sdobbs wrote:

Why is Davies still opening?

It's at the point he needs to be rested for his own good, in fact seems to have gone past that point. I can only imagine his mental health isn't good to say the least

FarmerPalmer wrote:

And a tidy partnership at the end which nearly won it. A great last over!

he came in at no10, I think? bet he was fuming over that haha he definitely fancies himself a better bat than no10.

My favourite cricket ground in the world, I'm jealous, enjoy.

Tidy figures for Jake again tonight, he's been one of the most economical bowlers in the competition. Really pleased for him, hope he gets a permanent berth and hopefully even makes some Franchise money.

SC_Bear wrote:

ITE7376 wrote:

by the way, what a funny bunch of fans the Somerset crowd are. well, I say funny, i mean....

It sounded like some of the most vociferous heckling i have ever heard when Tarig was bowling- the Radio Somerset guy on BBC was audibly discomfitted, he must have said 3 or 4 times how it wasn't nice to listen to, sounded really hostile

and yet when Webster got his 100 and when he made his way to the pavilion he got an extremely generous hand from them like you'd hope from proper cricket fans. even though he'd basically won the game for us. Mousley got a good hand for his 50 too as did Davies for his knock in the QF last year.

To be honest Tariq is getting this everywhere - saw and heard much the same in the crowd at New Rd last week. And FWIW as a lifetime cricket fan and Bears supporter and member I'm distinctly uneasy about his action. I know he's been cleared twice and the bend/extension is within the ICC guidelines but that doesn't make me feel any more comfortable. I'd also question whether he's giving us anything worth the money he's being paid. For my money a very average acquisition in a long line of similar T20 signings by the club.

I just found it such a contradiction, i really wouldn't have expected the warm applause for webster given how partisan they were towards Tariq

GerryShedd wrote:

To be fair, after six matches, Tariq has our second best economy rate (7.04) and our second best average (25.83).

don't take it too harshly on his behalf, people were saying the same about Hassan Ali when he was our leading wicket taker! we're a pretty tough crowd on here mate

Andy wrote:

At first I didnt think he was illegal, but the more ive watched him run through his variations I think his 'leggie' is illegal. That's all though.

i haven't put the time in to watch him closely enough but with the mystery spinners its often the 'leggie' that they have to ummm push the envelope a little

albeit, it seems to be his side-arm delivery that gets the most stick from the crowds?

anyone remember Maurice Holmes? I remember being confused by his action, when he got his sanction for chucking it was an 'aaaah thats why its seemed a bit odd' moment.

by the way, what a funny bunch of fans the Somerset crowd are. well, I say funny, i mean....

It sounded like some of the most vociferous heckling i have ever heard when Tarig was bowling- the Radio Somerset guy on BBC was audibly discomfitted, he must have said 3 or 4 times how it wasn't nice to listen to, sounded really hostile

and yet when Webster got his 100 and when he made his way to the pavilion he got an extremely generous hand from them like you'd hope from proper cricket fans. even though he'd basically won the game for us. Mousley got a good hand for his 50 too as did Davies for his knock in the QF last year.

Andy wrote:

Yeah was thinking this about Yates, he's done well in the PP, and yes he's been pretty unselfish. From a technical point of view, he's better when he stands and plays from the crease, he's quite a clean hitter and plays fast bowling very well.

I've always felt he's a bit of a better t20 player than he's given credit for, decent record in this comp.

yeah, he had a season with Davies a couple of years back where they were very consistent getting to 50 partnership and put up a decent gross total of runs between them, but he's scored at a military-medium strike rate in the 130s exclusively. His strike rate has greatly increased this year and it seems to have been done with him playing against his natural instincts/natural game, which is why I'm so impressed at his team ethic and adaptability.

Tayls79 wrote:

Webster gets a para on his own. I can see why someone mentioned he was chewing up balls early stages but that hitting makes it up. He was driving at length balls which most other players couldn't reach.

he got to his 50 off 35 balls which by his standards this season wasn't too slow- got a couple of early boundaries which helped.

there seems to be a massive difference between Beau on a decent pitch with smallish boundaries at Taunton, and on absolute puddings at Worcester/Bristol or slow turners at TB.

He was driving at length balls which most other players couldn't reach.
wasn't he just! at least a couple of times both the radio and Somerset CC comms teams were almost in awe of the lengths he could drive off. he was getting serious connections and even shots along the ground were going like bullets, his offside driving through the line was a dream to watch.

Nice to see a big man scoring so many runs and not all of it just going over cow, there was a lot more than muscle to that ton.

Also. Gleesons 1-28 going at 7s was massive in a game where all our other bowlers went for 10+ and Sams was the only other bowler to go for less than 9s

I think Yates deserves a tip of the hat for his innings too for all it's brevity. He hasn't gone on for all his starts this year, but his quick scoring was essential for us in keeping up somewhat with the run rate in the power play today so.Beau wasn't under too much pressure early in his innings. He's batted very unselfishly in going for his shots the way he has, I'm guessing that's the role he's been given.

What a great partnership!

Well this was unexpected

Just popped the ladies game on the radio, they're saying the track is slow which doesn't bode well given our struggles on slow away tracks so far

By the way Kai showed last night how useful or even essential it is to have someone who is a quick busy runner between the wickets against spin in the middle overs. Especially on a slow track where boundaries are difficult to come by. Someone said on ankther thread he should bat higher up the order. IMO, that depends on circumstance and pitch. As one of our better players of spin it's definitely a waste having him come in over 16 or something, he's a great partner because he will force 2s through that other's wouldn't. You can make the case he should bat higher now simply for the experience, the comp is dead to us and he is the future, Webster isn't.

On the subject of slow pitches, Beau showed again last night he bat's horribly on slow tracks. IMO he should not be batting top 5 on a pitch that slow, IMO we need to be much more flexible and recognise his and other players limitations. Watching him on a slow track is like the torture scene from Clockwork Orange.

FWIW to have so many players in wretched form at the same time (including Hain before the injury) most of whom were proven commodities before this year- it doesn't speak well of the overall atmosphere/setup in the camp.

Dare I say that side of it was better with davies as captain.... :-0 (relax everyone thats just my little joke.. it was, though).

at some point though you have to wonder if its entirely a coincidence that pretty much an entire batting lineup is having a shocker. form can be infectious but then so can a bad dressing room atmosphere/ lack of trust in management.

I'm not sure how much can be attributed to Barnard's captaincy seemingly lacking in assertiveness/pro-activeness and tactical nous. I suspect it goes deeper/ higher than him.

sdobbs wrote:

I think Thompson is settling into the championship side nicely and beginning to show us what he can do with the red ball
For whatever reason his T20 form has gone and we're currently in the Garton position of 1 expensive over and can't be risked again
Given our chances of a QF place are essentially nil why not rest out of form players and play Hamzah, Che, Kai (with the gloves), Taz etc
We need to avoid taking our T20 form into the championship

ironically GG and JT are the exact opposite bowler- GG's utility is with the new ball (when its swinging and only when its swinging), JT's mostly in overs 17-20, both men generally horrible when tried at the other's speciality

JT has the more established record over a longer period of time and is IMO a better overall cricketer without the mental flakiness. as a bowler he isn't dependent on overheads/swing like GG is

totally agree we should give Kai and Taz every game for the rest of the year irrespective of form

just for context, as an example:

T20 blast 2022.

quarter final Yorks vs Surrey. Jordan Thompson defended 5 for Yorkshire in the final over to get them to finals day going for just 2, nailed 6 yorkers basically

finals day he got the quickest 50 in finals day history with an 18-ball 50.

he is not someone without a proven T20 track record

UrsaMinor wrote:

He was always a skilful bowler but never great pace. I don't suppose he will have got any quicker since leaving us, so it's difficult to see him being first choice if everyone is fit. Handy as a reserve, though.
One of his main contributions for us was to generate footmarks for Jeetan Patel to aim at. I wonder if Rob Yates could make as good use of them.

on last night's form we have the next Murali in waiting!!!!!!!