It is surely no coincidence that the year Pop returns our bowlers have been relentless, accurate and disciplined and are constantly making life difficult for the opposition.

He is such an attribute to the club, I’m honestly surprised he hasnt been utilised by the ECB for the England teams….although I’m very grateful.

Great start! Happily following the scorecard at the office.

I know it’s all hypothetical but I hope the unavailability of our overseas batsman does not come to haunt us. It is challenging conditions like yesterday that you want your experienced and class players to stand up and make the difference, in the way that again did.

One would have hoped Young would have scored more than the five that Malik managed. In a low scoring game that could have made a big difference!

This is absurd

Whilst I agree that Lamb never really seemed to get given a proper chance with us it should be noted he had to retire from cricket quite soon after leaving us and barely played for Derbyshire due to a chronic back injury.

This may have played a part in his release.

I know the general consensus is that he is not particularly liked on here, but I can’t help but feel sorry for Davies right now. It must be a horrible situation to be in, to be a batsman who simply cannot buy a run basically throughout the entire season so far.

I’ve never been a big fan of his and the way he seemingly was guaranteed a place at the expense of others but right now I hope he is getting some support from the coaching staff.

I’ve found it very hard to connect with England in this management era.

No doubting Stokes has been a player of superb moments and he will be missed. Of the three managing the England team at the moment I’d have preferred Stokes to have stayed and the other two to have moved on.

I really like OHD but I think three years is a bit long! Vastly experienced but starting to lose his edge as an attack bowler although decent still in the containing role.

Davies seems really out of touch ant the moment, he’s only managed to face 133 balls so far this season.

It’s the hope that kills you.

Still can’t plenty of time in the game though and lots more days of cricket to get through.

Foakes is such a good player! Criminally underused by England!

Quite possibly my favourite current player. Always comes across as a good bloke and I love how he worked hard to improve himself to become such an important player for us.

Glad he is going to be getting some cricket. I hope he enjoys the spell and finds a good rhythm and can come back to us in form for when the inevitable injuries and squad rotation takes place.

I just had a look on the official website at the squad and it has not been updated in a while. Chris Rushworth is still on it for instance. I'm a bit similar to UrsaMinor in not being sure who is around at the different parts of the season. Would be great if the website was ore active with that sort of information.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Chris Woakes is off for some Franchise stuff at some point so I wouldn't be surprised if we don't seem him all that much.

I think Sam Hain will be leading run scorer and I think Bamber may be the leading wicket taker. Nathan Gilchrist seems rated and has been with the Lions squad so he may be one to look out for.

I'm also looking forward to hearing the rave reviews of our openers before/during/after each game from one of the regular posters...

Confirmed as signed for Yorkshire.

Just another franchise player now going around the circus.

Steve Harmison mentioned on Talksport of his belief that, his mate, Rob Key had been brainwashed by McCullum into believing in the 'Vibes' based approach to Test Match special. Whilst I think that was a bit of a strong statement I can see a situation where Mr Key is somewhat overawed by the former World Class Batsman.

The England set up does need a shake, preparation and accountability need to be more important but as a lot of people have said for a long time, until red ball cricket is given more attention at the domestic level and more leadership at the top in being sensible with schedules (domestic AND international) then nothing will really change.

I see that Bethall has been anounced as number 3 for the Boxing Day test match, I hope I'm proven wrong but after a year of barely playing any cricket I find it a crazy decision of him to be walking out at the MCG .

Great stuff!

I should have put some money on it!

With the exception of batting coach! T Frost was in position for many years!

Maybe it’s time for Pop Welch to come back again and help with the new (and old) faces in the bowling attack next year.

The bowling averages did not make for good reading really.

Delighted that Ethan has found his place with the Pears, for whatever reason he didn’t seem to be considered a run whilst here.

And back to the cricket….

Very early to say but Gilchrists figures have not been particularly good since it was announced he was joining us. Im not at the ground but he doesn't exactly look a marquee signing.

Very disappointing, changing the mentality of this squad is going to take some work.