It sometimes happens that after one side puts up a big score, the other side has a meltdown. Looks like that's what happened to us: the top order were out to a combination of brain fade and bad luck, then Lamb & Burgess got good balls. Hey, ho the draw is still possible with rain predicted for Sunday.

I'm pleased that McAndrew got some runs. Flying half way round the world to post figures of 0-100 on debut must be pretty gut wrenching. Will Rhodes did everything he could to gift McAndrew a wicket this morning but even the Somerset tail weren't going to co-operate. Nice to hear the rest of the team still encouraging him in the field. Perhaps a decent lower order knock will give him a lift.

We were second best today. The pitch did look a bit green at the start but if there was any help to be had for the bowlers, we didn't find it. Yes, it's early and no doubt he will have better days but McAndrew looked underwhelming. Quickish but not express - I would say Norwell is quicker. Oddly, McAndrew seemed to be getting significantly less bounce out of the pitch than OHD and Miles. He's not particularly tall for a seam bowler (about the same as Will Rhodes) and his shoulder comes through quite low when he bowls so perhaps that is a feature of his style. Whether that helps or not remains to be seen.

From a spectator point of view, I have to say that Renshaw is a good watch when he gets going. He scores quickly, all round the wicket, without resorting to slogging. A good overseas signing.

Re Burgess, he's certainly putting his name in the frame. Good for him and also good for whoever decided to recruit him. I didn't see this coming.
It's hard to know what England might do as there's no management there at present. Who gets to pick the team? Notwithstanding a mediocre West Indies tour, I would still have Foakes as automatic choice if fit. He is streets ahead of any other gloveman and a more than useful batter. So if he's injured, England would be looking for only a temporary replacement. They'll have Bairstow in their ear demanding the gloves (there are worse options). With Rob Key in the hierarchy they may go for Sam Billings, who is a good player but still a bit of a stranger to red ball cricket. They may also want the excuse to have another look at James Bracey as they seem to think he could be a top order batter.
I think there are some England Lions games this year which might see Burgess get a chance but I don't think he'll play Tests. All the better for us.

Ageing pedant here. When we played 40 over games on a Sunday, weren't we playing 3 day Championship games? Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and then another one on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. 32 CC games a year plus one against the Tourists and the Universities. Membership was certainly worth it then!

Meanwhile, does anyone know how close Burgess & OHD were to a record 10th wicket partnership today?

He's still first choice for the one day team and his red ball record in English conditions is fabulous. I don't think we'll see much of him from June onwards.

For me the question is do you leave the sanction in place until you are sure the behaviour has changed or do you lift it on the promise that they'll be good boys in the future. With Lord Patel acknowledging that there is a faction actively seeking to delay and derail reform, I think the ECB have moved far too quickly.

I find it thoroughly depressing to hear that the ECB are to lift Yorkshire's ban on hosting internationals. It is not long ago that Durham were relegated, fined a stack of points and lost their right to host internationals all for the heinous crime of needing a loan. Have the ECB so quickly forgotten the revulsion that Yorkshire's antics generated last autumn? It wasn't just a case of a few uncouth individuals but the ease with which the Club turned a blind eye and then went on to vilify the whistleblower. If they can carry on without sanction, it will leave a very nasty smell behind.

I think we need details ...

Not to mention lightning reflexes at short leg and a javelin-like throw from the deep. If Jacob ends up as half the player Sobers was, we'll be more than pleased.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Ashley Giles is leaving as Director of England Cricket. The Ashes shambles is not just his fault by any means but he did take the decision to make Silverwood Lord-High-Everything and that has been a failure. It was Giles' decision so he carries the can.

We know the KoS is basically a good guy so he'll pop up again somewhere soon. The ECB have still got a lot of work to do, though.

Somerset have announced that they will be hosting the Bears for a three day fixture beginning on April 1st and that they will be taking it seriously. Could be some good days out there.

Given that they'll probably want to start the season around the middle of February, they'd better get on with it.

The decline of our ability to play Test Match cricket was predictable - and indeed predicted - from the moment we became obsessed with Donkey Slog. It's taken twenty years to get into this pickle and it isn't going to get fixed in a hurry. Sadly.

Thanks Terry. If it weren't for the fact that the Bears won the CC, I would have to say that 2021 was a pretty dark one for English cricket. Still, in keeping with the spirit of the season, I will put my natural grumpiness aside and join you in wishing everyone well for 2022.

I think they got past a quart a long time ago. Sticking with Imperial measures, it seems they're going for a gallon.

I do wonder whether some of the media and political commentators are channelling Captain Renault from Casablanca when they profess themselves to be shocked (shocked!) to discover that sports clubs can be nests of testosterone fuelled machismo where the senior members think it is their right to abuse and demean the more junior ones. I imagine we've all seen it; possibly been on the receiving end of it; perhaps perpetrated it in our ignorant youth. If Azeem Rafiq's speaking out alerts the more knuckle-headed types to the fact that "banter" can be thoroughly hurtful and makes them think twice in future, we will have taken a big step forward. Let's be nice to each other.

Wow! Magnificent interview and so refreshing to listen to somebody who is simply and obviously telling the truth.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for YCCC, Colin Graves is reported to have offered to go back and take charge. Maybe they deserve each other.

I think you'll find the reasoning is called "money".

Presumably the ECB think that if they can get an audience for a dog's breakfast like The Hundred, then they can treat their customers with contempt and still get away with it.

It's a brave move to turn down any representative selection but I agree that going on this Lions tour wouldn't do Sibley much good. I don't know what his options are this winter, with half the world still Covid-bound, but I hope he isn't just going to spend it in the indoor nets. Whilst a sound basis is important, I think "technique" can be over-stressed. Marcus Trescothick never moved his feet but still scored stacks of runs. Jonathan Trott made a whole career out of persuading bowlers that, if they bowled at his pads, he would eventually miss one. (He never did.) I think Sibley's issue is as much mental as technical and it would be good if he could get some time in the middle at a level where he can rebuild his self-belief.