Questions answered!

Making progress
By Jeremy Horne
June 13 2005

The Banquenting suite was the venue for the latest of Middlesex's forums as the fans seeked to find out the answers to some of the burning issues currently surrounding the club, with a particular focus on some of our poor one day losses.

The forum was opened before coach John Emburey had even arrived, with Chris Lowe inviting Ben Hutton to say a few words on the season so far. The inevitable question of Sunday's performance against Essex then arose, with Hutton expressing his disappointment umpires, who were not keeping him informed of the time remaining. However, he did not use this as an excuse for the defeat, which was one of the most disappointing in a long time.

Hutton was pressed long and hard on the issue and it was only Emburey's arrival that would hopefully change the direction of questioning, which it succeeded in doing ever so slightly as fans began to enquire on the C&G defeat against Northampton. Emburey described both this game and the above Essex defeat as "Cock-ups", but surprisingly put both defeats down to one factor- the mid-innings scoring rate. He said that he was in the process of discussing this with the players in question, with a view to improving the amount of runs that we score between the 16th and 30th overs.

The subject of scoring rate brought us nicely onto the approching Twenty20 competition, in which Middlesex will field not only a slighly different team, but also a vastly different batting line up. Emburey expressed that he wants to ensure that the strokemakers get their chance to bat for long periods in these games, a feat that we will hopefully acheive by placing Dalrymple, Shah and Styris at the top of the order. This would mean that Weekes and Smith may well bat as low as 8 and 9, which Emburey felt would benefit both players by giving them the opportunity to play a different form of game. He also announced that Chad Keegan may well make a comeback during the competition and may well also bat higher up. The general format of the team for the trophy will also differ somewhat, with more all-rounders and bowlers that can bat in the line up, allowing some of our hardworking fast bowlers like Betts and Richardson to take a break. Hutton did also clearly state that we would be taking the competition seriously.

Keegan's progress that should see him play in the short matches does still come with caution and we will not be overworking him as he aims to make a return to fitness. It is highly likely that he will not play in the championship until the final few games of the season, where he will be bowled in shorter spells. For the time being, the main objective his to play him in some limited overs matches as soon as he is ready to return. With a view to other injuries, Hayward's operation went OK and he is likely to resume bowling again at the end of the month. Betts picked up an ankle injury against Essex on Sunday, and although it is not that serious, we did not want to risk him against Surrey. Paul Hutchison made a comeback in a club match over the weekend, but was unfortunately yorked on his big toe, which is subsequently broken!David Nash has also experienced injury recently, but should be match fit soon.

With Betts injured, most of you will have noticed Chris Wright taking his place against Surrey. Big things are hoped not only of him, but also of the rest of the youngsters (Finn, Godelman, Poynter and Whelan) that were involved at Cambridge last week

Another burning issue was the ongoing problem of our lack of top quality spin bowler. One gentleman asked why Peploe wasn't brought on to bowl earlier in the Cambridge game as this may be hindering his development. Emburey agreed that until we are able to get a top class spinner, it would be difficult (but not impossible) to challenge for the county championship title

With top quality being on the tounge, overseas players was the next point of discussion. With reference to the one day games, Scott Styris had previously said to Emburey that he is a good strokepleyer, but he needs his time to adapt to the pitch and must therefore bat higher. This request is highly likely to be granted in most of the future matches. Looking more at the long term, Hayward and Styris will not be available come the end of the season, but replacements have been arranged. Irfan Pathan will return for a second stint at the club, following his impressive start in is so-far short Middlesex career. He will be joined by Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark, who returns after a very brief and somewhat promising spell towards the end of last season. It was also hoped that Styris would return next season.