mad
Member
Woakes, Bairstow, Malan available for Leeds on Sunday perhaps?
Would be a bit weird if both us and Notts win our last 2 matches meaning Notts win the championship and then we complete a treble over Notts by beating them again at Lord's in the BWT Final. Think I'd take that from this point mind would be something to take out of the season
Hain was a tad unlucky with his decision. There was a noise as it passed the bat but he didn't look happy. Burgess one of a trio out fishing at wide ones along with Benjamin trying to get on with it and Miles. All three will be disappointed to get out in that fashion. The others you'd have to say were got out by good bowling. Barker has run through much more seasoned top orders for yonks and I thought Abbas in particular was the standout bowler of the day tight accurate and persistently threatening. It just seemed to jar somewhat with the overhead balmy conditions you'd have been able to comprehend such a day had it been a misly April in Southampton
Thought they dug in pretty well, Avoided exposing the tail to Saqeeb with the newish ball
Now have the opportunity to bat Lancs out the game get to 400 + and finish Day 2 350 ahead would make it very difficult for Lancs to manufacture a win. Be interesting to see how Holder goes with the new ball later
https://beingoutsidecricket.com/2021/08/29/lies-damn-lies-and-the-hundred/
An excellent analysis of the event I can't even remember who won it now and it's only been a week
it would be nice if, just once, the people who run these sports could take a step back from their commercial backgrounds and see our favourite sport as the rest of us see it – something to be enjoyed by whoever likes it at the time, something that doesn’t need to be loved by everyone or to be “mainstream” in every nation. A game that was invented for leisure, pleasure and recreation, not a product to be sold and marketed incessantly, to bolster a bottom line and justify its executives’ bonuses.
See they're banging on about blocks again.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/vitality-blast-2021-luke-wright-advocates-staging-blast-in-a-block-as-quarter-finals-loom-after-five-week-hiatus-1274451
Luke Wright cricinfo article and the ECB seem to be hinting at it next season with the T20 and Finals Day all in one block. Trouble with blocks for T20/Hundred is the more you put things in blocks the more prime time cricket season is left fallow for all but the 8 or 4 teams lucky enough to be involved. Even those lucky few have to wait their turn to get 3 hours play after the sun's gone down. Abysmal state of affairs.
Need somehow to bring back full fixture lists for the 18 counties each week and if any are involved in latter stages of cups the affected fixtures get pushed back to a catch-up week in late September.
I just looked at the calendar for 2022 between April 10th and September 24th
I found plenty of room for 16 county championship fixtures spread across 18 fixture weeks running Monday to Thursday
I also found plenty of slots early season for some white ball cricket at the weekend, perhaps primarily played on Friday's or Sunday's with a few counties opting to play Saturday's. I can't for the life of me see any reason why the counties couldn't play alternate red and white ball cricket throughout most of the season so there is an even balance of both formats throughout. Then you'd not get completely blank July and August like we're experiencing now.
Even with 18 county championship focused weeks there is still room in the schedule for 6 weeks of rest / other formats.
These 6 weeks of rest could be used to prioritise some white ball cricket - May 1st to 8th counties could play 3 50 over matches, then June 5th to 18th I scoped out a 2 week solid block for the T20's where counties could play 5 or 6 matches and a spare week at either the start or the end of August where they could fit in play off's or semi finals or whatever. The rest of June and July should be county championship Mon-Thurs then T20's on Friday's and Sunday's.
And with all the room I've found in the schedule for the three formats I haven't even had to start April 3rd nor had to go on to early October either. You hear a lot about how tricky it is for the fixture schedulers but if they get the players to accept switching red to white ball cricket early, middle and late season rather than having these obscene 5 or 6 week blocks of one single format then it becomes far simpler.
It is certainly NOT an impossibly short window of time when you consider they now start early April and drag it out to early October.
Forecast weather was quite poor for a couple of the games but the forecast proved incorrect and they got full days play in. Getting locals to go to these games has obviously proved tricky. I noticed the PA chap at the end on Friday mentioned the next game at Edgbaston was today's 16.4 match. Does the PA bloke (or perhaps the DJ?) big up Warwickshire's next home fixture at the 16.4 matches? I wonder if the spectators who turn up to these shortened formats even know Bears are playing RLODC matches at the moment it seems to have gone so far under the radar at least with the County Championship matches there'd be 1,000-1,500 in the ground on most days but these RLODC matches have seen attendances of 900 ish, 750 and Friday couldn't have been any more than 600. Like I say they deserve a decent crowd Thursday whatever the result at the Oval tomorrow
Exeeded my expectations today yet again. Great team performance. Had the lad not copped it on the chin could've been a bit closer but I doubt it'd have affected the result. Promising young side. I kinda expected the Leicester and Derbyshire wins but wasn't sure about today. Two tough games next week but there's no reason why they can't win at least one of them. Hopefully a decent crowd next Thursday for the game against fancied Somerset. Weather should be more settled by then and the youngsters deserve a couple of thousand in there for that. Get along members
ajones1328 wrote:
Prime summer and it just feels like a huge anti climax..
Real shame
Agree with this particularly the first couple of hours our bowling looked so pedestrian it wasn't their fault of course love Yates appetite but when you have him opening the bowling you wonder what the hell has happened to this game of ours. Did very well to keep their score down towards the end they looked set for 350-360. Began quite well too with the bat but you knew there was a collapse around the corner our first XI is prone to that so our 2nds/3rds mix and match side we have at the moment would also struggle to reset and rebuild. Shame again for Yates now needs to focus on not panicking when he gets to 100 and not get too fixated by the match situation and chuck his wicket away of course would help if he had some experienced heads around him out there but once Rhodes had gone that was a big turning point. Credit to Notts very professional job done with the ball in those middle overs slowing the score and forcing our youngsters to panic/go big
I think we'll get a couple of wins in this group hopefully starting Tuesday at Derby but I had a feeling a couple of weeks ago we'd really struggle in this format this year which continues our patchy at best record in white ball cricket now going back several years. In a way I don't mind them using these games to rest the senior bowlers for later in the season although it's mostly been enforced rest. The likes of OHD, Brezzie, Miles etc... could get us close to 3rd spot if available all group stage but probably good to have them rested for T20 QF and Division One duties and accept we're going to be 5th to 7th at best
Yorkshire guaranteed a home quarter final but will play it at Chester le Street owing to their pitch issues
Wouldn't be a bad shout. I know people scoff at his suggestion but he played a vital role in the win at Trent Bridge and by late August will be more in tune with English conditions and would be handy to have around on late summer spinning tracks like Taunton or Old Trafford
The restrictions overall have probably saved 150-200,000 UK lives the vaccines so far have saved about 30,000 lives you are quite right we now have to hope that switches and the vaccines can do the job that restrictions have done up to now and kind of hold that line. It is open to question whether that will be the case though. Proof will be in the pudding we can only pray. I hope it pushes the virus back from our shores over time and then we can set about helping the developing world countries drive it back there too
I'm not sure the season will end properly. I'm far from certain football will go ahead as per normal (although the Premier League will have the finances to do what the NBA have done no other sport here has that kind of funding available). This is summer and there is a misconception that this virus is less severe this time of year it isn't it can spread just as easily. The experiment we're being ushered through next couple of months is a scandal and I know we have to cross a tipping point at some time but I do fear we will just go round in a circle and be back to uncertain times next spring with another huge toll behind us and no nearer this thing being gone.
Andy wrote:
Praying for Scarborough away. If the season is still going...
Yates and Malan pumping their averages here.
Anyone know what week Scarbados will be? Is it August Bank Holiday or one of the September weeks I'm guessing the latter
We don't need lockdowns. New Zealand doesn't need them too often. Took them 12 weeks initially and since then a week now and again when Auckland has to lockdown. I want the freedom here that they have in New Zealand. I just don't think we will ever achieve that the way we have been going and look set to go next 3/4 months. Hopefully I'm wrong and the virus magically goes away or becomes as harmless as a cold. Very few people have flu and go about their business if people get flu they are very ill in bed. Very few people under the age of 40 have had flu in their lifetime it is less contagious than Covid and far less harmful
You've answered your own question. Proper season of cricket in prospect this winter in New Zealand if you can get over there. They were prepared to make the tough but necessary decisions and stick with it to minimise the impact early on and now reaping the rewards. We could and should and eventually will have to do the same
Flu kills very few people in the hundreds normally and a few thousand occasionally. To reach tens of thousands you have to include Pneumonia as well as flu. That mainly affects very frail/old people too not people Neil Etheridge's age
Fixtures for the next phase will be released by the end of next week according to reports
Should happen in the workplace though. Neil Etheridge the Blues goalie is in hospital with it