The Bristol Derby - better or more of the same?
By Grockle et al
August 7 2022
After a monumental defeat in the first game of the 2022 Royal London at home against Notts, Somerset do something they haven't done for a number of years and go to Bristol to play the local rivals in the third format in a season. After the CC massacre and a decent T20 win can they do the triple against Gloucestershire?
There were few excuses that could be made for the destruction that Notts dealt out at Taunton on Thursday last. Somerset were put in on a pitch they should have known and started with a team assessed as 'strong' despite the loss of 9 star names to the 'franchise' competition. In fact they fielded no new young debutants in the first one day side. All had experienced first team cricket before and up to 5 of this side would have been expected to at least have a shout at playing in a full squad 50 over if all players were available
Unfortunately, when you then slump to 17 for 5 in the powerplay overs the game has really gone from you.. The only targets are to get past the worst ever List A score which was against Essex in 1977. That happened without any more losses in the 19th but not long after Skipper Ben Green was bowled by Liam Patterson-White and we were not sure the next target would be reached. Somerset's lowest List A score against Notts was 119 at Trent Bridge in 2013.... people on commentary remember that one and it looked a long way off.
It looked even further away when Kasey Aldridge shimmied up the pitch, missed the shot and was stumped in the 25th over at 82 for 7. What the hell were people doing. 6 wickets down with half the overs remaining and players are going up the wicket to make shots!! Brainless and that left the tail to do something with James Rew being the glue in that equation. Lots of responsibility on the 18 year old. Because of his sensible batting we brought up the 100 but at 104 he mistimes one 2 short of his 50 and we faced the last 20 overs on 106 for 8 and it didn't get better with Brooks going at 119 and Sonny Baker unable to add a run before he was bowled. Equal lowest score against Notts and just over 5 overs left.... not impressive at all.
It didn't get better as Brooks and Siddle leaked runs from the start with 27 coming off the first 3. The book was on the Outlaws finishing this in 20 overs Slater and Budinger had other plans and they did it in 12!! The game was over by 3 and we had been stuffed by 10 wickets with 38 overs to spare!!
And so we go to Bristol working for something better.
The side is different in the sense that Sonny Baker looked a little 'rusty' in the first game and therefore is replaced with veteran spinner Max Waller but otherwise the side is the same;
Davies, Renshaw, Bartlett, Hildreth, Goldsworthy, Rew, Green, Aldridge, Siddle, Brooks, Waller
In front of a disappointing Sunday crowd Davies and Renshaw come out looking to do better against Gohar from the flats and Goodman from the Pavilion and they manage to move a little faster with 28 off the first 5 overs.
The opening pair push it to 50 just before the 10 over mark but just after on 57 Renshaw goes caught behind off Warner and the Glos men are pumped up because there have been a couple of shouts not given by the umpire and they were up for that first wicket. 57 for 1 and out comes Lewis Goldsworthy in what looks like an effort by the visitors to stablise their top three with a batsman they have a little more faith in. He came in at 3 against Notts as well. Have to hope he last longer than he did there!
It is good to see Paul van Meekeren fit and bowling for the home side as well - he missed our CC game playing for Glos seconds coming back from and injury but has had a decent season besides that. Hope he doesn't have a good day today however.
On comes the 'dodgy' Jack Taylor bowling a different kind of spin to the type that used to be questionable. Steve Davies provides him with an equally questionable shot into the midriff of Ollie Price and we are 72 for 2 in the 16th. The Smith at the other end get in on the act as he bowls James Hildreth for 1 at the start of the 17th and out comes George Bartlett after the return to the concept of using the 'experienced' batsmen has failed to provide anything once again. After hitting 50s in the warm up games and seeming to flatter to decieve, neither Davies or Hildreth have provided any weight at all to the first two games of this campaign.
Gloucestershire spin starts to turn the screws from both ends and to compound the issue a mix up sees George Bartlett run out for 4 at 90 after being called for a sharp single and then sent back. A few choice glances and probably words are exchanged as he trudges off but there is a need for the usual two in Somerset games; Goldsworthy and Rew to reset this innings or its almost done before the turnaround. 20 overs gone and we are nearly halfway through the batting line-up. A 10 over spell which resulted in 34 for 4. The tail (which is long) may have to 'wag' quite hard to put this total over 200!!
The pain continues with a kind of legside' strangle' of Rew for 4 off Taylor and we are still 2 short of 100. Out comes Green to try and put something together with Goldsworthy who must be hoping to stay out there until George calms down after calling him and then not going. Up comes hundred in the 23rd.
When in this situation one has to reassess the position and Ben Green as skipper is in the ideal position to do work through this. So when he smacks a straight ball to the mid on fielder for no apparent reason and we are 6 down for 111 you look up to the sky and wonder what is going through the head of these guys with bats in their hands. We are troughly where we were on Thursday but at least at home the ball was moving about, this one is just very slow and we are getting ourselves out.
It gets worse when Aldridge is bamboozled by what seems to be a straight one and is bowled by by Zafar for 1. 112 for 7 in the 28th and we are looking to come up very short for the second game running. A 200 score looks a very long way away as Siddle comes out. As we tend to say at this point Peter and Jack Brooksboth have first class tons and Max has a second eleven double hundred but getting past 150 would be a real achievement this afternoon!!
Lewis takes us past 150 wsith an 81 ball half century with only ONE boundary... but at least he is doing his job of getting his county to the end of the allotted overs. With 10 to go we are at 161 with his 50 being supplemented by Siddle's 20 and a partnership of 49.
But it can't last and although the Aussie hits a straight six into the flats, he is bowled for 29 trying to flip one over the keeper by Taylor. In comes Max before Brooksey (probably to try and help support Goldsworthy to the close) this is his first 50 over game since Chelmsford in 2018. It will be interesting to see how he bowls. In that game he bowled 2 overs for 21!!
Lewis takes us into the last 10 and is aware of the need to push it along but the moment he tries anything expansive it does for him and Taylor gets his 4th as he bowls him with just under 5 overs to go at 190
So we have the last two at the crease and the possiblity of 200 if Jack can holds himself in and if Max can support him for up to 28 balls. They reach 196 with 3 overs to go and van Meekeren is called back on from the Pavilion Max takes a single from the firsts but the single Jack takes from the second was never on and he is still there only because they missed the stumps but a run is a run.
We reach 199 before the 'Meerkat' tries a bouncer which Jack can't resist and his pull goes into Bracey's gloves and we fall a run short. Gloucestershire need 200 to take this one. BIG ask for the Somerset bowlers.
Somerset don't go to the 'experience' pool straight away as Kasey Aldridge opens the attack from the Flats end of the ground to Dent and Wells - a couple of wides in his first over but a creditable 5 is OK. Jack Brooks is on at the Pavilion and this usually setys out the stall of the game - if he gors for lots the small score games are a struggle. However, he is focussed and on the line and he only concedes 3 runs in his first. The Aldridge gets Dent caught behind in his second over and Brooks bowls Wells with the score on 24 and we have a game on as Bracey and Harris look to settle down the early innings jitters and get the 'Bristolians' reply on a more even keel.
By the 10th over Peter Siddle has joined the attack going for 7 off his first and the home side are at 44 by then. The 50 comes up in the 11th and the Australian is getting some stick from Harris and then Bracey but after he has gone for another 11 off 5 balls he produces a slow yorker to Bracey and makes an absolute mess of his stumps. 55 for 3.
Ben Green takes over after a very good spell by Brooks at the Pavilion for the 12th and with Lewis being the first to come on with slow stuff for the 15th it seems to be time for the Somerset press at 62 for 3. He keeps the pressure on and that forces Price to try and go BIG off Glodsworthy and he doesn't put enough on one to the square boundary and is caught by aldridge diving forwards 69 for 4 after 17 overs.
Taylor is not willing to be 'pressed' as he takes on LG in the 19th taking him for 8 with a large six to the area around the floodlights but Green continues to have faith in his own bowling and that of the smaller player and he continues having only gone for 9 himself. Somerset have to keep the pressure on as Glos will be looking to get to 3 figures before the halfway point as a target. As always when defending small scores, you cannot afford to allow partnerships to develop, you have to keep taking wickets.
The press continues as Renshaw replaces Goldsworthy at the Flats and at the same time Siddle changes ends and comes in from the Pavilion. He thinks he has Taylor snicking behind but the umpire disagrees and give the Glos skipper another life at 90 for 4and after 24 overs the score has only moved to 94. The problem is that there is no real time pressure on the home side so if the visitors want to win this they have to break this couple up and get into the tail
Harris ominously takes Glos to 3 figures halfway through the 25th over off Renshaw and although the bolwers are keeping a grip on the scoring they are not removing the Aussie and there are 25 overs left to score a mere 100 so there is no room for complacency. They need Harris out of the way before he gets much further than the 41 he already has.
By the 29th it is all becoming a little easy as Max Waller is tried at the Flats end. Brooks returns at the pavilion as Harris moves to 50 in the 31st. It's 128 for 4 and the game is now with Glos. There seems to be nothing in the pitch and they will now simply move to score the runs... 70 odd and they'll get them before we reach 50 overs though they may have to push on after 45 overs if they don't get as move on. But they WILL score the required runs. Ben Warren reckoned we were 50 short and that is pretty much the right level of gap. We didn't do this accumulating runs in the middle of the innings. We were looser and distinctly less clever in getting our total up over 200.
Somerset try and vary the attack with Aldridge coming back from the Flats end for the 33rd and the skipper himself returning at the Pavilion for the 34th. Harris simply straight drvies Green first ball and the score moves into the 140s. Very little is changing here I am afraid.
And just when you think (like me) that it's over, Kasey Aldridge gets Marcus Harris to flash at one and Gloucestershire are 144 for 5 as he is caught by Goldsworthy front of the pavilion. Is it too late for a late push by the visitors?
The 150 arrives in the 37th with Gohar on 2 and the now target of the Somerset bowlers Taylor is on 38. Unfortunately it is Gohar who is dropped by Renshaw at first slip off Green from the pavilion at 159 in the 38th over. But you just can't stop and Peter Siddle is brought back on from the Flats for the 39th as Glos start to move towards the final section of the game. By the end of that over they are 167 for 5 only 33 from victory with too many wickets in hand to be all that hopeful that there is going to be some change in the possible positions of the sides at the end of the game.
Green commendably plays the captain's role of bowling himself and taking responsibility but Taylor moves to an inevitable 50 with a massive six into the Pavilion area as his side moves to 180 and with 8 overs left Glos need 18 to complete this pretty simple but mightily tedious victory.
Matt Renshaw returns at the Flats end and Taylor treats him with no more respect than the other Aussie smacking him to the corner of the flats for four and moving into the 190s. "Time to go home" he seems to be thinking as he does it again leaving one run required and he finishes the game with a six. Job done.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:08:22:26:07 by Grockle.
Paul Tweddle has included Jack Harding and Alfie Ogborne in the squad and James Rew is named despite his England Lions call up. Otherwise it seems to be the same players as the first match.
The Squad is Ben Green (c), Kasey Aldridge, Sonny Baker, George Bartlett, Jack Brooks, Steve Davies, Lewis Goldsworthy, Jack Harding, James Hildreth, Alfie Ogborne, Matt Renshaw, James Rew, Peter Siddle, Andrew Umeed and Max Waller.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:06:18:28:08 by Grockle.
Davies, Renshaw, Bartlett, Hildreth, Goldsworth, Rew, Green, Aldridge, Siddle, Brooks, Waller
No Sonny Baker it seem - he did look a little rusty on Thursday to be fair so it might be a little too early for first team stuff
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:10:19:50 by Grockle.
van Meerkeren is playing for them
VERY quiet crowd at the moment fewer than a thousand presently with 20 minutes to go... think 12000 might be a bit optimistic.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:10:39:11 by Grockle.
Looks like Renshaw went quite well, but that it's otherwise been something of a struggle again?
We really can't be even thinking about giving Hildreth another new deal.
I saw a footie game, yesterday, when the camera was at manager bench level ..... it looks like we have the opposite extreme here, with the camera way up somewhere?
"THe only draw of Somerset's championship season was at Southport."
Really?
I could have swown I watched two others after that..
We are into the bowling people and we will see something not seen all that often... Max Waller will come out to bat in this one unless something miraculous happens.
I’ve never thought that making flat tracks is very helpful because.. the moment you then get on something with life? Trouble.
Could 3 CC roads in a row (2 of them away from HQ) have played a part in back-to-back dismal white ball batting efforts that have followed on less mill-pond like tracks for these white ball games?
Out pitch the other day had plenty of pace and bounce and a fair amount of seam movement. This Bristol track looks like it has some turn in it (but not at deathly slow pace seen for the CC at Chelmsford, so hence it causes a bit of danger).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:12:48:31 by AGod.
Because we may have to ask him to come back and pay him compensation for a missed holiday!!
That is also where the non BBC commentary team are based. They are closer to being behind the arm than Anthony et al as they are at the right hand end of the pavilion on the 3rd floor if you are looking at it from the other end.
No idea where the pavilion camera is located I'm afraid
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:13:11:37 by Grockle.
Goldsworthy tries something expansive and off he goes. 190 for 9 with 28 balls to go and in comes Jack... this won't be long one imagines.
Get the impression that the dryness of the surface is helping it both turn and grip for some of the balls from the seamers.
Goldsworthy’s individual score starting to look very good.
In white ball terms we have become pretty much entirely dependent upon VDM for quality in slow bowling.
If management want to go one better in T20 next year? (Sorry, two better!) :
There’s little doubt, in my mind, that they need to find a decent second spin option from somewhere… the overseas slot is probably the most obvious place to look.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:17:10:25 by AGod.
Hard lines to Brooks, Goldsworthy and Greener.
Most of the rest found wanting - to varying degrees - once again.
Andrew has almost certainly been signed to try to bring some solidify to the top end of the CC side, so I guess maybe they don’t want him playing a format that involves attacking as they want him focusing on being as solid as possible?
When will the substantial figure of George Thomas be back on the park?
To be honest, I’d sooner play a couple of trialists in this than Hildreth and Davies . Neither man has form. Neither man has much of a future here. I can’t imagine it’s super easy for either guy to motivate themselves for this kind of near Second XI standard competition, with Steve having been an ODI international and James one of the better batsmen on the domestic circuit when in their prime.
Do you really think we have only one problem?
Last I checked, how many runs you need in any given innings depends, in part, on how good your own bowling is.
Is the top order batting good? No, of course not.
Is it the only problem? Also no.
P.s I suspect we might find that, for financial reasons, the counties opt to play the 50 over in July next year, and play a couple of rounds of the CC when the Blundred is on. If that’s the case? The performance of this year’s 50 over top five will be meaningless in respect of next year. But relying almost entirely on VDM for slow bowling will prove a relevant shortcoming not only in T20, but also in the 50 over.
P.p.s If the CC is cut to ten games then maybe the 50 over will be July and then the Blundred will have August all to itself, as there’d be no need to switch this year’s July CC games to August.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022:08:07:17:26:23 by AGod.