mad
Member
Still think it'll be hard work pressing for victory even should they get on before lunch. However regardless of the result the performance backs up my thoughts last week after seeing parts of the game at Taunton that we now possess the type of attack that will be able to take on the better sides in the division - Surrey Lancs Hants Essex.
Added to the top order now peeling off centuries it represents exciting times ahead. Short of injury or call ups i was thinking yesterday about that slip cordon could be in place for years to come - Yates, Hain, Mousley with Barnard or Rhodes at gully or 4th
Rushworth's second over yesterday was amongst the best ever seen at the ground and his spell set the tone brilliantly.
Heavy rain falling in Brum now. Unfortunately I rate the chances of starting on time Saturday at 50-50
Yes could be a day waiting around but then 104 overs Saturday and 96 Sunday so still plenty of time. I think our game is more suited to engineering good proper 4-day wins rather than 3-day wins and we don't prepare spicy pitches like some other grounds. But we should have an attack that'll cause a few more more problems than Kent's did yesterday. Can't recall any slip chances after I got there and there were hardly any lbw appeals yesterday either.
I hope the club really promote Saturday this afternoon and this evening. Free tickets for kids or how about offering free tickets for local club cricketers whose games will all be called off tomorrow? I think you'd get a few extra in and would be a good PR move.
Yes tougher tests to come and we haven't won a game yet but signs are promising indeed. Top order batting like our early 2000's sides that won title in 2004 added to our seam bowling unit which is as strong as 2011-2012 possibly even more depth. We're probably short of a top class spinner so I expect us to approach Leicestershire to enquire about one of theirs. Can't allow Notts to hoover up all their talent. We can offer our wide square and maybe get Rehan or Callum Parkinson in.
It's all potential at the moment but hopefully the beginnings of an all round good side.
Yeah if it's like this tomorrow can't see me being there till Saturday. Week off after this one. Could probably have done with that being end of April if we only get a day and a half's play against Kent
The 4-day game at Billericay due to begin today was abandoned on Sunday. The under 18's have two scheduled 50-over friendlies on Wednesday and Thursday but the forecast doesn't look too promising.
They lost on Saturday in their first round Graham Williamson Trophy tie at Leamington CC with Craig Miles for Leamington blowing the top order away.
The Warwickshire League have postponed next weekend's opening round of their league season and the Birmingham League opening round is likely to be significantly affected by the inclement weather this week also.
Seems to be the case that any punishment for the club will be delayed until June or July. Many seem to think it'd be harsh but an interesting radio programme posted online a couple of days ago worth listening to in order to get a feel for how far things were allowed to drift at Yorkshire CCC over the previous 20 years.
Oh sure and part of our remit is to bring the youngsters through and give them opportunities.
I actually think Somerset should be about mid table or just below that but not get relegated. There are sterner tests to come we could really do with the forecast this week improving so we can get a decent haul of points against Kent
Only in the sense that Somerset will probably be one of the weaker sides in the division especially with the players they had out. I think a draw with decent haul of bonus points was about the best we could reasonably garner from 8 and a bit sessions of play down there. Had we had the full 12 sessions we'd have been in with a great shout although maybe their spinner might've come into it. We have to remember we had three kids out there too and it was first game of season and we got hammered there last season (the game which probably did for Lamb)
It's far too easy to say "oi Hain score at 5 an over against these bumpkins" we saw how many wickets Somerset lost when chancing their arm the risk would've been we allow them into a position they could win. The need first game of the season to win or to gain the extra bonus point or two just isn't there yet. I'd rather they shut up shop yesterday morning and not got bowled out in 110 overs and deny them a third bowling point than what actually transpired but again that's presuming a lot about the ability of the players to ensure that happens to order.
GerryShedd wrote:
Fourth day report:
https://deepextracover.com/2023/04/somerset-v-warwickshire-day-four/
I thought the Somerset bowlers contained Sam Hain well early on, plus he didn't get a lot of the strike. But if Warwickshire fail to win the Championship by a single point, we will know who to blame.PS - how about Chris Wright steering Leicestershire to almost 400 to beat the Yorkies?
Just had a quick check to see if I can find how many times Leicestershire have won away in Yorkshire and I think today is their sixth win overall
They last won at Headingley in 1910 (possibly their first)
They won once at Bramall Lane in 1948
They won once at St Georges Road Harrogate in 1983
They won once at Abbeydale Park Sheffield in 1990
They also won just once at Bradford Park Avenue in 1996 (en-route to the title)
But they do not appear to have ever beaten the Tykes at Scarborough, The Circle at Hull or Acklam Park Middlesbrough. They were involved in a tied championship match at Fartown Huddersfield in 1954
Yes there was very much the same on the radio comms especially Saturday the Somerset commentators seemed to assume Warwicks could just score at whatever run rate suited them taking no account whatsoever of the tight bowling, field placings, the fact it was first game of the season at a ground where we were woeful the season beforehand and the condition of the ball/pitch.
There's the old adage you can't win a game in a session (Day 1/2) but you can certainly lose one by chucking wickets away. I thought Jack Brooks when he came onto the comms today tried to correct Trego on that point earlier. Overall I think Peter Trego is a superb talker about the game as is Vic Marks.
Unbelievable. Not nice if it happens to your team but after Norwell's heroics last season to get a finish like that first game this must be a great fillip for the competition and all who follow it especially given the circumstances Leicestershire having not won a game all 2022 following just one win in 2019 and 2020 and three in 2021
Could be a much more open competition division two this year than folks were expecting. Squad size will play a part so York's will still be up there. I like the look of Sussex this year too
Good effort from the seamers. 16 wickets in about 4 and a half to 5 sessions they had available to them. And well played Davies and once again Hain. Some good signs I feel we'll have weapons against some of the better sides in the division this season. Somerset have added depth to their squad but will probably be lower half of the table so perhaps a pity about Thursday denying Bears a decent shot at getting off to a winning start.
Couple of bits of news overnight;
Strauss Review dead in the water (well the bits that sought to wreck the county championship)
And the Hundred has cost the ECB (and by extension the counties themselves) a figure approaching £60 million (£9m plus all the bribes) in its first two years
Money the sport could ill afford to waste - plus the detrimental impact on the pre-existing formats e.g. Blast group stage being played earlier in the cooler weeks of the season and counties now unable to put on festivals of championship cricket in the school holidays
Sure the format - nobody wanted or asked for -has attracted some additional fans to the game but these may otherwise have filtered into the sport for any number of other reasons (the success of the women's and men's ODI sides in World Cups being one) without the Hundred.
Can anyone make a case for persisting with this situation or is it like three-team-cricket they tried in South Africa a few years ago - a novelty that has quickly run out of road?
If it's a ploughed field square of the wicket they might
https://youtu.be/Y0hXelwkG7c
On the cut in points for a draw, Moores insists his teams have always played to win but said: “The way I look at it, county cricket hasn’t changed – England have. So you have to think county cricket was doing something right before. Two World Cups and this run of Test wins – it is clearly producing international players. Seeing Harry Brook and Ben Duckett come in and do well ... county cricket should be getting a pat on the back. It takes enough knocks.”
Well said
I think the article by Mark Ramprakash today is a very thoughtful one. Just like he says with Hoggard I think the same applies to Vaughan (I'm no big fan of his personally but I think the court judgement has to be seen as a fair one) who has made errors in the past with his tweets and to Tim Bresnan (who I always have quite liked) being a bit of a prat - people do mess up from time to time and even the perpetrators of racist language/bullying are themselves victims of the culture that led them to that point
They all needed better guidance 10/15 years back. I do think they are going to have to hammer Yorkshire pretty hard though for all this (deleted emails ffs, not following best practice) and also the ECB will have look itself in the mirror
Think it's been assumed they'd go back to 8+10 certainly that was my feeling before Xmas. However the only thing I've heard lately is there'll be no major changes for 2024 so that suggests 10+8 being retained. Of course they could announce something over the next 7 days
Preview of the 3-day double header against the Pears
https://wccc.co.uk/worcestershire-complete-warm-up-programme-with-doubleheader-against-local-rivals/
“Tomorrow (Monday) will be split overs because Tuesday’s forecast isn’t great, and then we will see where that takes us.
Seems likely tomorrow will be the only day we get play so 45 overs per side
Position in County championship
I'm going to be optimistic and say 3rd
I think this could well be Lancashire's season pipping Surrey and I think there'll be a shoot out for 3rd between the fading Essex/Hants along with us and Somerset with Notts and Northants my tips to be relegated.
The Blast
Finals Day
One day cup (very hard to guess)
4 wins 3 losses and a tie
And finally..team for our first game
Yates
Davies
Mousley
Hain
Rhodes
Burgess
Barnard
Briggs
Hassan
Norwell
OHD