It's Just Notts Cricket - The Championship Part 2
By Farmer White et al
September 9 2021
So the second half of this sttrange Championship competition starts with the county in second place in the first division competition a small number of points carried through behind Warwickshire. Farmer White tells you all about the first day and beyond. We start on a very cold August day. Will we end up playing a final in October after taking our first Championship title? All will be revealed in the next month or so.
County Championship Division 1. Somerset v Nottinghamshire. 30th, 31st August, and 1st September 2021. Taunton.
Somerset. S.M. Davies (w), T.A. Lammonby, T.B Abell (c), J.C. Hildreth, L.P. Goldsworthy, T. Banton, R.E. van der Merwe, J.H. Davey, M.J. Leach, M de Lange, J. A. Brooks.
Nottinghamshire. B.T. Slater, B.M. Duckett, S.A. Northeast, J.M. Clarke, L.W. James, S.J. Mullaney (c), T. J. Moores (w), L.A. Patterson-White, B.A Hutton, L.J. Fletcher, D. Paterson.
Toss. Somerset. Elected to field.
First day 30th August – Pummelled
In the days of uncovered pitches batting first on winning the toss was virtually di rigueur. Captains ignored W.G. Grace’s dictum on the toss at their or their bowlers’ peril. The decision is not so clear-cut in these days of covered, well-prepared pitches, but inserting the opposition can still be a hazardous business. Imagine Tom Abell having to explain himself before W.G. after the disastrous insertions at Guildford in 2018 and Headingley in 2019. Interestingly, given the weight of history on the subject, in Somerset’s ten group stage Championship matches this season, the side winning the toss inserted the opposition eight times. When that news reaches the cemetery at Beckenham in which W.G now resides, the bearer may expect to be approached by a remonstrating apparition of the great man demanding an explanation. It might help pacify him if it is explained that on four of those eight occasions the side inserted lost the match, although in three cases leading on first innings. The other four matches were drawn, although two were so heavily impacted by the weather there was never a prospect of a result.
Prior to the toss for this match, it was difficult to pick out the pitch from beyond the boundary for it was a dark, if dull, shade of green. The sky was grey from Blackdowns to Quantocks, and as the cloud passed over the ground like a slow-motion conveyor belt running from the River Stand to the covers store there seemed to be no end to it. All that was lacking for a classic set of insertion conditions was humidity. Tom Abell clearly thought the green and the grey were enough, for as my friend from primary school days, and probably before, and I found our seat high in the Somerset Stand the announcement came that Somerset had elected to field. The group stage of this competition notwithstanding, I am a W.G man where the toss is concerned, for over time my anecdotal memory tells me that batting first carries the greater prospect of success, and my heart twinged accordingly.
Somerset begin the second phase of this year’s Championship in second place and a large crowd, even by Somerset first day standards, had come through the gates in support. There were somewhere comfortably in excess of three thousand by my eye, swelled by eight hundred club cricketers from over a hundred clubs from across the South West, all invited for the day by Somerset. The Somerset Stand was as well populated as I have ever seen it for a Championship match despite the deterrent effect of a wind that had arrived early for October. The ground, after the strictures at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, was bubbling, although a few rays of sunshine would not have gone amiss. The Gimblett’s Hill benches were full again, as if pre-pandemic times had never gone away. Every stand, apart from the section of the Ondaatje Stand closed as part of the cordon sanitaire for players, was populated as of old. The Championship was properly back at Somerset, and Somerset had turned out in force to greet it.
“That went straight through him,” someone said as Jack Brooks, bowling the second over of the day from the Trescothick Pavilion End, beat Ben Duckett. When in his next over Brooks bowled short and wide to Slater the batsman reached further than looked wise and cut the ball straight to Lammonby who caught it ankle-high at point. Nottinghamshire were 7 for 1, cheers erupted around the ground, and Somerset had a start. But from there, doubts about the insertion began to impinge as the bat fell in all too easily behind a ball lacking penetration or was kept safely away from it. Sam Northeast added to the doubts as he drove Davey confidently through the covers to the Temporary Stand boundary.
Only the left-handed Duckett, playing rather frenetically, as he looked to attack the bowling with some intent, seemed to give Somerset hope, although more from apparent over-confidence than from any apparent threat from the bowlers. He turned Brooks to the Somerset Stand boundary and, in successive overs, drove de Lange through long on to the Temporary Stand and cut Brooks square to the Caddick Pavilion. He was constantly on the lookout for scoring strokes, but never looked settled. A man in a hurry with all day ahead of him. It came as no surprise when he hooked Brooks, and the top edge looked destined for that conveyor belt of clouds. “That is going up a very long way,” someone said with more than a twinge of anxiety in their voice. I must confess to forgetting to breathe myself as I saw the cover fielder running in. I need not have worried, for the fielder was Roelof van der Merwe and there are few better in the game. He may sometimes give the impression of being a bolt of uninsulated electricity in the field, but at the business end his hands are as steady in waiting for a catch as a kestrel’s head is in tracking its prey. Duckett’s innings was essentially over the second van der Merwe’s eyes settled on the ball. Nottinghamshire 44 for 2. Duckett 24.
Duckett’s wicket served to temper Somerset anxiety about Nottinghamshire’s progress which had raced along at nearly four runs an over. But only for the moment, for Northeast was joined by Clarke and between them they began to build a foundation for Nottinghamshire’s innings. Slowly at first, although Clarke had announced his arrival by running three after late cutting his first ball from Brooks to the River Stand. Abell rotated his bowlers at a rate which must have, at times, had the batsmen wondering if they were entering through a revolving door. From the fall of the second wicket to lunch seventeen overs passed. They were bowled by five different bowlers.
As the bowlers rotated, Northeast and Clarke held steady, working to establish the Nottinghamshire innings. Occasionally they were beaten, but as the morning wore on any threat in the bowling began to fade. For a dozen overs the bowlers pressurized the batsmen. There was, according to the online watcher, enough movement to hold the batsmens’ attention, and only three boundaries and 22 runs came. Northeast produced a scintillating back foot drive to the Somerset Stand off Davey and, with Davey trying the other end, a searing clip, again to the Somerset Stand. Crucially though, no wicket fell.
As lunch approached and Abell worked down his list of bowlers, he could be heard imploring them with, “Come on boys, come on lads, come on.” But Nottinghamshire were now beginning to push and the bowling was beginning to lose some of its control. Clarke drove De Lange through the on side to the cover store boundary and Northeast twice deflected him behind square to the Colin Atkinson corner of the ground. There was lengthy applause for Jack Leach on his return from an extended period in the England COVID protective bubble during which time he had not been selected to play. Clarke’s welcome was abrupt, consisting of a sharp pull to the Somerset Stand boundary. When the Nottinghamshire batsmen walked off to lunch with the score on 88 for 2, they were somewhat happier I imagine than the Somerset fielders. “Their morning,” someone summed up.
Then, with lunch over, Somerset struck. Northeast was taken on the pad trying to turn Davey to leg. The appeal went up, followed by the umpire’s finger, followed by relieved cheers, followed by my friend saying, “Phew!” And “Phew!” is how it felt for, given the conditions, Nottinghamshire on 97 for 2 gave them a clear advantage. At 97 for 3, with Northeast gone for 34, Somerset were back within range. From there, as the afternoon unfolded, runs were at a premium, and it felt like wickets would have to be drawn like reluctant teeth. And all the while, Nottinghamshire slowly built on the advantage they had held at the end of the morning.
Lyndon James joined Clarke and both batsmen drew on their supply of batsman’s luck. Clarke hooked another short ball from Brooks and a top edge flew directly over the keeper’s head to the Trescothick Stand boundary. In an over, Davey twice beat James to gasps and then forced an edge which ran to the River Stand boundary. Davey, not quite at his best across the innings but the pick of the Somerset bowlers, was met with thankful applause when he returned to field in front of Gimblett’s Hill. Then, an over from de Lange moved Nottinghamshire forward again. Clarke drove him straight back past the stumps and James cut him directly over the point fielder to the Somerset Stand boundary, the ball travelling as if on a string directly towards me, curving slightly through the air as it approached. Between the two boundaries Clarke had taken a single to bring up his fifty. At the end of the over some Nottinghamshire supporters nearby looked to be breathing a little more easily with the score on 127 for 3. It had been a passage of play which epitomised the day thus far. Nottinghamshire steadily building a total, enjoying the occasional slice of luck, Somerset holding the batsmen in check and then periodically loosening their grip to be punished with a flurry of runs. They had taken wickets, but not enough it felt in the conditions.
Then, as so often happens with this Somerset team when it matters, Somerset again held Nottinghamshire in check, and then struck. Clarke, on 59, attempted to hook Abell and was well caught low down by Davies off the bottom edge. The score was 140 for 4 and it had taken Nottinghamshire seven overs to advance there from the fall of the third wicket at 127. Now, Steven Mullaney joined James and, having taken some time to survey the scene, attacked Leach, cutting him through backward point to the Ondaatje Stand, lofting him straight to the Lord Ian Botham Stand for six and turning him fine to the Trescothick Pavilion for another four. It took Nottinghamshire to 161 for 4 before Brooks, Leach and de Lange again applied something of a brake. In the nine overs until tea, ten runs were scored, and the ball never approached the boundary. Nottinghamshire reached tea on 171 for 4, their advantage re-imposing itself.
Immediately after tea, Nottinghamshire again attacked the bowling, 22 runs being added in three overs. Again, the assault was short-lived. Davey was driven fiercely off the outside edge by James, the ball flying through the air a yard beyond the horizontal reach of the point fielder and reached the Somerset Stand boundary just below me. A chip from Mullaney off Abell cleared the point fielder at the other end and ran down to the Ondaatje boundary. Three balls later, Mullaney drove square to the Caddick Pavilion. And then at 194 for 4, just as the score was looking daunting in the conditions, Abell broke through. James, having just taken a fresh guard, tried to defend against a ball which a replay shows swung away quite late and was edged to Davies. “Well bowled,” someone said as Somerset again closed the gap on Nottinghamshire before another passage of tight bowling from Abell and de Lange countered by solid defence and occasional scoring from Mullaney and Moores edged Nottinghamshire forward again.
When Mullaney pulled de Lange through the air towards the Caddick Pavilion, Banton, on the boundary, seemed to be positioning himself for a catch before stopping in mid movement only for the ball to bounce over the rope. “What happened there?” someone asked. “I think he might have lost it in our stand or the flats,” suggested my friend. Four tight overs and four runs later, Mullaney tried to clip de Lange to leg. The ball struck the pad with the batsman firmly on the crease and the umpire’s finger pointing to that still slowly rolling conveyor belt of cloud. Nottinghamshire 208 for 6, Mullaney 42. With those two wickets it felt Somerset had given themselves a chance of keeping the eventual Nottinghamshire score within bounds.
As if to mark the moment, the floodlights came on as the endless stream of cloud darkened the advancing day. Almost immediately, Nottinghamshire’s careful defence and periodic attacking flurries were replaced by a sustained assault on the Somerset bowling led by the new batsman, the left-handed Liam Patterson-White. It was a jaw-dropping assault for Somerset supporters to watch, for in an hour the balance of the day, always leaning slightly towards Nottinghamshire, shifted decidedly in their favour. A cut off Abell through backward point to Gimblett’s Hill set the tone, but it Patterson-White’s attack on de Lange which set the Nottinghamshire innings on a different course. The over began with a misdirected bouncer which sent four byes sailing over the keeper’s head. They were followed by drives, all for four, through midwicket to the Somerset Stand, straight to the Trescothick Pavilion and, to complete a wide ‘V’, through the off side to the Ondaatje boundary. A single and a no ball for the byes that cleared the keeper resulted in a 19-run over and Nottinghamshire finding themselves on 240 for 6 just four overs after the sixth wicket had fallen at 208.
There were worried faces along the rows of seats in the Somerset Stand as the Nottinghamshire score rattled along when most dismissals had suggested a ball moving in the air or off the pitch. I sent a text to someone watching online. “Is the ball doing anything?” “There is some movement, not excessive and not always, but some,” the reply. I often wonder if spasmodic or erratic movement is the worst sort if you are a batsman. Occasionally the bowlers got it right. Three times in one over Moores was beaten by de Lange. The first beat the bat altogether. The second was edged straight to Abell at second slip but bounced a couple of feet short of him, the third flew wide of the slips and, Nottinghamshire insult added to Somerset injury, ran to the Colin Atkinson boundary, but for the most part the batsmen held sway.
The new ball can be a duplicitous ally to bowlers. Often, it will take the wicket of a batsman who has become set or begin a collapse. But sometimes, if the bowlers do not get their line or length right, it flies to the boundary. The one Somerset took as soon as it was due produced the latter result. In the eight and a half overs possible after it was taken, bowled by Brooks and Davey, 42 runs were scored, and no wicket fell. Patterson-White continued his assault uninterrupted. Brooks was cut square to the Somerset Stand in the first over. From his third, Patterson-White took ten runs, the ball being pulled through midwicket to the Temporary Stand, turned to the Ondaatje, where it was only kept to two by a last-ditch boundary dive, and steered to Legend’s Square for four more. When he pulled Davey furiously over midwicket to the Somerset Stand boundary my old schoolfriend uttered a resigned, “Hmmm.”
Moores meanwhile applied himself to rotating the strike but did pull Brooks over midwicket to the Temporary Stand. “Come on Somerset,” someone shouted, more in hope than anticipation. Then, “Shot!” one Somerset supporter cried, acknowledging an off drive from Patterson-White. The cascade of runs took Nottinghamshire to 282 for 6 and left the crowd feeling somewhat pummelled. The bowlers and the crowd were saved from further punishment by the umpires decreeing the light had sunk so low that not even Somerset’s state of the art led lights could keep the players on the field. And all the while that slow conveyor belt of cloud continued its endless march across the sky. Within minutes the umpires were seen pulling up the stumps, thereby signalling an end to a day that had started with Somerset struggling to impose their will after asking Nottinghamshire to bat, gradually losing ground, and finally seeing Nottinghamshire beginning to sprint unhindered away from them.
Close. Nottinghamshire 282 for 6.
More on this game can be found in the thread details following this report or on Farmer's own website by clicking the link
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:09:15:41:03 by Grockle.
Somerset, Warwickshire and Lancashire are effectively one win ahead of the other 3 teams in the equation, due to the strange format that we have to put up with this year. Anyway it puts us in a very strong position to achieve the biggest aim of all.! Let's hope we go out to win every game , unlike the group stages which became very contrived towards the end.
On the pitch we have several dilemmas.
Has Ali arrived from the W .Indies and is he available to play.
If not who do we open with-Smeed, Banton,Lammonby or Green
Is Lewis Goldsworthy still Isolating
Can Lewis Gregory Bowl
One, two or 3 spinners.
Assuming the worst case scenario I would probably pick;
Ben Green
Steve Davis
Tom Abell
James Hildreth
George Bartlett
Tom Lammonby
Lewis Gregory
RVDM
Jack Leach
Josh Davey
MDL
Not ideal and really need Gregory bowling or Lewis Goldsworthy instead
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:20:54:48 by Grockle.
Sadly, I think L Gold won’t quite be out of isolation, in time, to play.
I don’t expect Azhar Ali to have arrived in time.
We shall, therefore, have to select:
Steve Davies
Ben Green
Tom Abell
James Hildreth
George Bartlett
Tom Lammonby
Roelof Van Der Merwe
Josh Davey
The Great Matthew Jack Leach
Marchant De Lange
Jack Brooks
It isn’t ideal in terms of a pace attack, but it’s the best we can do and there are, at least, 7 bowling options (and 8 if Tom A is happy, hamstring-wise, to bowl).
Some might complain about two spinners, but VDM is there as much to balance the side, batting wise.
Alternatives to VDM don’t seem great to me:
- Gregory as a specialist number 7 batsmen and slip fielder
- Aldridge as a sort of all-rounder… he’s meant to have all-round ability.
- An extra batsman - Banton or Byrom..Sorry, but I see little current reason to expect them to make more runs than VDM, quite frankly, so I’d rather have VDM in the slips and as a second spinner.
- Josh Davey at number 7 and an extra seamer. Just not enough batting, so no thanks.
Note: If Azhar Ali has actually arrived and been cleared to play then he could open and Green could take VDM’s slot, if we really don’t want two spinners.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:28:11:19:37 by AGod.
Having said that? If we do prepare a turning track, then Gregory is the slip to the spinners so I suppose that might be a consideration.
If it is the Lancs pitch?
Well… that would confirm the idea of something very flat.

I think the plan may be two high scoring home draws and hope to win one of the away games - probably Edgbaston if Cove available. If they could get two high scoring home draws and win one then, as we start ahead of most then, if we beat Warks at Edgbaston, then that might be enough.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:28:12:08:41 by AGod.
We just can’t afford to play like that now and need to go for the jugular.We don’t want to die wondering!!!
We also produced a flat track at home to Surrey. And the eight points for a draw is precisely why I suspect our cautious policy may persist in the final stage!
Anyways… We’ll get an idea of our mentality when we see Monday’s pitch!!
Few other explanations would be credible - for example, if you have a muscular back injury, then you can’t bat or throw yourself around in the field. If you have a slipped disc, you can’t even stand Etc etc.

[www.somersetcountycc.co.uk]
Tom Abell and Lewis Goldsworthy in the squad.Lewis Gregory out of it (back injury).
Farmer

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:29:14:19:27 by Grockle.
I’m still going with just two main seamers plus Green,Lammonby, who bowled well Thursday,Abell plus 3 spinners.
Green
Davies
Abell
Hildreth
Goldsworthy
Bartlett
Lammonby
Roelof
Davey
Leach
MDL
Davies
Banton
Abell
Hildreth
Goldsworthy
Bartlett
Lammonby
Davey
Leach
MDL
Brooks
I would pick
Davies
Green
Abell
Hildreth
Goldsworthy
Bartlett
VDM
Davey
Leach
MDL
Brooks
Davies
Azhar Ali
Abell
Hildreth
Goldsworthy
Bartlett
Green
Aldridge
Davey
Leachy
MDL
My team has a big gamble at number 8… but you need height, pace and bounce at North Marine Road… so Aldridge, rather than Brooks.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:29:15:05:18 by AGod.
[www.trentbridge.co.uk]
Is Liam Patterson White they’re only spinner in the squad?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:29:16:06:12 by nelliec.
Calvin Harrison is a wrist spinner.

I assume we’ll have prepared a flat pitch.
But the weather favours the bowler.
What to do should we win the toss?
Unless we’ve managed to produce something very dry, I’d suggest we bowl in the expectation that the pitch will get flatter and flatter, plus bowling conditions might not be so good in future, in terms of overheads.
I’m 😦 astonished.
So if it’s the same wicket as Vs Lancs, that would imply it has been heavily watered since last Thursday…
Quote:Oops no it's another one just east of center.Scrumper
Looks like the same wicket as Thursday.


“Somerset prevailed at Taunton, where the runs flow as freely as the cider and the ball seems to be sucked through the air and over the ropes by the unbridled enthusiasm of the home crowd.”
We know that Banton has the talent, but let's hope he can find some form...




Perfect.

LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
In any event, Banton will be in a shoot out, presumably with Lammonby, to retain a place for the trip to North Marine Road as it’s been confirmed that Azhar Ali will be available.
I suppose we might alter the balance up there, though, and have 7 batsmen?
Edited for correction: There is not a seconds’ game until next Monday.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:30:12:27:44 by AGod.

I mean we could have picked an extra batsman (Bartlett) or a seam bowling all-rounder (Green) instead of VDM….. so one assumes we see at least a possibility or turn, albeit maybe not until the second half of the match.
With most of the seamers not looking unduly threatening, then I’d be inclined to take a longish look at the redoubtable Mr Leach after lunch. We might see him for the exploratory over before lunch prior to that.

Any comments after it would be gratefully received here

A handful of balls past the bat but, really, it looks a decent batting track.
It could be quite hard work this afternoon.


Mr “I’m too important to be omitted from the Hants T20 team,” is gone.

How can any SCCC fan possibly still be unaware of Pete’s actual name?

Obviously this is not a factor on the stream, and I enjoyed his input.
I wonder if there’s something spongy in the deck with that being the third apparently unthreatening short ball to produce a wicket? Or just fluke? Probably the latter?
He's always had a fluency in front of a camera or microphone


Grizzers


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:30:16:37:18 by Grockle.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:30:17:06:46 by Grockle.
If he ever finds top form?
He’ll spend his summer in a variety of franchise stuff, anyway, being a possible for IPL and CPL and certainty (if in form) for the Blundred.
So what would Somerset really miss?
T20 only. As wouldn’t be available for other forms.
I’ll be embarrassed for him he’s going to useless Glamorgan, though.
I’d hope not. But if he really is one of the biggest earners on the wage bill? It would be the right call to let him go, in my view, as we don’t get that kind of bang for our buck.
Tom would be a major resource for some other clubs and they may be willing to pay for that. On his day he is phenomenal - Somerset seem to have been here before I think.

If he wants to keep, maybe he really would have to go somewhere like Glamorgan.
He may be able to produce express pace in the last hour of a day's cricket but if the batsman gets the bat to it if fires into the boundary at a hell of a pace as well



So today's photos is more or less getting back into the swing of it. Not much to choose from in the way of dramatic shot. So here goes.
Steve Mullaney lbw Marchant de Lange.
Steve Mullaney 4 runs
Sam Northeast 4 runs
Liam Patterson 4 runs
Joe Clarke
Joe Clarke ct Steve Davies bld Tom Abell, down the leg side.
Celebrations after Tom Lammonby ct Ben Slater off the bowling of Jack Brooks
Ben Duckett 4 runs
After losing all my camera settings they were better than thought they would be!
Messrs Davey, Brooks & MDL are going to have sore bones by the end of the month. Guess it' s possible we might have Craig back for the Warks. game .
Grizzers
And unless he plays in the seconds as a batsman only, then he will have had 3 weeks with zero cricket by the time we roll him out as batsman only on August 18.
Quote:Owain Glyndwr
Brilliant pictures, Mike. I've missed them.
Agreed 👍
Quote:AGod
Warks already in big trouble at Old Trafford - 7 for 2.
Thanks for that 🙂
Good to see the ‘master of the lens’ back at work !
Grizzers
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:00:42:48 by Grizzers.
thanks for that.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Jason Kerr summed it up rather well as (I paraphrase), “We didn’t bowl as well as we usually do and we thought the track would do a fair bit, but it didn’t.”
If not, why are both Grizz and Lol spelling this word with two es in it?

There was a lack of light, everywhere, at the games yesterday.
It would be a surprise, for me, if Davies is moved back down the order to accomodate a Banton/Lammonby opening pairing, though. I mean my assumption was that Azhar Ali had been signed to form an experienced pair at the top of the order, with SD, but perhaps the plan is, instead, for Azhar's presence to allow SD to slot back into the middle order? If that's the case, and Banton and Lammonby open today? The two of them will be in a shoot-out to be Azhar's partner at North Marine Road. In which case, things would get interesting if both men were to score well on what, admittedly, seems a rather unresponsive surface.....
50 for their spinner. Well played to him.
Apologies to Camera Mike, by which name I shall in future refer to him, and to all pedants everywhere.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:11:44:05 by Loyal of Lhasa.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:11:47:10 by AGod.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Old Boy!

VDM is partly in the side for his batting.
I guess they decided on VDM, rather than Green, because they don’t think Green is better with the ball than Abell is.
Jason Kerr was talking about “only batting once,” in this match. That seems rather ambitious to me, but it would bring VDM into the game as a spinner.
Of 7 Notts wkts to fall, 3 (3 of the first 4) were daft giveaways.
Só, concentrate, Somerset! No daft T20 type shots and one would hope we will be alright.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:12:25:34 by AGod.

Quote:You could say the same here, but we don't do we.AGod
Lancs Vs Warks seems to be going nowhere fast.
Is that the death knell of county cricket, I hear?

Now, bat properly, please.
Old Boy!
Old Boy!
Jason Kerr strongly implied we were expecting a seaming track … which makes one wonder why they didn’t play an extra batsman or seam bowling all-rounder, rather than a second spinner?
Quote:Grockle
Because some of our guys need a year and there's not a lot about looking for jobs in the provinces?
What is brooks going to offer? Has more injuries than wickets
Might lose in three days, at this rate, depending on whether or not they enforce the follow-on, should they get the chance to enforce it.
Edit: escaping the field for bad light.
Will have to hope for a less chastening day either tomorrow or when they can get the floodlights back on.
We'd all love loads of international quality stars to just fill our problem areas - the problem is whether they are available and will come.
We are all assuming MdL is a long term international signning?
Presently they won't be coming to join the Champions of four day cricket if this performance doesn't improve
2 leg side snaffles in 4 wickets
Time for Tom B?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:17:30:12 by Grockle.
And only 2 points from this pitiful performance unless we find some backbone in the game’s second half.
Going to be some way behind Warks and Lancs after only one game and Yorks, who started 13 points behind Will already be about 5 points ahead of us, heading into North Marine Road.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:17:37:34 by AGod.
That doesn’t mean we should aim to keep people who aren’t really any threat and have dodgy fitness records.
* That assumes we have money to recruit with.
Pathetic, I’m afraid.
Yorkshire Will be licking their lips ahead of getting our lot in on the North Marine Road trampoline.
It doesn’t pay to *willingly* get out of the winning habit.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:17:52:58 by AGod.
No sign of any in forecast, but we need to do a rain dance, anyway…
The answer is usually "recruit what from where"
We have seen that we have a number of young bowlers we need to push through to fill the gaps we have. I'm personally a little disappointed we did not push some of the RLODC bowlers forward in this match if Brooksy was looking a little stale and Gregory was not going to bowl seeing as we weren't going to use our spinners despite picking them.
Kasey, Ben Green or even Sonny might have been worth a gamble because it is going to have to be done some time - one more international is NOT going to solve our problem and buying in domestically is always a lottery of what is available. That is why Brooks might just be a safe option.
But if you play safe you don't win championships
Ho Hum - how many 'there's always next year's are there going to be?

Old Boy!
The maths are 4 out in recent times (pace wise) and only 1 in.
We have some young bowlers. And if they’re not yet deemed ready, then we need to address the gap IF we have the funds to do so.
North Marine Road is a trampoline, so I think it’s worth gambling with Aldridge up there next week. You need height up there. It’s not the deck for 6’0 medium fast bowlers.
To be honest? We’ve had a great run of being very competitive in red ball without ever getting over the line and now, with Cove possibly about to become an England fixture and bowling depth in short supply, I suspect that we might be about to suffer a dip in our fortunes. Sadly that will be at the worst possible time with the Tom Harrison “destroy the non TMCs,” plan moving into overdrive.
I hope we don’t go down the road of an overseas batsman next season. Yes, our top order is a problem but the list of foreign top order players with strong records in England is a short one.
But I think two divisions will probably be re-instated as the 12 counties playing a meaningless 4 games now, won’t be thrilled.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:19:06:41 by AGod.
With Cove away and Lewis injured, our bowling resources do indeed look pretty thin. Maybe it was/is time for Sonny to play.
Did anyone go to the Q & A last night ?
Grizzers
MdL is the same to be honest though he has more 'shock & awe' while he needs using when he's good and not when he isn't. There have been times when the environment in a gane is one where we can't rely on Marchant and we need alternatives
Josh needs support when Craig isn't here. He bowls well 'in tandem' So we need more Craig's either homegrown or bought in.

But we definitely need somebody that can step up and take the new ball if we’re down a couple of bowlers.
We don’t like to use express bowlers with the new ball, since the likes of MDL / J Overton tend to get less lateral movement than your “typical English seamer.” So it’s really more of a younger, fitter version of Brooks that we need, not another out and out fast man.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:20:47:49 by AGod.
To be honest, whilst I’ve enjoyed watching him bowl at times, MDL’s figures haven’t been up to snuff, either. Only 14 wkts in 8 matches. Average 40. Strike-rate 80.
The team figures tell the story - a top heavy pace attack relying very heavily on the Cove/Davey axis.
Gregory’s figures were okay, but nothing more.
[stats.espncricinfo.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:19:49:01 by AGod.
It didn't go as we had hope today with Somerset showing what a bad day is like.
Tom Moores ct Steve Davies bld Tom Lammonby
Tom Lammonby
Tom Abell ct Tom Moores bld Luke Fletcher.
It would be interesting to know how many time Tom has been out down the leg side.
Tom Abell hitting 4 runs
Luke Fletcher hitting 6 Runs
Liam Patterson-White 4 runs
Dane Paterson
Brett Hutton 4 runs
Tomorrow I have an eye appointment in Bridgwater, I do not know if I can make it into the ground, it all depends on what time I return to Taunton.
Azhar Ali is in the country now so should shore up the batting, and we will probably need 2 younger faces against Yorkshire to rotate the bowlers maybe Green and Aldridge for Brooks and Roelof.
Too much of the season left to get too critical of this side
More to the point? We don’t seem to have a pace attack likely to win us any games.
And we haven’t won a game in this competition since our great win at Hants in a game which began on 06 May.
This will be our sixth successive CC match without a win. Not exactly form that suggests we’re capable of competing to win this mini-league.
Azhar Ali didn’t shore up the batting last time (averaged 24) and is two years older now than last time.
After six straight games without a win, it would take a very considerable turnaround in form from here.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:20:49:44 by AGod.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:31:21:20:55 by nelliec.
Alternatively, perhaps, as LoL suggested, it was an attempt to get Banton into form for August 18. If that was the motivation, then I guess it shows where management thinks the greater chance of success lies.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
It’s still a 300 deck, minimum (our efforts yesterday, notwithstanding).
Só, if we show the fight that Tom Abell demanded we show, we ought to be able to get 300 second innings to salvage some respect from what has, thus far, been a chastening and humiliating experience against a Notts side that we had thrashed, eight times in a row, in the CC. Usually, it’s been them that have shown zero resolve. Boot on the other foot, so far, in this one.
We'll see how this morning goes

It’s surely too much to ask of MDL and Brooks to last long enough to get us to the follow-on target of 298 or so. I mean 211 or so runs for the final 3 wickets would be one hell of a recovery even by Somerset lower order standards.
In terms of salvaging pride then it’s about not losing by an innings for me. Do whatever we can this morning and then 300 minimum with a proper batting effort, second time around.
MDL is awful in blocking mode.. no blocking skill at all so, despite the situation, he might as well play his usual way when he comes in.
If Leachy and Josh can bat for an hour before MDL has to come in, then that would be a decent effort. It would also mean that most of our second innings would be taking place in the second and third sessions today, when batting may be at its easiest.
It’s a quick fold job this morning.
Will those that are paid for their batting show some backbone, second time around, one wonders?
We haven’t been at the races at all, are carrying one or two with little or no form and confidence is liable to be low.
We are usually a better second half Championship side. Maybe the late winter early spring weather has fooled us.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:13:08:18 by Grockle.

Kyle Abbott is not bowling for Hants in the Yorks second innings.
Without Abbott Hants have little chance of beating anyone, which is bad news for us as the one side not playing Hants.

Personally, I’d be looking at a number of changes for North Marine Road, with Azhar Ali, Bartlett, Green and Aldridge all being candidates to come into the side.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:14:24:43 by AGod.
We’ve been rubbish in all three innings of this match and we look nailed on to lose the match, by an innings.
Sixth straight game without a win in the CC. To be honest, if it goes back to two divisions then we either need to recruit significantly (something we haven’t done during Andy Hurry’s second tenure) or we’ll be a pretty hot favourite for the drop.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:14:52:22 by AGod.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:14:52:20 by Devonboy70.
We’ve got plenty of young batsmen, but too few of them have developed as one would hope and we just don’t have enough bowlers, per se.
Since Andy Hurry returned to the club, I think we’ve only signed 3 players to play any amount of red ball cricket?
Azhar Ali
Jack Brooks
Marchant De Lange
Yeah, we had Conway for two matches, which doesn’t really count.
With 5 bowlers, 4 of them pace bowlers leaving in the past couple of years?
It’s really caught up with us.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:14:59:55 by AGod.
I'm not so sure it's as dire as is being painted. We are without our international front end batsman (it was Conway it will be Ali) we have lost Lewis Gregory in the batting and bowling part of the team structure, we do not have out number one bowling option and have decided to pick a spinning one without applying it.
The problem of the front ennd is still a problem but there are a number of options in the batting that still offer options. George Bartlett probably should have played in this game as he had started to show some form. it looks like Eddie has been sidelined after a number of attempts to develop him as an opener annd he has a lot of work to do to revitalise his Somerset careeer one would think
Tom Abell has established himself as our number 3 I would say and though James Hildreth may be less solid than of late Lewis Goldsworthy is looking like a candidate to operate is that part of the batting lineup with a decent season behind him
The number 2 and 5 spots have a number of candidates in Banton, Lammonby and Green and we may be pushing James Rew forward is rumours of Tom Banton being hunted by other countiees comes to fruition for when Steve Davies finally gives up the gloves George Thomas has also looked promising for that late order batting setup should a reorganisation be required. Will Smeed and George's younger brother are also looking to move into a first team squad possibly int he red ball and Sam Young suggested that the red ball was more of his area of expertise as well.
The batting resources are there, we need someone to marshall them and develop a cohesive and coonsistent unit from them - it may have to be done a little earlier than our people traditionally like to do it - but that may not be a choice and personally I'm of the opinion that if you are good enough you are old enough.
Bowling scenarios were discussed earlier in this thread and the issue is - where do your 20 wickets come from? Well presently the answer is 'From and attack led by Craig Overton'. So we aren't getting them at the moment.
Will the inclusion of Sonny Baker, Kasey Aldridge, Ben Green, Ned Leonard, Tom Lammonby and Ollie Sale provide us with seam bowling options to work with Josh Davey in the absence of Craig in the medium term? Brooks, de Lange and possibly even Gregory are short term fixes for a medium to long term issue. Where is the mid 20's Somerset bowling attack that will take wickets whether or not the Somerset batting line up makes runs?
If Craig establishes himself in the England side of the same time period we need serious consideration of where the county gets its 20 wickets in a Championship and who pushes the contributions of the unit as a whole by leading from the front.
Many are inferring a mistake in allowing Dom Bess to move on. It was only a mistake if Jack Leach is not seen as your front end spinnner or suddenly the county is going to change the position of decades and consistenly pick two front line spinners. Dom was and is a talent but he was always going to be an underused talent in a one spinner county. He's now becoming the top man in a one spinner county.
Maybe we are looking for a leading, dynamic pace bowler - maybe we have kept Brooks because we are not plannning to keep Marchant as part of that search though I don't believe that is the case.
The problem becomes if you have Marchant AND your front end batting keeps capitulating, how can you employ a solid opener and a front line new ball bowler with only one overseas pick? Interesting

Quote:cricketharris
It was a members q&a on Monday, Grockle. Members, not all-and-sundry.
Gosh was it? Is that why it was called a members Q&A?
Your point being?
Did Members ask questions? Did Members attend?
It's not the Communist Party as far as I know and although the County don't like Members telling people what happened behind closed doors they nearly always do if anything was remotely interesting.
So one sort of assumes it wasn't or members didn't

Goldsworthy gone.
Start the car.
Well played to Notts but this has easily been one of our worst performances since we got promotion back to CC1 at the end of the 2007 season.
Up there (or should that be down there) with the debacle at Horsham and the home opener Vs Warks of some nine or so years ago.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:15:48:56 by AGod.
We’d be winning at North Marine Road next week… which is not what I expect from this team.
As AG said bowlers like Craig don't come along very often though I have hopes for Sonnny Baker I have to say. You need 2 main people - Josh works well with another man taking wickets but it is too much to ask him to be the point of the spear on his own.
I think that was the plan with Philander but maybe that was a lttle too hopeful. We do need another established strike bowler and it isn't Jack Brooks I'm afraid or MdL. If Lewis Gregory is also limited then we need 2 more to fill gaps in an established line-up.
Kasey may be one of them - haven't seen enough also not sure about Leonard.
Lammonby and Abell with never be more than variation additions - though Lammonby has suggested that his left handedness can be an advantage. So we do need some investment from somewhere.

At that point, at least, we must have had funds for recruitment because VP would have been very pricey. Don’t know if our having funds has survived the Covid apocalypse, though.
We let certain players go and/or lost players we wanted to keep but because we weren’t able to give people the chances they wanted, and now it’s quickly come full circle.
My point is that many other members meetings have been for members only - I've been to some.
NONE of them were completely confidential and the only time there was no information leaking out of them was when that meeting had nothing to talk about. I just asked if this one was like that
How can that not have been clear as well?

LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Brooks and delange and two young ones in, van de merwe out and Bartlett in. Although perhaps not in the next game but JH has become very iffy these days.
The bowling of all the Notts seamers was outstanding. The easiest balls to pull for 4 nor 6 are just short of a length - can you remember more than a handful in our two innings? I'm afraid our three main seamers fed them to Notts all the time - and I'm afraid the skipper was afraid to use the alternatives - Van de merwe and Goldsworthy - in a total of 448??
Old Boy!
We may need to use the rest of this competition to blood new players because they can't do any worse than this - presently you don't have to be phenomenally good to beat us you just have to do your job consistently and wait for us to give you the game.
Craig is a great loss to us - but people on here were identifying that as an issue for these games in early July. Azhar should offer more fibre with the bat but we have to get 20 wickets so it's down to you 'Sarge' to work out how we do that given our present resources because even if the batting line-up performs better I can't see that 2 innings harvest coming at the moment I'm afraid.
But the game is still on - off to Scarborough

LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
The Somerset bowlers have been carrying the Somerset batsmen for the past 4 years or so. Both by often being excellent as a bowling unit and by cleaning up the batsmen’s messes with the bat!
The bowling group, shorn of Craig and Lewis Gregory and with Brooks seemingly on his last (playing) legs no longer seems capable of bailing the batsmen out… and that, I’m afraid is going to end up shining a rather uncomfortable light on a batting group that have made very little progress and are too often lightweight and ineffective. When the bowling group was so effective, we could get away with not really addressing the persistent batting failures, but now…
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:18:19:00 by Grockle.
[stats.espncricinfo.com]
You want your bowlers at the bottom of your batting averages, not the batsmen!
And most of our home games this year have been played on flat pitches and yet STILL our abject batsmen (most of them) can’t get the job done.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:17:51:56 by AGod.
Lancs have one guy at the bottom (Livingstone for whom white ball has gone to his head, probably) and Hants have one guy (Weatherley) but nobody has FIVE of their batsmen at the bottom!! Useless!!
We miss Craig’s energy, enthusiasm and passion but we can’t simply rely on him & Josh alone, so someone else has to step up. Jack B is keen and eager, but it’s tough to see him putting the wind up many batting line ups these days.
More generally, I think we have to be honest and say that we have likely over achieved in the Championship this season. We’ve got out of jail a number of times, so perhaps shouldn’t be surprised that our inconsistencies caught up with us big time in this match.
I just can’t get the Hants game out of my mind either. Having done superbly to get ourselves into a really strong position, we simply batted on & on to take the easy option of a draw, ostensibly on the basis that we would gain more points to carry forward to the second stage. As it turns out we did, but firstly that could have gone badly wrong if other results hadn’t gone in our favour and secondly (& more importantly), we mIssed a golden opportunity to put down a marker and go all out to win, thereby sending a firm message of belief and positivity.
Until we develop and cement in that mindset, I fear we will still continue to wait for the Championship title we all crave.
Grizzers
Grizzly is right that we got out of jail in the first stage. We didn’t play to our best in any of the first three games but, because two of them were against woeful Middx, we got away with it 2/3 times, the other game being a massive home defeat by Gloucs.
That home win over Middx is, I think, our only home red ball win of the season?
Failure from our batting group has been tolerated for far too long and Andy Hurry and Jason Kerr need to do something about it for the 2022 season.
So the only way to get TWO is not have MdL

No chance of the one overseas space available fixing all that ails us on its own, but it would certainly help to get it right.
If we have the money, we must recruit well from domestic sources.
If we don’t have the money? Well then we’re probably set for some lean years unless and until our current young group of pacemen really emerge at CC level.
Such comments imply, to me, a defeatist attitude along the lines of ‘once Notts had made 440 we expected to lose.’
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:20:29:08 by nelliec.
We need to do some top quality scouting and find the odd under the radar gem, if at all possible. Identify the odd under rated player who may not be properly appreciated by their current employer.
We may be late to the party, though. We possibly could have taken the opportunity to take advantage of Middlesex’s problems but I think all their out of contract guys have either already been snapped up by other counties, or re-signed now.
Of course, it’s also the case that, sometimes, players move regardless of whether or not they are out of contract.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Tom Abell at 3 a cert.
Lewis Goldsworthy. Maybe at 4
Steve Davis at 6 for me
Ben Green at 7 deserves a chance to fill Gregorys boots
Davey at 9 is a must
So Ive got only 7 names who deserve to start at Yorkshire.
4 spaces to fill . Any thoughts
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
There are experienced players who have lost form but not class. There are inexperienced players who won't get experience without playing and there are a couple carrying injuries who need time but may not be the players they were
I'm not sure which team mates involved in this squad are defined as 'not going anywhere'. Most of the people presently involved in this squad are expected by the club to be significant players for the county aren't they? They are expected to progress.
The basis of our side is here we need to organise it under one of the best county captains about and we need to analyse how it becomes a unit that is hsrd to beat and where its weaknesses are. We've done it before and will do it again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:22:02:38 by Grockle.
You don't save matches like that. You have to look for singles to disorientate the bowler just a little bit, or else you simply end up with Paterson being able to do what he eventually did.
But they all can't hide behind 'lacking first team experience' now can they?

That would do nothing to alter the fact that our pace attack seems unlikely to pick up 20 wickets at reasonable cost but management will desperately hope that adding a seventh batsman will add up to more runs. In fact, despite his double failure in this one, VDM is averaging 36 for the season and, as a strong back foot player, may be well suited to the North Marine Road trampoline. So management will have to hope AZ does a lot better than the 24 per innings he produced last time he was here, otherwise the lone change (if that’s it) will produce no benefit at all.
Personally, I think I’d go with:
Davies
Azhar Ali
Abell
Hildreth
Goldsworthy
Bartlett
Green
Davey
Aldridge
Leach
MDL
I would be lying if I said that I had any great confidence that this XI will do significantly better than the XI we had out for the Notts game. But you need height and bounce at North Marine Road, so we can’t go with Brooks. Banton has zero form so selecting him doesn’t make sense. Since we’ve bought Azhar Ali, he will have to play. Bartlett has a recent red ball ton in the seconds and white ball ton in the Royal London, so he should be able to bring some confidence in. I think Green - having played very well at the Oval - deserves a chance and is more of a direct replacement for Gregory than is VDM. At the Oval Green showed good ability to “bowl dry,” something which was lacking in the poor bowling performance Vs Notts.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:22:39:02 by AGod.
21 matches. Average 24. Zero tons.
In truth, of all the young batsmen who have come into the team over the previous 5 years or so, only Tom Abell has actually developed as might have been hoped. And even Tom hasn’t made anything like the volume of tons one would hope for - only 8 in 90 matches (the best players are reckoned to get 1 in 5 and Tom has converted only 8 of 36 50s.)
All of the rest average less than 30. And it’s not as though they started with a super low average and have been steadily getting better.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:01:23:17:01 by AGod.
Goldsworthy Is the one who, to me, has the soundest technique. He looks compact and well organised and has no glaring technical flaws.
Obviously technique isn’t everything and some players enjoy great success despite unorthodox or apparently flawed techniques.
But, after a while, if a player isn’t moving forward, then it’s worth looking at technique, IMO.
Does he need to improve in this area.
Quote:Owain Glyndwr
Not a good few days. but we're a very good side. We'll bounce back quickly enough, no point in dwelling on things.
It would be interesting to look back on the euphoric comments after the win over Lancashire last week. I am inclined to agree with OG, Lol, and Grockle that things are not as bad as they seem (they rarely are). I’m probably a bit more dispassionate than most people on here but nonetheless, I am sick to the stomach at this performance. I think there are plenty of promising cricketers there; I don’t know them as well as all of you do. I don’t think it has been easy for any young batsmen to develop their game the last two years with Covid and all the pub cricket ( 100 , 2020 , players abroad under flags of convenience).
Look at the variance in results in the last two England V India test matches. It just seems to be the modern way of things that things fluctuate from one extreme to another both in performance and people’s reaction . We are all vulnerable to it. I’ve had a rant on the Lancashire forum today that I just wish Livingston would p... off back to pub cricket for good and he is the most talented bat I’ve ever seen ; leagues ahead of Atherton,Hameed, John Crawley, Frank Hayes. I hope he does come back to play in Test cricket but I’ve no expectation anymore.
Anyway, I am digressing on Lancs. I have faith that Tom Abel will be able to rally the troops. There’s plenty of evidence of good team spirit there.
Tom Abell has, arguably, been somewhat fortunate in that his ascension to the top job coincided with the development of a really strong bowling group, so that he’s had a strong attack at his disposal over the previous 4-5 years.
Regrettably, it appears that we are about to enter a period where we have a rather less strong attack at our disposal. So his captaincy skills will get a greater test, in terms of tactics and so forth.
It is likely that some of the wintering abroad "placements," that may usually be arranged for our young players will have been disrupted such that, instead of playing Grade Cricket Down Under, they may have been stuck with nets in Taunton instead, which are surely likely to be less beneficial.
An additional issue, frankly, may be that we have lots of young players in the team all at the same time and that, over the past several years, more senior batsmen haven't necessarily carried the load as they might have done.
We hung on to Marcus for rather too long... and he had an extended not very good trot in his last few years.
James Hildreth is now in his third straight underwhelming season.
And we brought Azhar Ali in two years ago, and he averaged the same sort of number - 24 - that James Hildreth has been stuck on for the past few years.
But if too many young batsmen all being in the team at the same time is a problem, then leaving out the more experienced men, on the grounds that they're not really performing, is not an obvious solution to said problem!!
Do we have a batting coach at the moment - is it that role that Jim Troughton was hired to fill when Marcus left?
I guess we have to hope that, by the law of averages, given that we have so many young batsmen, some of them will really kick on and develop in the not too distant future.
All of these guys, by definition, were once deemed to have the potential to "make it," in first-class cricket. And that judgement would have been made, in most cases, only 3-4 years ago.
Okay, in many cases the more recent judgement of the coaches at the other sides' academies (that they are no longer deemed to have such potential) is/was probably correct.
BUT...... mistakes do get made by talent evaluators. And, sometimes, maybe a player hasn't made it because they haven't, quite, worked hard enough but maybe with a second and (probably) final chance, the light might go on? And then guys do develop at different rates... maybe there are one or two who really do have the ability to eventually play first-class cricket but they just developed a bit more slowly than their peers in their academy.
Maybe this is the sort of thing Steve already gets asked to do, I don't know but, if not, such is our need for bodies, that it has to be worth a crack. And, yeah, I know that, ideally, we'd be getting in a couple of experienced bowlers, but if they are not available then we still have to add some bodies .
There is that South African guy, whose name escapes me, who played a number of games in the seconds this season and looked presentable. I thought we might sign him on a short-term deal, if he is eligible to play county cricket. I think the name began with a 'k'? Perhaps he might still come into the reckoning?
Certainly, I hope this season will have disabused Andy Hurry of the notion (if, indeed he held it) that having only four main seamers not under England control is sufficient to get us through a season.
So I'd like to see some team selection with an eye on next season. Get Ben Green into the team and bowling regularly because it seems likely, to me, that he will need to do so next season as Josh Davey is really the only senior man whose fitness is at all reliable - De Lange had a terrible fitness record at Glamorgan - yes, we've got him through this season, but will be so lucky next season? I doubt it. Lewis's back has been a long-term problem. And then there's Jack Brooks - if he signs his new deal.
In addition to getting Green into the team for the final three games?
Give each of Aldridge, Leonard and Baker a game. Start with Aldridge at Scarborough where the pitch should suit him and then give Sonny and Ned a first-class debut each in the final two games. We are likely to need these guys next season!!
I disagree about Bartlett, he has shown resilience but maybe has to learn consistency not easy when you don't have a stable place in the side and keep being asked to fulfil different roles (sort of Catch 22 that).
I don't think Banton knows what he is yet. I think most would say he isn't a red ball opener and maybe if he stays he will become that batsman keeper who comes in at 5/6 and smokes the white ball.
There is a difference between progression and perceived potential. Only the exceptional progress to their potential. Others get somewhere towards it and 2 of those 3 are doing that, albeit in one step forward one back mode at the moment. Expecting them to simply go from newbie to consummate reliable professional and then criticising them for not doing is a bit unrealistic. At 25 you may have a point perhaps.
There are Smeeds and Thomas' to come who may move better who knows

But the worst thing is not just that Hildreth is down there but that 5 of the 6 or 7 worst averages are specialist batsmen. As I recall, only Brooks is down there, of the bowlers!
A) As our bowling resources drop away, so opponents will start making bigger totals more often.
Ergo…
Our batsmen will be under scoreboard pressure more often. This seems unlikely to help our struggling batting group.
And..
C) As we necessarily start to introduce the Bakers and Leonards, we may find that the bowling group are no longer able to bail out our batsmen with the same frequency, by getting loads of late order runs.
There’s no doubt, in my mind, that had we been equipped with just an average bowling attack over the past 4-5 years, we would have been relegated to CC2. Or, to put it another way, we have only a CC2 calibre group of batsmen, IMO.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:13:48:04 by AGod.
Youngster backs up first-innings 39 with 41* in match-winning stand with Steve Davies
[www.espncricinfo.com]

Banton 10.66
Lammonby 19.33
Abell 60.2
Hildreth 23.5
Bartlett 40.2
Davies 38.6
Collective average? 32.08 Vs CC2 teams. Or about 192 for 6 to put it another way.
It doesn’t exactly confound suggestions that this is a CC2 calibre batting group, overall, does it? I mean a CC1 calibre group should expect to dominate CC2 level teams, all things being equal.
It is, however, a slightly better average than the collective average of 29.5 recorded by those same six individuals for the season as a whole, though. Or about 177 for six, to put it another way.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:17:45:24 by AGod.
[i][/i]Eh? They collectively scored 461/9 dec in a one-innings draw against Leics, and collectively delivered a 4-wicket victory against Middx.
If the lads were so weak against these CC2 outfits, how come our lot are in Div. 1 while theirs are now going through the motions in Division 3?
Abell, Bartlett, Goldsworthy all did the necessary against the CC2 teams, but found life harder against Notts in Div. 1. They're not failures. They've done enough to prove they're better than CC2 level. We aren't going to find any better by recruiting from anywhere else.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:17:45:51 by That Bloke With The Dog.
If they can be that bad and we can be here, just imagine the other option to 'we're all going to die'
What if they get better? 😀🤤🤪👍👍👍

Even if they had proven themselves “better than CC2 level, “ our problem would still be that that haven’t, collectively, shown themselves to be capable of achieving any consistency in CC1… that being a problem since, if we revert to two divisions for next season, we shall be in CC1.
Other recent encounters with CC2 sides?
Worcs (away) last season, top six scores: 8, 28, 59, 18, 30, 9, 0, 107*, 7, 2, 12 and 14 Average = 26.72
Glamorgan (home) last season, top six scores: 22, 41, 3, 16, 23, 81*, 27, 8, 119, 45 and 18 Average 36.63
If you average those 2 games, you get an average of about 32, which was exactly the same
as that recorded in four games Vs CC2 opposition this season.
Só, in a sample size of 6 games Vs CC2 opposition in recent times (the only six games that we’ve played Vs CC2 teams since 2007) the top six average 32.
How does averaging 32 Vs CC2 teams show that the top six is “better than CC2 standard”?
Yes, we won the games, but that’s because our bowlers generally blew people away, with opponent totals in these games including 131, 166, 200, 184, 144, 233, 199 and 117. There were two decent scores, both of 330 odd, both by Middx but in separate matches and they made naff all in the other innings in those two matches.
So, our team, when having a full-strength attack proved itself clearly better than CC2 standard. But, if our bowling gets weaker (and it already is with Jack Brooks as a new ball bowler!) there’s no evidence that this batting group is capable of picking up the slack.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:19:08:18 by AGod.
What happens if they stay the same? Trouble unless we can get our bowling attack back in tip-top shape, since the bowlers have been carrying the batting group for years.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2021:09:02:20:47:32 by AGod.
You can give us all the doom prophecies you like AG but as we constantly tell you though you never seem to get it.......
All this posting is prophecy and speculation NOTHING more than that. You constantly post as if your 'analysis' is the only option and is as near to fact as is possible because you quote some number or make some attempt at 'fly on the wall' psychoanalysis babble
No matter how many posts you make, no matter how many times you tell us about Brooks (I'm counting 3 at the moment) or whoever no matter how many averages and stats you quote.
It is simply opinion and prophecy.
The only thing it allows you to do sometime in the future.... possibly is say
'I told you so'
Whooppeedo
The rest of us will see how next week goes and assess after that as we move to the Lancashire game after Scarborough. What happens at the end of 2022's seasom is presently irrelevant in the grand scheme I'm afraid

What is a fact, rather than merely an opinion, is that we have fewer options with much red ball experience as bowlers than we have had for some time. Same is the inevitable consequence of five out and only one in over the past couple of years. What's also factual is that, sadly, MDL hasn't provided much red ball cutting edge and Brooks isn't providing any this season.
It's also a fact that Abell, Davies and Hildreth are our only players with a career batting average of more than 30, but that Hildreth has averaged comfortably below 30 in recent times (this year and the two before it).
Unless players suddenly improve dramatically, we can, therefore, say that it's very unlikely that we will win games of red ball cricket with bowlers with bad (De Lange) or awful (Brooks) strike rates allied to a top six that tends to struggle, collectively.
Now, Scarborough is very, very likely to be a result wicket, so probably De Lange and Brooks won't have strike rates as bad as 80 and 118, respectively, in this fixture but then one fears for our top six on a result wicket. North Marine Road has been a happy hunting ground for us, much as games vs Notts have generally proven really fruitful, but..
Loan first then probably permanent from 2022

Had 5 years here. That’s the right time-frame, I’d suggest.
After 5 years, all of the young intake should either be a proven force or, at a minimum making clear progress towards that aim… otherwise it’s time for chances to be handed to other youngsters and/or if needed to recruit from without to fill gaps.

Wish Eddie all the best.
Grizzers
[farmerwhite.co.uk]
Farmer
In terms of movement off the pitch, I think it did a bit more on day one than on subsequent days so I suspect that, had we batted first, The outcome would have been the same…. Or worse.
