No matter how good he was, he came across as bitter when anyone talked about Botham and didn't like it when people praised some of his great performances and even made comments that both Flintoff and Stokes were better. There is no reason why praise can't be given to all players and no reason to feel that giving praise to Botham was trying to take anything away from Sobers himself. I also heard him having a go when England were beating West Indies in England after years of no success, he didn't like it and belittled his fellow countrymen saying they were, "Playing like Englishmen.. " and appeared to suggest that England never had any good cricketers. It doesn't seem that he liked giving English cricketers anything.

I think Piper is the best I have ever seen but Piran Holloway who left for Somerset, was good as well but was always fighting for a place with Pip. From what I remember, Holloway was called out of an exam for a game where no 'keeper was able to fill the gap due to a few injuries. I remember his first 100 v Worcestershire at Edgbaston, putting on good runs after we were in danger of being out for nothing, 166-7 became 313-8d and we eventually won. Like Pip, he had good hands and looked relaxed.

If only we had made the most of being in a good position v Somerset at home, we would be going through but Somerset scrape in even though they probably think smugly that they have a divine right to go through, I would sooner have seen those Pears go through.

We will look back at some of the earlier games and wonder how we lost, the first game against Gloucestershire looks ridiculous now and especially after seeing them on Sunday. Losing the control of 3 spinners and giving away too many runs in the powerplay, Woakes has looked really poor in this competition.

I am a big fan of The Stranglers but don't remember Tahir, Piolet and Botha being part of the set-up, It was Cornwell, Burnel, Black and Greenfield. Maybe you saw a tribute band.

True, we all remember Chris Benjamin being selected as a keeper, not contributing anything with the bat whilst Burgess didn't even get a look in, how we miss him, what a great team man he was. We also did it with Miles, getting picked above others and getting milked most games and his lack of success going back to Gloucestershire, shows how wrong we were to keep picking him.

After watching that, I have to say, where has the late run come from and how the hell did we lose against this lot in that first game. Once the openers had gone, the rest of their batsmen didn't appear to even make the effort to go for it. Of course our 'Mystery Bowler' Mr Tariq was immense but no real effort was tried to score off him. Just goes to show I think, that we have missed the 3 spinners we had when we strangled sides after the 'Powerplay'.

That score was never going to be good enough. To lose only 4 wickets and not get it above 10 per over was poor and only Mousley and Barnard had any urgency at the end. We used to win games by strangling the opposition with spin but no Lintott or Briggs means we just rely on Tariq who has been very reliable and to not even get Yates on was poor. We are probably now not going to qualify unless something weird happens to other sides and we win every game. If spin has won us games before, we must at least try Taz in the next few games as it hardly matters now and we might as well see what happens.

Never rated Mills, there are plenty of bowlers who are in the 8.50 per over bracket, he's just a name that got thrown about like Chris Jordan but they have not really won trophies with all the different franchise side they played for, Jordan was the reason England lost that T20 semi-final in about 2021 v New Zealand with a terrible last over and he definitely cost Sussex the T20 final when Worcestershire won it by spraying it everywhere in the 'Death' overs. Hard Hitters, Clive Lloyd was a real blaster, his 2 innings in the 1972 Gillette Cup Final (Damn Him) and the 1975 World Cup Final were full of shots where the ball hit the ropes before the bowler had finished following-through.

Some of Tariq's deliveries had me looking at the umpires to see if they were looking at each other as regards his action. When he appeared to bowl with a higher arm, it appeared as though he got more turn. He is a weird one but we can't fault his economy rates.

If Simmonds goes on not getting games, he might get frustrated and wonder why he's not getting a chance, even looking elsewhere maybe. It would appear with all our injuries and bowlers of similarity, why not give him a chance and see, he's got youth on his side and good pace, time to let him loose.

How long do we have Suthar for. If it's the rest of the season, then playing another specialist spinner will work if Woakes plays as it will strengthen the batting as would having Barker back. We need to have enough batting and bowling options against all sides.

That needs to be addressed but I have the feeling it won't. In the end it could be the difference between us mounting a serious title challenge or finishing 4-5th.

287 runs from Somerset for the last 4 wickets showed how any demons in the pitch were negated. That was the time to win it, 1 good ball to Rew or Bigmouth, would have done it. The thought of it doing too much and getting rattled by Leach and the sight of that lanky smug git would have been too much. All very tight at the top.

2 wickets in the over they have bowled, suggests that the pitch hasn't done as much as we thought. Having said that, a few more overs and a more 'Carrot-dangling' declaration might have meant a better finish and maybe more wickets for Somerset if we 'Went For It'.

Makes you wonder what there mother is like because from what I have heard of the father as well, they are all a bunch of mouthy wankers.

61 overs minimum, surely we can manage that unless it starts to turn square.

these 2 have combined 29 runs in 70 balls. Maybe Overton thinks 2 sessions will be enough and they could bowl more with 2 spinners. I can't see us winning so I do hope no one decides to 'Bazball' the situation. It does look dead out there but with a 300 lead and men round the bat, it could be really hard. Does Overton think the pitch ahs been dull and nothing will happen so has decided to carry on. Only 63 overs minimum left in the day.

I thought they might just keep him going from one end and rotate at the other. It's not as if the heat would get to him and he must be used to long spells. To blow this now after being so far ahead, will really mess up the season as well as seeing that mouthy bastard Overton looking smug. I do hope we lodge a complaint about the sub or else they will do it whenever they can get away with it.

Very weird tactics like suddenly giving Yates ago now, sorry Barny, it looks too late.