presenting the views of the majority of his members. As I've said previously, it's not surprising that players are voting for less work for the same pay.

The Cricketer also reports that:
"The Professional Cricketers' Association sent a letter late last week to the chief executives and chairs of the 18 first-class counties, outlining the views of its members and its reasoning for what it described as an "urgent need for domestic schedule reform".
Written by Olly Hannon-Dalby, the Warwickshire seamer and PCA chair, the letter called on counties "to place the welfare of your players at the heart of your decision as your key employees".
The PCA's declared preference is for the fourth of the five options being considered, namely a 12-team top flight, split into two pools, playing 12 games – home and away – against the six teams in the other group, with the teams finishing top of each then playing out a final. The bottom side from each would be relegated, with the top two in the six-team Division Two promoted."

The Cricketer has confirmed that:
Middlesex have followed Surrey and Somerset in publicly confirming their preference for retaining a 14-game County Championship for next year and beyond.

Middlesex, who recently had an SGM, say:
"The view of the Club’s Board, which is aligned to those of the members and other stakeholder groups, is to retain the current structure of the Rothesay County Championship and to maintain the current volume of four-day cricket played at fourteen matches, whilst recognising the need to reform the Vitality Blast to improve player welfare across the schedule."

Looking at the table, and seeing how bottom team Yorkshire beat top team Lancashire last week,it's clear that any team can, on their day, beat any other team.

At least Lancashire members are being given a vote, though I agree that if there is no option that preserves the County Championship, that is hardly a vote at all.

Yes,I've just spoken to a friend who is there. He has watched (and played) a lot of cricket but has never been to a Blast match before; and he couldn't believe the number of full tosses.
There can't have been too many other Blast innings when every bowler conceded more than 10 runs an over.

Losing will be bad enough; but unless they get close,the Bears' net run rate will suffer, which might be crucial in deciding qualification.

I was relying on what Wisden said. And as for crowds, I think as a ground Griff and Coton did ok. The highest crowd was 6,000 for a john Player game.

I think that Derek Randall's wickets represent one of the less acceptable features of three day cricket when captains would conspire to set up a finish by putting on "joke" bowlers to let batters get easy runs before a declaration and a target. That is undoubtedly what happened in this case - Randall bowled 13 overs for 103 runs and in the process took three wickets as the batters went for quick runs. In the event, it was all in vain as the match petered out into a draw.

There were some big stars in that game on both sides - Dennis Amiss, Richard Hadlee, Alvin Kallicharran, Clive Rice, Derek Randall etc. There were also a few also-rans that would struggle to get into the Bears side today - Robin Ian Henry Benbow Dyer, to name but five, plus Dean Hoffman and, on the Notts side, Callum Fraser-Darling

Those who were complaining about the below par total need to have a word with George Garton and put him right because he said: "We got up to a total that was a little bit above par."

Apparently, Craig Miles is set to re-join Gloucestershire - probably a good move for all concerned.

Wormsley - a beautiful ground,well worth a visit.

GerryShedd wrote:

The autobiographies are coming thick and fast:
https://fairfieldbooks.co.uk/shop/the-king-of-spain-and-i/?mc_cid=72dc2ebb94&mc_eid=2a0bc6389c

And he's signing the book:
"Former England star Ashley Giles will be here at Edgbaston on Tuesday 22 July during the Warwickshire v Worcestershire County Championship match.
Ashley, who played 54 Test Matches 62 One Day Internationals, will be signing copies of his autobiography 'The King of Spain and I' during lunch and tea in the Tom Dollery Lounge, where you can also purchase the book."