Delighted with the result and qualification but do we really think that staging a game at this level with such a ridiculously short boundary on one side does us any credit. This all feeds into the outground discussion elsewhere.

There's simply to great a volume of cricket being played on the square now for Gary Barwell and the team to cope with. Surely we should be alleviating the pressure on them by considering taking a couple of games on the road.

To me it appears farcical to see boundary riders fielding next to the square leg umpire.

Generic ECB List A 50 over guidelines state there has to be a minimum 10 overs per side for there to be a result. So they could probably go as late as 5pm to actually get a game on. And being white ball I assume floodlights could be used so no issues there. I'm hopeful a game will be played if they can get the surface dry. Typically it looks like our nearest rivals in the group are probably going to get a full day's play in.

You'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh wouldn't you?! Hundred crowds this year are experiencing what us "proper" cricket fans are forced to endure during our CC windows in April, May and September. Cold, rain, wind and curtailed play. Re: Charlie Dagnall and his fellow hyperventilating commentators - they're making a very nice living themselves freelancing their wares around the franchises so hardly surprising that they extoll this competition's virtues at every opportunity.

He fielded as a sub last night then was subbed himself after getting injured fielding on the boundary. So not sure whether that counts as participation or not. TBH I'd be pretty surprised to see anyone being released - the conditions are onerous to say the least.

First time I've felt quite resentful on finals day. Seems perverse that the 2 other white ball comps played over a shorter period guarantee the group winners a semi-final place whilst the only reward for group winners in this comp is the same as coming 2nd i.e a home QF. Not suggesting we'd have gone on to win it but I'm finding it very hard to maintain any interest in an all south finals day brought about by the current format.

On to Old Trafford. 2 changes for me Tongue for Robinson and I think they've got confront the Bairstow situation. Lacking form and bereft of confidence with the gloves - has to be Foakes.

Takes a Bear to win it!

I like any of these options. It does seem as though we now have a legacy qualification method tied to a broadcast deal that Sky has gone cool on. If they could find a way of keeping 4 qualification games whilst rewarding the group winners with automatic progression to finals day I think they'd find little resistance.

Some good points on this thread.

Worth pointing out that both of the other white ball comps offer automatic qualification to semi-final/final to the group winner with play-offs between 2nd and 3rd.

Given that Sky now only broadcast 2 Q/Fs from the Blast what would be lost other than 1 qualification spot from a group of 9?

Not sour grapes but it does seem perverse that a successful campaign that puts you top by a stretch can be derailed by one sketchy performance.

Sky planner has a QF scheduled on both Thu & Fri night so possibly will be our game. Don't imagine they will block YouTube streams - as I recall last year they didn't show either QF the night we played Hants and actually pointed people towards the live streams.

I really like these sort of wins. A great character forming experience for a young, developing team. And what a lovely relaxing afternoon to look forward to on Sunday! 😎 Terrible for Olly Stone and wonder mentally how much more he can take of this. Sure all of us here wish him all the best.

GerryShedd wrote:

Regarding Norwell, what the Club said a week ago was:
“....he’s got a bulging disc in his back."

I've got one of these - lower facet joint - started with me around 2010. It's a chronic condition that's excabertated by any kind of impact - so bowling fast with it must be nigh on impossible. I had 2 cortisone injections to relieve the pain and eventually had to have a denervation procedure which stopped a lot of the pain being transmitted. Liam has my utmost sympathy if this is what he's battling against. Suspect it may well be career ending.

Edgbaston pitches have been like this for a long time now - plenty of CC games in recent years have gone the full distance either with successful big run chases or handshakes at 5pm on the last day. A cursory reading of recent stats would easily prove that and I suspect Ben and Baz are fully aware of that hence the declaration decision on Friday night. I've watched every ball so far and I think it's been a compelling spectacle.

Same here Terry. We're only up the road but we just can't get enthused about Sat night games. Sat in the garden now debating whether to bother.

GerryShedd wrote:

I know that he's the man that we love to hate on here; but I have to say about Alex Davies that:

• he kept wicket well
• he made some excellent bowling changes and sticking with the spinners even though the ball wasn't turning too much was a master-stroke
• he batted really well

Agree with all of that. I think his spiky aggressiveness as captain, batter and wk might might well work for us in this format. Although a shame we couldn't see our way to retaining Michael Burgess purely as a batsman. I watched the live stream of Surrey v Sussex on Sunday and he was outstanding. I'm in the glass half full camp atm but long way to go.

We sit in the Scrivens stand upper next to the old scoreboard. Were we the only ones struggling to see anything on the main one at the pavilion end - not very bright and the glare made it worse? We ended up using Cricinfo on our phones to track the score it was so bad. And agree with the post farther down re some of the music. The one thing that really irritates me is the use of that silly "Wah wah wah waaah" sound effect when a catch is dropped or some other mistake is made by the opposition. I know it's meant to be a bit of fun but I think it's not very classy and a bit disrepectful.

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

My thoughts exactly LE. Seems a bit last century now to produce a new card every year. Appreciate not everyone is tech savvy but the option could be offered - just like the yearbook is no longer automatically produced for every member. Re the late delivery: seems from his personal newsletter that Stuart Cain has taken onboard the criticisms this year and will look at bringing forward membership pack delivery forward next year.

Don't think it's reasonable of the club to blame Royal Mail. Few years ago we used to get membership packs mid-March. Seems to be getting later every year now - recall we had to pick ours up from the shop last year.

Arrived yesterday.

Just checking here before I phone them - anyone received their cards yet?