John was a regular attender at the Cricket Society meetings at Edgbaston so will be missed there.
It's a shame that, whilst I was able to post something about his passing yesterday, there is still nothing on the Club website about one of their all-time great players.

Interesting podcast.
We all know that the reason that the County Championship is so messy (everyone doesn't play everyone else; matches are pushed into the fringes of the summer) is that there are too many competitions and the competition that so many cricket lovers don't like (the one known by us Latin scholars as C) is untouchable so everything else has to fit around it.

Congratulations to Gary Barwell and his team for producing a great pitch for Finals Day.
Our quarter-final conquerors triumphed so congratulations to them.

Sad news that John Jameson has passed away.

George Dobell says of the Notts members' vote: "The club's hierarchy have never made any secret of their desire to cut the number of games and previously announced their backing for a 12-match season. The relationship with members is generally strong, however, and those leading the club are keen to react respectfully to the views outlined at the EGM."

Regarding the Notts vote, according to the Notts fans' forum, at the EGM:
As the Chair repeatedly stated, constitutionally that vote can't be binding but the General Committee "will take it into consideration".

At the Notts EGM, members voted to retain 14 championship matches by the margin of 698 to 246.

Highveld wrote:

So much pain for a few moments of joy!

I think that's what my wife said about being married to me.

An honourable draw.

I guess having to play for Glamorgan is a suitable punishment for having deprived the Bears of a Finals Day experience.

BosworthBear wrote:

Magnificent fielding by us.

Do runners not have to wear the same equipment as the batsman? Burns isn’t wearing a thigh pad!

The Laws of Cricket state that a runner must: "wear external protective equipment equivalent to that worn by the batter for whom he/she runs and shall carry a bat."
So I guess a thigh pad is not external whereas an arm guard would be - unless it was worn beneath a long sleeved shirt.
We need Highveld, as a qualified umpire, to rule on this.

I see that Sean Dickson, our quarter final nemesis, is leaving Somerset to join Glamorgan.

Essex say:
Essex County Cricket Club hereby gives 14 days notice of a Special General Meeting (SGM) to be held on Wednesday 24 September 2025...
The meeting will disclose how the Club has voted on the proposed structural changes to the County Championship (if such vote has taken place by the time of the SGM). Subject to a vote having taken place, the Membership present at the meeting will be asked to vote on the following statement as petitioned;
The Members have confidence in the Committee given the way it voted on the county cricket schedule proposals.

Yes we should wish him well and send him on his way with thanks for all his T20 wickets.

As he was running in to bowl, Ed Barnard was probably thinking: "If I mess this up, what will those so-and-sos on Bearsfans say about me?"

paulbear wrote:

Not sure what sharp practices are going on at The Oval, but Lawrence has 'Dissected' the field by all accounts from what one of the commentators said. Really don't think cricketers should be taking scalpels onto the field.

That's a candidate for what used to be Colemanballs in Private Eye.

We won’t be watching Sibley bat for two days.

Jacob says here what we all knew:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/ckg3dlj5n7go

The fact that the new Head of Media has not yet started (or been announced) is still causing problems on basic matters such as the Surrey match preview. Let's hope that the new person gets a grip on things quickly.

Preview from the Surrey perspective (with their squad), with a bit about Warwickshire added from Brian Halford:
https://www.kiaoval.com/surrey-v-warwickshire-full-preview-4/