Benjamin's form is a worry, but seconds form doesn't always translate to firsts

Gloucestershire have a championship match on Thursday, and don't kick off their blast campaign until next Wednesday so that'll be the difference in starting XI's.

I would expect us start on Saturday with:
Stirling, Davies, Hain, Benjamin, Mousley, Bethell, Barnard, Briggs, Hasan Ali, Lintott, Miles

Perhaps Burgess in place for Bethell.

Woakes to not be available having been selected by England for the Ireland test.

Maxwell and Moeen to come in for Stirling and Briggs when available.

Really sad news, and Colon cancer tends to tough to overcome but fingers crossed he can show the same fighting spirit he used to show on the pitch and beat the odds.

Surrey are rolling through Middlesex this morning, so looks like it will be second place at the end of this round of fixtures.

Surrey are rolling through Middlesex this morning, so looks like it will be second place at the end of this round of fixtures.

Another really good win. Good job we didn't need too many more runs!

Man of the match has to be Hassan Ali, wickets and a crucial innings, at a point where we looked like we were potentially losing the upper hand we'd gained in the first innings.

Good to see Rhodes get some runs, Davies yet again plays a stupid shot very unbefitting of a vice captain.

If I remembered rightly Surrey had already started to pull clear of everyone else at this point last season, so to at least keep pace with them is good and it will be interesting to see how they cope with not being clear at the top.

SC_Bear wrote:

Fantastic piece of business. Durham fans must be as incredulous as we were when we inexplicably allowed Keith Barker to walk away.

It's worth noting that Rushworth explicitly stated it was for personal reasons, so perhaps not much Durham were able to do about it

0-1. Yates for a diamond

My view is that even if he is playing at Lords (which I would expect but not guarantee) he still should be playing in this game, as still is potentially slightly undercooked through lack of cricket over past 12 months.

It's slightly different for other England seamers who have had other game time in that period, but I seem to think this all the time in that they rest him without accounting for the fact he's been inadvertently resting for a while before that.

Ali isn't a downgrade bowling wise but it does take something away from our batting and we have a big tail for this game now.

Forecast has improved slightly but still expecting delays today - can we win the toss finally?

Agree on Rhodes - and I think his form has been a slight concern for a while. I'm not sure I see a fix anytime soon either.

Re Yates and Davies, although they have both clearly had struggles, to take away their top score to calculate an average at this point in the season seems a little unfair/nonsensical. If you did it at the end of the season it would make more sense.

You also have to not just look at averages and the 80 odd for 0 they got us to at the end of day 1 was a crucial period in the game. It gave us a massive platform for day 2 and the match outcome could have been very different had they both been out early.

We can probably write today off as well based on the forecast and wet ground.

Potentially even no play beyond today.

Assuming Simmons must be injured as we wouldn't be picking up various players from elsewhere to fill the squad.

Forecast is a bit iffy for tomorrow and then Sunday looks like a potential wipe-out.

He's bowled well in the seconds, and obviously had great figures today, so that would all suggest he is improving at just about the right time. Hope he can remain fit and firing

Can't get the tail out again, this is going to be a real problem if it's a recurring theme

That's also now four matches and four lost tosses

I agree that he should be in the XI if fit, just not sure who you would drop.

If it's purely on bowling form based on the last couple of games, you would have to say Woakes drops out. But I can't see that with his batting and his pedigree.

Ali wouldn't be dropped which then means OHD or Rushworth, who have been the best two bowlers so far! Probably OHD drops out then?

Who would Norwell come in for if he was fit?

Just about keeping ourselves in it and getting a wicket each time they look like they might get away from us

And I don't think that is out. Evened itself out pretty quickly

That's a bit of a shocker from the umpire.

It's hit Pope in front of middle and off and was very low. Not sure on what basis the umpire is not giving that out.