Every two years is simply a money grabbing exercise. World cups in every sport are all based on a 4 year cycle.

Burgess nearly blew it with the failed caught and bowled but otherwise him and OHD played an excellent partnership to bring home the points

What a really nice surprise. Happy Birthday, Terry

UrsaMinor wrote:

OH-D: In the first ten years of his career he took 109 first class wickets at an average of 38 and was very lucky to still have a contract. In the next five and a bit, he's taken 205 wickets at 23 and is an automatic first choice. Was this Pop Welch's doing?

That is quite an incredible set of figures

I remember when he arrived at Edgbaston and many supporters were wondering why we had signed him !!! A lot of humble pie has been eaten over the years!!!

Why the call for 2 overseas players. Just because a player is from another country does not mean they will be better than a home grown player. I have always said to sign an overseas player they must meet either - a name that puts extra bums on seats or, and perhaps more importantly, they must be better than the player that stands aside for them.

As for Robinson - under his watch the team has produced several very poor scores - surely that results in the coach being replaced. In addition these failures have all been with the bat rather than the ball which brings in to question the employment of Frost.

Yet another batting collapse - 39-5!!!!!!

Mad - thanks for that - superb article. I would add one other bit to it. Players need to realise they are in the entertainment industry and as such should be playing when the public are able to pay to watch. That means cricket should be played at weekends, bank holidays and in the evenings,

So often there is no cricket being played on Saturday and Sunday and most bank holidays seem to be cricket free.

Thanks Malc and Gerry

Going a bit off subject but.... Has anyone any experience of the final being held at Trent Bridge in terms of does it get sold out like the T20 Finals Day? One of my sons follows Leics and is would prefer to see what the weather is like before committing to going.

You do wonder if the "time of year" had something to do with yesterday. The game at Leicester followed almost identical pattern. Leics won the toss, fielded, skittled Gloucs out for a really low score and apart from a shaky start knocked the runs off with ease.

How about Trott as a replacement and could he then get Pop Welch back to make a "dream team"?

A total of 45 overs bowled in the match. That shows just how bad this performance was.

I just hope Gloucs win today as otherwise I am going to have a very long leg !!!

No way was Briggs LBW - looked too high and going down leg side. 91-5 becomes 91-8. I can't see how we can get a score for the bowlers to bowl at

Exiled Bear wrote:

According to the playing regulations “one reserve day is allocated to the playoffs, semi-finals and final”. The minimum length of the second innings also increases to 20 overs for the knockout games.

Thanks for that EB. I can't believe the ECB have applied such common sense!!! I like the 20 over minimum too.

Highveld wrote:

Depends if there is any play. Ultimately if there is no play there would be a bowl out.

Given all the days when there is no cricket being played why can't they have reserve days for the odd occasion when a game is not possible.

Exiled Bear wrote:

Could someone enlighten me as to what Country Membership is/was?

You had to live a certain distance from the ground as the crow flies. I think it was 30 miles. A discount was given for living further away which I found quite useful!

Exiled Bear wrote:

Some brainless cricket here. We need less than a run a ball so why are we trying to hit every ball out of the ground?

I was just going to post the same - did our best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. At the end Briggs had no choice but to go for the boundaries but Lintott and Smith very nearly blew it all away. Bring on the Semi now

Tayls79 has some explaining to do - post #25 and the wheels are coming off !!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously this is going to need a big partnership from somewhere to pull off a win now