Sibley, Norwell and Yates all in the Lions squad. Well deserved and every chance to push for a Test cap too.

It's difficult to see how you pick a credible XI from that squad. The bowling is short of pace (especially once Wood gets injured as he inevitably will); the batting, Root excepted, isn't much more than County standard; and who on earth gets to bat at seven? Much though we love him, I don't think Woakes is a Test match bowler in Australian conditions so he'd be playing as a batsman. Buttler's batting record isn't great against a red ball and that would leave only four bowlers.

Oh dear. Could be embarrasing.

I'd still back Sibley to play Test cricket again. He seems to be a thinking cricketer who has had bad patches before but found a way round them. I think he'll do it again.

His big strength is his stickability - which is what opening the batting in Test cricket is supposed to be about. He mustn't lose that. His current weakness is that once the new ball has been dealt with, he just gets stuck and sides have worked out how to leave him scoreless. If he can spend the winter and the early part of next year finding one reliable scoring shot on the off-side he'll have enough to come back.

Yesssss!

Congratulations to all involved. Great team performance.

Generous declaration. I reckon it leaves Somerset as favourites but with Woakes, Bresnan and Briggs to control the run rate we might be able to make it exciting.

Come on you Bears!

Andy wrote:

Yeah that was a tough one. We made about 490 batting first and had Hampshire following on the flattest deck of all time, the wickets just wouldn't come in the 2nd dig and Hampshire got so far ahead anyway eventually they actually saved it comfortably. I remember Carberry getting big runs, someone else got a ton too. Chopra made a ton for us.

Neil McKenzie. That one still hurts. I'd made the trip to Southampton that day confidently expecting to see JT raise the trophy. Instead a combination of a flat track and some frankly unambitious captaincy saw it slip away.
I could come to Edgbaston tomorrow to see our success but I'm worried I'll turn out to be a Jonah.

Expecting Danny Briggs to spin us to victory is about as likely as him hitting 20 in one over.

Oh, hang on ....

Blimey, we're in with a shout at winning this. That didn't look likely at the start of the season but with everyone facing absences and disruption we are as well placed as anyone. There isn't a County that obviously DESERVES to be Champion, so it might as well be us!
Somerset look there for the taking: their established players are well out of form and their rookies don't look up to it. I wouldn't even give much for Lammonby's chances against Chris Woakes with a red ball in his hand. Let Lancashire and Hampshire negate each other and there we are. Campiones!

A first class writer with forthright, independent opinions that are invariably spot on. That doesn't always make you popular and I would be fearful that he might end up sidelined for a while. Hurry back. We need our scented candles and whale music more than ever.

Another one who has failed to kick on within our coaching framework. True, he never looked like a red ball player but he came to us with a growing reputation as a hitter. Sadly, he just seems to be fading away.

It's stretching my memory to its limits to recall much of Dexter but I do remember that a "balanced attack" in those days was Trueman and Statham, a couple of spinners and Dexter as first change. His bowling style was very definitely medium - there was no MF or FM about it. I'm trying to think of someone comparable today but I think they're all too quick. Will Rhodes? Maybe Darren Stevens? Very different days to now when England won't start a game without four FM bowlers.

Hmm... Rather a lot of "having cake and eating it" in Snowball's comments, I think. All the competitions are great; all are important; all must take place in an impossibly short window of time. I don't get the sense of any plan to smooth out the scheduling, Covid or not.

Personally I could see one of two ways out. Either ditch one of the white ball competitions or accept that red ball and white ball cricket are different games with different squads, and so could be played simultaneously. The relatively few players who are good at both would have to pick one but that might be no bad thing given the physical and mental pressures being put on the likes of Stokes and Archer.

Absolute Master Class in how to throw away a Test Match. England should have been batting before lunch with less than 200 to chase but instead they decided to stop trying to take wickets and allowed two complete rabbits to put on 89. The initiative switched to India and the rest is history.

I have a lot of sympathy with Dom Sibley. He has the temperament for Test cricket but needs a lucky break or two to get his career flowing. As it is, all his false shots seem to find fielders and today he got a peach. Not to mention having Vaughan on his back all the time because he doesn't play trick shots. It might not be the worst thing in the world if he missed out on the winter tour. Going to Australia when you are short of confidence and in a team that lacks direction could finish off his Test career. Maybe sit this one out then come again.

I wonder if Woakesy will miss out on the Test squad this winter. They'll take 6 seam bowlers: Anderson and Broad are certainties; Robinson looks like he's grabbed the third line and length slot; and the other spaces will go to whichever 90mph bowlers can be stuck back together. A complication would be if Stokes is still out and they want a bowler who can bat at seven. Even then, I think they'd opt for Sam Curran.

I can't see Chris making the starting XI unless a lot of people are injured. Frankly, he can probably do without another winter carrying drinks.

paulbear wrote:

The last person I can remember bowling 'Chinamen' as they used to call them, was Paul Adams of South Africa 'Frog In A Blender' as he was known although everybody used to mistakenly call him a leg-spinner. I remember Michael Bevan bowling them for Australia and did see him bowl them v Warwickshire in a 40 over game in 1995.

Didn't Brad Hogg bowl left arm funnies? He also got a significant career boost from limited overs cricket.