Hampshire at home CB40

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:28:18:46:14 by Grockle.

Sunday's game does not seem to have the honour of being on the BBC radio commentary timetable so there will be home ball by ball from Eric Cole and Simon White in the media centre.

After the performance during the Durham game it's prbably a good thing that they let the boys who know what they are talking about do the job :-)

Maybe Vic should change allegancies (TiC) - though he'll be at the test I would imagine.

Looking forward to getting down to Taunton for first time since Middlesex. I envisage sunglasses, hat and plenty of Thatachers and a Somerset victory will be the order of the day.

Sunday's can't get any better can they?

VJM will be at Taunton on Sunday, for the Test Match will be over by then.

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

Yes.

Quote:

Loyal of Lhasa.
VJM will be at Taunton on Sunday, for the Test Match will be over by then.

I think not!!

I am very glad that my prediction is turning out to be wrong and am particularly enjoying the SAMurai fightback.

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

Mr Strauss has just been told by the umpire to calm Mr Anderson down after he just suggested quite openly on a full face camera that Mr Sammy had many similarities with a copulating feline

GAME ON

Some rain is forecast for Somerset for Sunday

Hampshire name just one addition to the squad for Sunday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Somerset at Taunton.

Dimitri Mascarenhas comes into the 13 having had the best part of a week to acclimatise following his return from the Indian Premier League.

Simon Katich
Jimmy Adams*
Sean Ervine
Liam Dawson
James Vince
Michael Carberry
Michael Bates +
Dimitri Mascarenhas
David Griffiths
Danny Briggs
Chris Wood
Kabir Ali
Hamza Riazuddin

Tomorrow at 11am the annual church service takes place on Gimlett's Hill or in the Long Room, if wet!

Sod's law, after sweltering in my office at 29.5 degrees all week, if it rains tomorrow!

Still with our kitchen catching fire last night, we're happy to be safe and well, so what's a bit of rain!

Sorry to hear about the fire in your kitchen last night, Botham.

Glad to hear that you are all safe and well, and I hope that there is not too much damage.

I may see you tomorrow.

Gemaal Hussain is in the Somerset squad for tomorrow.

Well he hasn't covered himself in glory in one day games he has played up to now so it probably isn't his best format unless he has tightened up his technique and worked on it during the winter.

Agreed, Grockle.

The full squad:-

Kieswetter, Compton, Trego, Hildreth, Buttler, Meschede, Barrow, Suppiah, C Overton, Waller, Dockrell, Hussain.

Alf is "rested" after his stint in the IPL.

Surely he will be 12th man! I just can't believe they will not pick MAX!

I think the one to be left out will be barrow or meschede OB. And that will come down to whether meschede is fit or not. Hussain playing no doubt to give him a run. Fact alf is not there shows me how this competition is being treated . He's hardly played do it can't be from too much cricket!

I agree with you, Grockle.

However with the club not exactly hot favourites for the Pro 40, I would play Hussain and have him bowl 8 overs off the reel... It would at least give him the chance to demonstrate fitness.

I tend to disagree with your assessment of our chances in this - we've shown strongly in the past and I would have expected Alf to be wheeled out for this simply because he has had little bowling and it isn't Kirby's best forte either when he returns.

Our other one day bowling star from last year isn't in the squad either - Lewis isn't having a very good second season at the moment.

Anyway we'll see how it goes and take it from there I suppose.

Yeah, I'd also have thought that Alf could use the work.

Very surprised Lewis Gregory isn't even in the squad, on the face of it seemed an obvious choice to reintroduce him to his most succesful format - and perhaps relieve Pete of his bowling duties for this one.
Is he injured or that much out of favour at the moment? He looked fine when 12th manning this week.

Quote:

Clarence Parker
Sorry to hear about the fire in your kitchen last night, Botham.
Glad to hear that you are all safe and well, and I hope that there is not too much damage.

I may see you tomorrow.

Thanks CP. We should be there and it could have been a lot worse. We get to rebuild the kitchen (or a contractor does!) and possibly a fair bit of redecoration.

Max should play. He has our best economy rate in the CB40 this season so far..

However, GH may be being lined up to play CC at Worcs and therefore the selectors need him to have a run out with the firsts before that.

As you said, resting Pete by picking Alf and re-introducing Lewis owuld have been my choice - assuming Craig M was available and we expected to play both spinners.

Doesn't seem to be the plan though!

I think I'd play Pete purely as a batsman for this one. That would at least give him a break from bowling.

CP or anyone else...where did you find this squad (Somerset) named for tomorrow....I cannot find a listing anywhere??do you have some insde info?!!

This is the source, just in:-

[www.thisissomerset.co.uk]

Where else would it be the WDP.

Thank you CP...I really didn't search hard enough did I?!!

Just to clarify ‘Just In’ my post was because of it not being on the clubs web site, we shouldn’t have to read it in the WDP first.

I couldn’t find it very easily at first.

Sunny morning at Taunton though there may be some rain later.

Drinking Old Rosie,with young Rosy at Spoons. Beenn to service on Gimbletts Hill. Sun is shining

Is there anywhere to listen online? If I'm trying the right link above, I'm just getting an error.

Commentary should be here
[www.bbc.co.uk]

Why no Craig M? Is he still feeling that shoulder from the Oval?

And no Arul either?

Quote:

hantssabre
Commentary should be here
[www.bbc.co.uk]

D'oh!! When I looked at the BBC main page it only seemed to have the next county match! Thanks - although not sure I want to listen the way it's going...

Kiewetter and trego with the usual diddly squat in the cb40. Hols gone too. Shambles. Don't care what they say. Looks like a total lack of belief in 1 dayers to me.

They have a strong batting line-up and it's already looking like we'll need Jos to fire in a big way to have much chance of stretching them at all.

Our pace bowling for this game looks somewhat vulnerable too and Max will probably need to bowl his full 8 overs as no Arul to fiddle a few overs.

Need jos big style. He has just mullered one through the covers. It stayed hit that one.

Suspect this compo has been all but written off after losing the first two as we'd probably need to win every game to go through.

If we were that bothered about Pro 40 then you would think that Arul and Alf would both play as that would increase our chances?

We lose three early wickets and the pessimists start to moan. I have already mentioned that Sussex qualified for the semis last year despite losing FOUR matches.

These are still very early days.

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

Sussex scraped through on NRR.

Our NRR is obviously not very presentable at the moment.

Regardless, team selection certainly does not imply that we want to put too many eggs in this particular basket.

I'm certainly not 'moaning,' about it as I too see the CC as the overwhelming priority.

Lose 3 wickets and those with the rifles can't wait to pounce . Big loss jos runout. His call. It's a struggle now but the wicket doesn't look that easy to me so we will have to see. That good enough for you lol.

That's lovely, ronnie! And if Briggs and Dawson are reasonable slow bowlers, Dockrell is a potentially great one...[s][/s]

Ref the Home commentary - Eric Cole mailed me earlier to say they couldn't do it because the kit they would have used was needed for the music!!

I sometimes despair. If you are going to provide commentary (and it looks like the local BBC decided not to) then invest in kit to provide the commentary!!

As an ex-pat listener this year I have yet to have access to problem free commentary on any game except the last one. Either the volume is poor (microphone issues from last year) or there is no signal or it is buffering and you get 20 seconds on and then 10 off. We've said this before, either do it and do it well or don't do it.

Put some money in, get some decent kit and do it as if you mean it Somerset!!

Who is this person posting that Somerset have given up on this competition after 2 games?

I make it that there are 10 matches to go (including this one) so this poster is suggesting that a professional outfit hoping to cater for about 50,000 spectators at the next 6 home one day games (with a semi hope as well) have decided not to make any attempt to compete in one of three major tournaments after 8% of the one day fixtures being completed?

Ohhh yes that does sound like sensible analysis absolutely faultless logic. (TiC)

A bit of a mess at the start and also at the end I'm afraid. Compo held it together and jos was about to get going when out. Apart from that really average. If we were chasing that you would feel confident of getting there. A lot will depend on our spinners and we can't let them off to a flier but I fear they might and it will be too little. However we live in hope here. No sixes in the innings at all tells a story I think. Might not be that easy to score.

Nothing wrong with the commentary from Thailand.

Simple question, Grockle; If you were taking this all that seriously would you pick Alf?

Also, aren't there 12 games in this competition?

We've certainly lost two games. Perhaps the heat caused you to forget one of the two defeats, Grockle?

Either that or the heat has scrambled your maths because 8% of 12 is certainly not two.

Ronnie - did Mascarenhas bowl as well as those figures suggest?

When one bowler has figures like that in a game where the others in his team have generally gone for 5+ an over, then it's often the case that that bowler's efforts prove decisive.

You'd certainly think that we'd need somebody to produce similar parsimony, with George presumably our most likely candidate?

Simple answer - not picking Alf could be for a reason we don't know and are you suggesting that the other 10 picks are also part of the silly season and the only person who is important in our CB40 campaign is Alfonso Thomas?

I don't know why Alf isn't playing but I do not automatically define that as a conscious decision to not compete in the CB40 by the third game of the year...

Simple qeustion for you, who in their right mind would?

If Alf is injured then obviously that's different but we have no info to that effect. I suppose he could still have jet-lag but should be fine by now, surely?

I would suggest that Alf is very clearly our best one-day paceman.

Similarly, unless he is injured then not playing Arul also looks a little odd?

Quote:

AGod
Also, aren't there 12 games in this competition?
We've certainly lost two games. Perhaps the heat caused you to forget one of the two defeats, Grockle?

Either that or the heat has scrambled your maths because 8% of 12 is certainly not two.

Hamps H 27/5
Notts A 4/6
Glam A 12/7
Scot H 15/7
Durham H 22/7
Glam H 28/7
Notts H 12/8
Hamps A 14/8
Scot A 19/8
Surry H 27/8

Which of these have I got wrong then? I did do this while invigilating an exam so I was brain dead at the time.

And you are right in your wonderfully patronising way.. Your argument has SOOOOOO much more logic after 16% of the campaign





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:27:16:56:06 by Grockle.

The list of games is probably fine. But you said we'd played 8% of the games when we've played two of 12 (16 and a bit percent.)

He bowled well butwe just saw him off in the end. Aril and alf are fine I was told so draw your own conclusions. Trego is the one who needs a rest IMO. Nothing happening here it's too easy at the moment and it's canter at the mo.

Hants took second batting power play immediately after bowling one. Never seen that before. They are really taking the mickey!

Quote:

AGod
The list of games is probably fine. But you said we'd played 8% of the games when we've played two of 12 (16 and a bit percent.)

Gosh I must immmediately go and do penance while you reread the end of my last post.

You know when people become pedantic about petty little details the argument is usually won and I think this one is so...thanks for playing and don't be a stranger :-)

Well, Grockle, you can stick a fork in this competition now with 25% of it over with after this one..

Quote:

Grockle

Quote:

AGod
The list of games is probably fine. But you said we'd played 8% of the games when we've played two of 12 (16 and a bit percent.)

Gosh I must immmediately go and do penance while you reread the end of my last post.

You know when people become pedantic about petty little details the argument is usually won and I think this one is so...thanks for playing and don't be a stranger :-)

Nice try. But you edited your post as I was posting mine. Your original post simply asked which of the fixtures you had listed you had got wrong. So not a case of 're-reading,' anything as was not there when I was typing my post.

Quote:

Ronniesabre
Hants took second batting power play immediately after bowling one. Never seen that before. They are really taking the mickey!

How is the actual bowling, Ronnie?

Any good, or wayward?

Not very good ag. Too short. I can't see us competing with Scotland laying like this. It's not the defeat but the manner of it.

Scotland have been doing pretty well in Pro 40, I think?

Ah well, at least Old Boy can tell us the identity of our least expensive bowler today...

I'd look for the rest of this competition to be used to give run-outs to players coming back from injury a la Hussain or trying to find form a la Gregory and for first choice players to be rotated as, it appears, Alf and Arul were for this one.

Oh dear. Just checked in to see we have been well & truly stuffed in this one.

Hmmm.....work to do chaps.

Grizzzly

Bransgrove says promotion from the Championship second tier isn't a priority. If we get up or win anything this season, it's a bonus, seems his view.

Well Hants have demolished one of the one-day favourites on their own tight ground with packed and partisan support.Nine wickets and about a dozen overs in hand. It doesn't get much more comprehensive than that.

McKenzie is still to return.

This is a funny competition and I think a number of observations can be made.

1)You must start well. We haven't in previous years; Somerset haven't this time. It helps if you meet the likes of Scotland early.

2)The groups should be looked at. Is this a fully open draw? Why do Hants, Surrey and Somerset always seem to get drawn with each other? Ditto the T20.


3) The lack of a quarter final renders many of the competition's zonal games dead rubbers.

Well without wishing to get involved in the interminable debate between you know who and you know who else, I have to say that the selection today would seem to indicate we had already given up on this competition.
No logical reason I can see to leave out our best one day bowler and an in form opener.
As for our performance today I thought the players looked largely disinterested and our batsmen played poorly ( with a couple of exceptions ) and our bowlers were quite frankly rubbish. Given where Warwicks are and our injury situation I forecast another season of what might have been - hope I am proved wrong but being realistic I do not think I will be - too many days like today I fear.
All part of supporting the award winning club for perennial under achievers.

You are handily placed in the Championship with the T20 to come, so you have plenty to cheer about. Clearly one more loss in the 40 overs stuff will kill off your hopes there though. Occasionally you have to take a step back to take two steps forward and perhaps this won't be a season of near misses for Somerset, but rather one of retrenchment.

Bad day at the office.

Positives..Jos getting some runs, Nick getting some more runs..Craig getting another game behind him, Gemaal back to full fitness, Max getting a bowl.

Personally I've always believed in sport that winning breeds winning and I've enjoyed us competing well in EVERY competition over the past 2 seasons.

However,

only time will tell if not competing 100% in the CB40 this year..as appears may now be the case.. and deciding to rotate and rest players will be of benefit to us as we push for the CC and a good T20 campaign.

Were Alf to benefit from today's rest day and take 10 wickets at Worcs..and/or Arul to score a ton..then maybe you can argue today's team selection was justified.

We still had enough in our team today..especially with the bat..to make more of a fist of things. We didn't..it was a poor performance and I can understand the disappointment. But it's sport..it happens. Onwards and upwards to New Road as our CC challenge continues.

I note the 3rd innings syndrome has struck at test level today!

What you haven`t realised, rodders12, is that today was all part of the Somerset conspiracy to keep you on board the Grockles bandwagon.

After Durham were beaten in three days last week, the team knew they had to perform badly today to win you back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:27:19:23:45 by cricketjerry-mouse.

Well done to Hampshire. Mascarenhas bowled us out of it really. A very good effort. Hussain initially looked quite useful. Afraid Pete needs a rest! He has earnt it. Once Carberry had rode his luck and had his eye in George was lamb to the slaughter. Max, as ever, was not dominated and deserves to be treated better

What's your take on today Cj-m ?

a) Bad day at the office,

b) Disinclination to take the CB40 seriously this year (on the basis of concentrating on the other two competitions), or........

c) Something else ?

(Hope it's not (b), as that's a dangerous strategy as well as being pretty rough deal on the paying fans !).

Grizzzly

Well never mind Rodders that's 9 games you don't have to worry about :-)

Not disputing this was a strange side to put out and it has been well and truly thumped

But neither You or AG or myself or, for that matter, anyone else posting on here has any idea why.

The propositon that this was a conscious policy decision and we as a county have walked away from one of the major competitions in 2012 is not only against the promises stated in the full AGM by the Director of Cricket but against any kind of financial logic given the revenue that accrues from the one day programme during the season.

Don't ask me what the reason was - I have insufficient information to make the kind of supposition that others produce on limited intelligence but I doubt very very much that it was some long term conspiracy theory to somehow save resources for the CC.

Having said that. If they put this side out again I don't see it doing particularly well against most of the opposition unless it backs Compton up with the bat and bowls with more venom and control than seems to have been provided today.

But there are 75.6 (reoccurring)% of the games to go yet so this contest is not yet finished. :-)

Oh and for someone who doesn't want to get involved in it you spend a lot of time when you post commenting on it. Ignore us... we'll probably go away :-)

I don't think BR has given up on the 40 over stuff, but wonder about the strategy being used now relating to the power play overs. By the 16th over of Hampshire's innings all the power play overs (first six, bowling and batting) had been used by the opening batsmen, and the match was long gone out of James's control. Our bad start meant that we couldn't make use of them in the same way.

Little Bird - I think, realistically, we've tried to compete hard in all three competitions for the past few years and have accomplished that goal of being competitive.

But we didn't get many injuries and, even with a nearly full squad, we still came up fractionally short in all competitions if the yardstick is winning them.

This year, as we know, we have not been fortunate on the injury front. So I think it makes quite a bit of sense for Brian to focus on one or two compeitions, rather than all three i.e trying to avoid stretching our resources to breaking point.

Having said that and even with that goal, not picking Alf seems a little strange as he has done naff all bowling since the start of our season (including his stint in the IPL!) I'd have picked Alf and included Pete purely as a batsman so as to give him a break from the bowling. I agreed with picking Gemaal as he surely needs the chance to demonstrate fitness.

Hants 01 - the T20 (which you mention in your post re the Pro 40 competition) is NEVER a free draw. It does not claim to be. It has always been based on regional groups. The only variation has been that it was based on three groups, then became two (a north and a south) and has now reverted to three.

p.s. Cannot believe that Bransgrove has said that promotion back to CC1 is 'not a priority'?

What on God's green earth is that about?

How has that gone down with the members?

Put some positive spin on it cjm, you should be a politician. That was utter garbage.

The management owe it to the members, who have forked in a difficult economic climate, to pick a team to compete. We were outfought and outplayed in every department. Only two of our players come out with any credit, Compo and Jos, who again gave his wicket away when playing really well

Brian must balance picking a side he thinks can win a match with the demands of managing the players, their fitness, their schedules etc.

Alf had a 24 hour flight on Sunday-Monday and was then pitched straight back into a 4 day match (which became a 3 dayer) 24 hours later. Brian obviously looked at the situation and decided he would benefit ahead of Wednesday by a few days off.

We were unbeaten in the CB40 last season during his time at the IPL.

Today it was our batting that failed, more so than our bowling.

But there were still some positives.

I'm disappointed that for the first time in 3 seasons, we appear to be out of a competition very early.

BUT..

We can't put it into context until we see whether this will benefit our challenges in the other 2 competitions.

Let's wait and see.

Bransgrove talks of 'trying to develop a team for a decade', developing 'a lot of young talent'.

Personally, I want to be in Division 1 next season.

Two obvious differences between this year's Pro 40 minus Alf and last year's Pro 40 minus Alf;

We had Tres last year and not this year. And we had Lewis Gregory in bowling form and, last year, he was a very, very good one-day bowler.

Brian is obviously still keen to try and win the T20 (otherwise why persist with the endless overseas signings for it!?) but when you are picking from a smaller pool of fit players than we probably anticipated, then something will have to fall by the wayside.

And (I believe I'm correct in saying?) there is not much prize money in the Pro 40.

Contrary to all the unnecessary sarcastic comments, I am not a pessimist and I post when we win or draw or lose.
I consider myself a realist based on having played for the county and having supported them for over fifty years.
Not worth falling out with other posters but if ignoring the dyed in the wool inflexibles made them go away I might try it !
There are the ultra positives like BJ and the ultra negatives like we know who and the love to post often and verbosely and the majority of us who vary between elation and despair and all stations in between.
Tis part and parcel of following Somerset and when you reach 70 years or more you will realise that !

Botham - you have no idea why this side existed but I doubt it was a conscious plan to fleece the poor paying punters. Are you one of them this season or have you joined?

Again, are you seriously submitting that Somerset put this side out knowing in advance that they would get thumped and therefore effectively stole from their own supporters or am I reading the implied criticism wrong?

If they did then they've shot themselves in the foot because I am sure, if you are a paying punter, you won't be fooled twice and will not be at the next game.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... ever heard that? I'm sure the financial people at the club have as well.

But it was pretty crud having said all that.

Just looked at the prize monies for last year's competitions.

CC carries by far the most prize money.

T20 and Pro 40 are comparable (T20 slightly more) BUT there is of course no Pro 40 Champions League with the chance to earn much more money there.

So in purely financial terms, there's a reason for the Pro40 to be the least coveted competition. Indeed, I think there are a fair few counties who rotate bowlers more in the Pro40 than they seem to in the CC.

Bit of an insult to the players who played today if anybody feels we put out a side not capable of winning

Did I miss something? Did we field 11 debutants? Or did our side still include 2 England one-day batsmen, the country's leading run maker, a captain with 3 first-class tons this year, a batsman who hit 72 in the last CB40 match (Barrow), an in form all rounder, an England U19 captain, one half of the most promising twins on the circuit and a slow bowler with 25 first class wickets this year whose played in a World Cup?

We lost today because we performed badly..as at the Oval..against a side who played very well.

We didn't lose because of the team we put out.

I take your point LB and you may well be 100% correct.
However the line between performing badly and the team one puts out is very thin / blurred.
The balance was wrong today I think - all the players you mention were not in the right position to bat / bowl as per normal - no not all that is wrong of me but a fair few !

I've just sussed that the supporters who come on here and brutalise other posters are just doing that to divert their annoyance at the team. Ah, very clever but it doesnt make a better person. That today was rotten from start to the end. Sure jos played well and Compton too but he struggled to get the ball off the wicket at times. The bowling was totally toothless and after the first 5 overs the vocals in the field stopped. Seemed to me the fate was accepted. Trego needs a rest. Why rest alf after his 2 month holiday when trigger has been bowling his guts out. His batting is being affected of that there is no doubt. I think that is 3 times kieswetter has been bowled in this competition for not many. Get in the nets and get working on that technique. Hants didn't put a foot wrong so well done to them. We will do well to get as many a 3/4 wins in this comp. Hussain I thought bowled a good few first balls then was tosh. A question for old boy. Did you think max has a different action. Maybe it's just me bu I thought he was bowling with quite a slingy action. You notice anything?

Also think tres is a bigger miss in the shorter format than the 4 day stuff. Meschede too. Team is much more balanced when he is in it. Lower power hitter and good solid bowling.

Sounds like the same problem that Hussain had last season, Ronnie, starting spells well and then, unlike Magnus Magnusson, failing to finish.

A disappointing day today only three batsmen into double figures and some of the bowling well too many balls to be hit, so many people questioning the selection of the team even before the start.

Anyway the photos



A large crowd deserved a closer match.
And no Somerset haven’t gone all ultra modern and gone for a large screen display it is the old scoreboard covered up.



Nick Compton keeping his foot in the crease to prevent a stumping by M Bates.



Jos Buttler can hold his head up today one of only three into double figures.
One of his delicate shots gliding the ball off the face of the bat for four runs.



Alex Barrow catching Jimmy Adams off the bowling of Craig Overton.



I will tell you one thing Craig Overton stands tall in the crease well above M Bates the wicketkeeper, this got the bowler a no ball for height.



Craig Overton hitting four runs.



And finally Craig Kieswetter bld D Mascarenhas

Good points guys and don't worry about the abuse. I gave up being concerned by it a long time ago.

I believe we put an experimental side out, having accepted that we wouldn't be returning to Lords, this year.

Andy Hurry was brutally honest in his assessment and however much anyone supports SCCC, that performance was unacceptable.

Incidentally the annual service was difficult, as seats had been saved making it difficult to sit down. The pa was awful, so why can't someone check it beforehand?

The stewards were once again, friendly, welcoming and helpful.

Quote:

Ronniesabre
I've just sussed that the supporters who come on here and brutalise other posters are just doing that to divert their annoyance at the team. Ah, very clever but it doesnt make a better person. That today was rotten from start to the end. Sure jos played well and Compton too but he struggled to get the ball off the wicket at times. The bowling was totally toothless and after the first 5 overs the vocals in the field stopped. Seemed to me the fate was accepted. Trego needs a rest. Why rest alf after his 2 month holiday when trigger has been bowling his guts out. His batting is being affected of that there is no doubt. I think that is 3 times kieswetter has been bowled in this competition for not many. Get in the nets and get working on that technique. Hants didn't put a foot wrong so well done to them. We will do well to get as many a 3/4 wins in this comp. Hussain I thought bowled a good few first balls then was tosh. A question for old boy. Did you think max has a different action. Maybe it's just me bu I thought he was bowling with quite a slingy action. You notice anything?

Much of what you say is reasonable. We certainly need Pete firing in the CC (he is such an important cog with bat and ball) so it would seem right to give him a rest from the 40 over stuff for the moment. The difference in the two sides WAS the starts. We needed Nick and Jos to steady the ship after losing three early wickets, AND Mascarenhas bowled beautifully. Because the Hants openers were in good touch none of the early bowlers could restrain them. The match was effectively over as a contest by the 16th over. Jos appears to have changed his action a bit, but I still rate him as one of our main unused and therefore untested talents. His attitude to everything seems so positive, and its a delight just to see him demonstrating such energy levels in the field.

He was the best of a bad bunch today no more. Proves he is working on his game too. If kieswetter wants that England place he has to do better than that.

If Hampshire had not taken their batting power play early it would have been game over before they could, it also must have help increase their RR quite a bit which will be handy if they are in second place in the table later on.

Quote:

old boy!

Quote:

Ronniesabre
I've just sussed that the supporters who come on here and brutalise other posters are just doing that to divert their annoyance at the team. Ah, very clever but it doesnt make a better person. That today was rotten from start to the end. Sure jos played well and Compton too but he struggled to get the ball off the wicket at times. The bowling was totally toothless and after the first 5 overs the vocals in the field stopped. Seemed to me the fate was accepted. Trego needs a rest. Why rest alf after his 2 month holiday when trigger has been bowling his guts out. His batting is being affected of that there is no doubt. I think that is 3 times kieswetter has been bowled in this competition for not many. Get in the nets and get working on that technique. Hants didn't put a foot wrong so well done to them. We will do well to get as many a 3/4 wins in this comp. Hussain I thought bowled a good few first balls then was tosh. A question for old boy. Did you think max has a different action. Maybe it's just me bu I thought he was bowling with quite a slingy action. You notice anything?

Much of what you say is reasonable. We certainly need Pete firing in the CC (he is such an important cog with bat and ball) so it would seem right to give him a rest from the 40 over stuff for the moment. The difference in the two sides WAS the starts. We needed Nick and Jos to steady the ship after losing three early wickets, AND Mascarenhas bowled beautifully. Because the Hants openers were in good touch none of the early bowlers could restrain them. The match was effectively over as a contest by the 16th over. Jos appears to have changed his action a bit, but I still rate him as one of our main unused and therefore untested talents. His attitude to everything seems so positive, and its a delight just to see him demonstrating such energy levels in the field.

My last couple of sentences, of course apply to MAX, not JOS, although, JOS's knock was a joy to watch - I don't remember a mistimed shot in it.

Gatherd that old boy. Jos,s innings was good but he got out when he could easily have hot us to 245/255 or so.

Anyone on this site feeling 'abused' please officially refer it to the moderator of the site to deal with rather than complaining about it on site without providing any evidence of the 'abuse' referred to. That is what the PM system is for

If the immediate response to this is that the moderator is obviously the one 'abusing' then please refer it above the abuser's head to the network itself as a poorly run site where people are not allowed to make their points freely. There is a complain e-mail address at the bottom of every page of this site.

If you are not willing to do either of these two things then please grow a pair and get involved in the debate, ignore that thread or find a site that is more to your tastes and post there. Comments on the activities of other posters is just "textual voyeurism" and achieves very little unless the objective is to be commented on yourselves and therefore give an opportunity to play the victim once more.

This site has been forthright in its views for many years. On many occasions people here get into discussions that involve opinions that do not match. If the discussions did not generate 'heat' then what would be the point? If you don't wish to receive 'sarcasm' then please don't use it. If you don't wish to be patronised then please do not indulge in the practice and if you don't like argument then don't start them or post on threads that do.

Words like 'brutalise' are hugely over the top and far too dramatic for a conversation on a website about the nature of a county cricket side or the influence of the IPL.

Realism children. Realism. No-one makes you type in this address or uses the keyboard for you. If you can't stand up for yourself here then use the processes available to fight the bullies that make your lives so difficult. If you don't like wild animals then why continue to feed them or stick your fingers through the bars of their cages?





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:27:21:59:27 by Grockle.

Andy Hurry not at all amused with the top-order batting this Pro 40 season. Says that in all three games, three of the top four have combined to make about 50 between them.

I wasn't there and so cannot comment on what the players looked like, but I am surprised by any implication that they may not have been trying. The word "disinterested" was used by one poster - who obviously meant to write "uninterested" (for the two words mean very different things) - but I cannot believe that a side with so many players with a genuine prospect of representative selection at a higher level would indicate any lack of interest in their profession in such a well-attended public arena.

It sounds to me as if we surrendered the initiative very early - which can happen to any side - and then had massive difficulty in regaining it. And there is a principle too often forgotten on this site that other sides are allowed to play well on occasions.

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

An over-reaction to a seemingly weak side made even worse by the fact that the seemingly weak side performed... 'weakly'

Andy has been pretty clear but no-one has yet explained the absence of Suppiah. I think LB identified a number of reasons why Alf may not have been present all of which seem pretty reasonable.

Other than that I struggle to find players who would have been picked to strengthen this side from those available.

I doubt anyone would have argued with the top 5 even if Arul had been picked. I doubt that anyone would not have included Dockrell and assuming that Craig Meschedeand James Overton were not fit then it was pretty obvious that Craig Overton would play and Gemaal would be brought in along with Alex Barrow who had certainly earned his right to be considered.

That means the only questions that could have been asked were should Lewis play - personally based on his presnet form I would have said NO but if Alf was not available there was no option and do we play Max? Without a viable alternative there wasn't really a question there either.

So - the only things we need to know is was Arul injured or not picked? Was Alf rested? The rest effectively picked themselves and 9 of the players on the pitch would have played irresepctive of what the answer to those two questions would have been.

So as someone said - bad day at the office for the side and/or the management depending on what the options were.

Quote:

cricketjerry-mouse
What you haven`t realised, rodders12, is that today was all part of the Somerset conspiracy to keep you on board the Grockles bandwagon.
After Durham were beaten in three days last week, the team knew they had to perform badly today to win you back.

What a sad and immature posting that was jerry; IMHO of course.

Today’s performance by Somerset was very poor indeed. All credit to Hampshire, but we didn’t look ‘up for it’ I am afraid.

Kieswetter and captain Hildreth both played irresponsible strokes in their execution, and at 25 for 3, we had an uphill struggle on our hands.

Compton and Buttler both played sensibly and well, but I thought that we didn’t try to accelerate until it was too late. I felt that at the half – way stage, we were about 40 runs light, but judging by the way Hampshire batted, coupled with the way we bowled, a total in the region of 300 or thereabouts would have been necessary.

I didn’t feel that any of our bowlers came out of today’s game with much credit – not even old boy’s protégée, and I am saddened to say that it appeared to me that Lewis Gregory has ‘lost it’ as far as his bowling is concerned.

I am sure that on another day, the side that we put out would perform much better. It was just one of those days – a day when in fact I observed Brian Rose watching the proceedings in apparent solitude from the top floor of the ‘Caddy Shack’ looking anything but a happy man.

Says it all really.

Totally agree re Lewis's bowling, he appears to have completely lost it.
I have heard due to last years injury he has had to change his action, this appears not to have worked thus far.
It looks so stuttery, he is barely jogging to begin with, has no momentum as he hits the crease, it seems a real slingy effort to get the ball down other end at any pace.
Most of the balls seem short half trackers, last year he was bowling yorkers for fun.

I know he is young, and as he was bought through as a batter hasnt actually been bowling that long, really hope he gets it back as looked such a prospect with the ball last year.

Was this a County Championship match?
No, I see it wasn't.
Time to go back to sleep until the important stuff sparks back up.

Grockle aril was rested to give barrow a go at 6. Alf was rested. Straight from andy hurry.they are waiting on Craig meschede's scan before playing him again I think. Who also said Jamie Overton was injured. I don't think he was. More likely studying for an exam(he was 12th man as it happens) clearly we are prioritising t20 and cc. Re use of "brutalising" the poster I refer to has had comments made by others since end of play. I consider consistent use of this type of his tone to be brutal and will utilise the methods you suggest.

Jamie Overton, My information from somebody that would know if he was injured was surprised he wasn't in the team.

.

To put everything into perspective I think that the club may have already put the CB40 on the back burner this year, considering a good CC position,resting players,etc

Generating heat so rarely generates light or enlightenment in my experience, Grockle.

You sometimes advise people to ignore posts which annoy them, and might lead to unacceptably personal comments about the poster; very sound advice, which most people manage to do most of the time.

Sadly some bulls find red rags in the form of one or two of their fellow posters. It increases the post count, but has little else to commend it.

Ronnie - is it a shoulder scan re:Craig M - or is it something else?

I never actually saw it confirmed anywhere as to what his injury decinitively was or was believed to be. It certainly looked like his shoulder but odd that they've never (to my knowledge) said anything about it.

Please do Ron. That's what the procedures are for.

Sorry Bob but you seem to be assuming the raison d'etre of this site is to enlighten. Sometimes it is a welcome by product but in the dimness that is Grockles there are some who simply want to interpret the shadows all around us as doors to even darker and deeper environments rather than moving into the light others believe exists. You can wave the candle all you like I'm afraid.....

You are right about the red rags, some posters do not see eye to eye and clash, some posters look for reasons to state their indignation and complain. It's all part of the rich panoply (?) of life and no forum that I have ever experienced lives without them both.

The majority leave these things alone and the debate tends to continue around the little bursts of disagreement and indignation. Normality returns and the the world continues to revolve.

One wonders why a site which seems to be on the edge of barbarity to some has one of the best records for its low level of necessary moderation and offical complaints made.

Maybe that will change now that posters have been enlightened about how they can act to curb the crimes against poster humanity (TiC). Maybe it's just life. :-)

I have been coming to Taunton to support our lads for over 55 years. Can any one tell me the last time that we lost a one day game, at home, by 9 wickets please ?

Secondly, as I see it there were two positives yesterday:

Nick, and much more so Jos, hard as I try I cannot think of a third positive, other than the turn out or the weather !!!

The main negative for me was that we selected a wholly unbalanced team, but this may have been for reasons that I am not aware of.

Whatever is said it was just a game of cricket, which this time we didn't do very well. A few of the batters did very well, a few of the bowlers did some good things, and I think the fielding was, as usual up to scratch. However we came up against opponents who had, on the day, one bowler who really did bowl us out of the match, and three batsmen who batted at the top of their form. So we lost but our young players got more experience under their belts, learning that we can't, by the law of averages, win every game and always perform at the top of our skill base. I enjoyed the match although we lost, and still have a smile on my face over that wonderful day last Thursday!!

Thanks for your very deep, dark reply, Grockle. In my naivety I had thought that enlightenment might be a worthwhile, if unattainable, goal at which to aim.

I have my team of PhD students working on it. DD students will take over later. Our findings will be published in one of the reputable academic journals - possibly the Sun or the Hexham Courant.

Does the great Hexham Courant still exist, Geordie Moonraker?

It was a very disappointing performance. Nobody can dispute that. Poor batting at the start, poor bowling all the way through and (surprisingly) ineffective captaincy.

But the one good thing with our overcrowded domestic fixture list is you get an early opportunity to correct a bad performance. Ours comes in 2 days time in a competition we still have a realistic opportunity to at least finish top 3, if not quite to win.

I understand why Rose picked the side he did yesterday. 15 into 11 does not go..we're in the luxurious position now of not having to only select the 11 fit players standing! He wanted to give games to Hussain, to Barrow, to Gregory etc and therefore some players had to be dropped or rested ahead of Wed.

Did it work? No, of course not. Yesterday was poor and I understand the annoyance of supporters appalled that on a sunny day and in front of a big crowd, we were very second best. They paid/came expecting to see a good contest and didn't get one.

But..Might it help our CC challenge in the long run? That we will not know for a few more days! Be patient

A shoulder scan as far as I am aware AG. lb alf didn't have to be rested as he has hardly any cricket in the last 2 months. However as you say hopefully the decision will be justified come WEdnesday. There will need to be massive improvement all round though as what was delivered yesterday was not acceptable and BR will not be happy.

Yes Ron but you are making that comment as if the number of days Alf has played recently was the ONLY factor. Clearly it wasn't because if you add up his total cricketing hours in the past 2-3 weeks, it's not very high! The decision was made because of the long flight he had earlier in the week.

That said, it was galling that Alf didn't play while DM was Hampshire's star bowler, having arrived back from the IPL on Friday, after a similar 24 hour flight.

And For Hants, yday was their 5th consecutive day's cricket as their CC match didn't end until Saturday.

A very disappointing day all round. After a few hours reflection, a few observations.
Conditions changed significantly during the afternoon, at the start the atmosphere was very heavy and Mascheranous exploited it beautifully. Much fresher by the time we bowled.
Without the boss, our top order does not work. Kies and Tregs seem unsure of their roles and both fall into the trap of block, block, block etc, slog. Trego can be a very effective bully of the lesser bowlers with an older ball but this is lost when his technique is exposed to top class bowling with a new ball. Kies needs to learn to play his defensive shots into gaps.
Jos was excellent, though i think Compo had him rattled between the wickets.
Craig O continues to impress me,this time with the bat. Has taken to first team cricket like a duck to water.
The bowling looked very ineffective, Hussain in perticular seemed to have no answer and served up a succession of identical juicy full wide deliveries. Max was the most economical but this should not be interpreted as a good performance with the ball.
We were probably out of this tournament before this game, we most certainly are now. A format which leaves so many meaningles games is rubbish, if you are not in the tournament, you should be out.

Sorry lb but this long flight thing to me is not a factor. That was a week ago now and is more than ample time to recover. As you say DM Did it for hants. More worrying for me is the confidence knock it may give the team. Hope they can brush this off quickly and move on. You are right in that the opportunity presents itself quickly.

So on Thursday night we are all praising our wonderful, young, vibrant side

But three days later, Rose is wrong for selecting one in the next match?

That we lost yesterday was not down to the side we selected..it was down to the players we did select generally under performing?

Personally yesterday, and it's only my opinion, I'd have
opened with Barrow and had Peter coming in middle order.

I'm also worried Peter is being over bowled. He's having a great season but is not infallable. Yesterday he bowled a poor over which included being hit for a 6. Imo that was time to take him off and try something different..either George or Max. But instead we gave him another over..and he went for another 6! We were too slow yday in bringing the slow bowlers on. Our plans appeared rigid and pre-determined and we were not adept enough to change them as the game went on.

I have always tended to believe the confidence is a very contingent thing. Therefore, I've never been a big believer that confidence (or lack thereof) tends to carry over from one format of cricket to another.

However, Andy Hurry opined, before this game, that the win over Durham would allow us to "take great confidence," into this Hants game.

We must hope that my thought is generally more realistic than Mr Hurry's position as if Mr Hurry is right then the reverse must also apply (getting destroyed by nine wickets with 72 balls to spare would demoralise the side ahead of the Worcs game.)

I don't believe it will have any adverse effect at all. I think the players could see from the fact that we declined to pick a full-strength XI that this compo is not exactly top of the priority list. And I think we'll see a far more motivated side take the field at New Road.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:28:09:53:01 by AGod.

Little Bird ... I think you find that it has always been the case that "ineffective captaincy," and poor bowling go hand-in-hand.

But I don't see it as being a chicken and egg type situation.

I think it's very difficult for a captain to cause his bowlers to bowl really well. But really easy for poor bowling to make the captain look poor.

Thank you, Railboy, for your report.

I am surprised that no other eye-witness saw fit to comment on a change in weather conditions. I suppose it would somewhat explain the huge disparity between the sides.

Just for the record - and without making any judgment on the rights or wrongs of the absence of Thomas from Sunday's match - my long experience of international travel taught me that the effects of jet lag are far more severe after travelling from west to east than after travelling (as Thomas did) in the opposite direction. I believe this difference is generally recognised by long distance air crews.

I am thus not expecting any very dire effects when I travel from London to Taunton later in the summer, but will need a winter in which to recover after making the homeward journey. However, the situation will be complicated if I choose to break either journey at Lhasa.

Surely there is also a correlation between the extent of any time difference and the extent (or even existence) of jet-lag?

For example, you will be more liable to suffer jet-lag flying to California than New York. And more liable to suffer jet-lag flying to California than Auckland.

I suspect that what was branded 'jet-lag,' in Alf's case was more a case of having spent the best part of 24 hours cooped up in a variety of aeroplanes.. never a pleasant experience (altough I suppose he might have flown Business Class.)

I haven't noticed any difference with jet lag in any of the four cabins, but concur West to East is worse.

As for our players, they are extremely lucky to live and 'work' in such a beautiful county. The vast majority can only dream of being a professional sportsperson.

As for the weather, yesterday, we felt it fluctuated throughout the afternoon. It certainly did get fresh, as an unfortunate young lady in a short black dress, found to her embarrassment on one of the balconies, but then it subsided into a lovely warm evening. I am prone to seating in humid conditions, but didn't yesterday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:28:10:34:16 by Botham.

At least you had one reason to enjoy yesterday's visit to the County Ground then

Quote:

AGod
Thank you, Railboy, for your report.
I am surprised that no other eye-witness saw fit to comment on a change in weather conditions. I suppose it would somewhat explain the huge disparity between the sides.

It was certainly more sticky at 1.45pm than it was at 3.45pm. But there was cloud cover at various times across the match. Hants said they put us in because of the forecasted threat of showers later in the day. Therefore, imo conditions didn't play a massive part in the defeat..it was more down to our performance..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:28:10:53:27 by Little Bird.

Quote:

Little Bird
At least you had one reason to enjoy yesterday's visit to the County Ground then

After my house fire on Friday night, I felt privileged to still be alive, so I enjoyed many things about yesterday, not least the company of my lovely wife, the cider and the sunshine.

Is there anybody here from West Somerset who could do me a huge favour?
Fear not, I don't need a couch to kip on, just a cherished picture to collect.
Sorry Grockle, I know this isn't the right place to ask....though it is the place it'll get noticed.
Cheers me dears.

Gosh Botham, sorry to hear about what happened. Hope the damage wasn't too bad

Quote:

Little Bird
Gosh Botham, sorry to hear about what happened. Hope the damage wasn't too bad

Thank you. We have lost our kitchen and there's a lot of smoke damage, but an hour later and we'd have been asleep!

Good to hear you're in one piece Botham - that can't have been any fun at all.

Re the jet lag - well I'm about 4 hours out of sinc 2 days after flying back here from HQ !

Meantime, congrats to AG for getting Birds,eggs & chickens in to a single (9.41) post. Maybe Brian will ruffle a few feathers after our less than chirpy performance yesterday.

Sorry..................!

Grizzzly

Grizzz, that's a truly fowl joke.

BJ: if it's that signed photo of me that you need, I can always send you another one, but will have to ask for an additional fee.

I fear we're in for a sequence of eggscruciating puns...

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

It's good to have a bit of light hearted bantam now and again.

re jet lag - it is often said that when flying from east to west, you need one day for every hour's time difference to reset the body clock. When flying from west to eat the effect is greater so you need a day and a half for each hour's difference.

Jet lag is one thing, add to that 24hrs of travelling (and the joys of transiting through Indian airports has to be experienced to be believed) followed by a county championship match only 24 hrs later and I wouldn't be surprised if a player who hasn't had much time on the park in the last couple of months trotted up a bit sore at the weekend.

Quote:

Botham

Quote:

Little Bird
At least you had one reason to enjoy yesterday's visit to the County Ground then

After my house fire on Friday night, I felt privileged to still be alive, so I enjoyed many things about yesterday, not least the company of my lovely wife, the cider and the sunshine.

Very sorry to hear your news. Give the man a pay rise!

I'm also glad you are okay botham. I lost a dear pal in a house fire years ago. Your house will recover I'm sure. Glad you enjoyed yesterday with you're good lady. Puts it all in perspective.

Yes please, LoL, though this time can I have the photograph of you just stood next to the elephants....thanks in advance.

The CB40 is taking on particular interest this year with the success of the Netherlands (two wins in the past two days). They now top their group with four wins out of five. This seems like very good news for those interested in spreading the gospel of cricket among our European neighbours.

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

Ansd there are some 'van' names in there as well rather than just a bunch of sub continental ex pats.

Yeah, I hope they win it, LoL.

Quote:

AGod
Yeah, I hope they win it, LoL.

They could do!! Holland(e) is winning everything this year! They could also win the European Football Cup!!

Dutchland uber alles

LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter