Winter Forum Report

By Jeremy Horne
April 7 2004

Monday February 23rd was the day, as Middlesex fans from far and wide packed out the Warner Mezzanine restaurant. It was time for the annual pre-season forum, a chance to pose questions of a Middlesex and cricketing nature to a panel of 4 including Andrew Strauss and 2nd team coach Jason Pooley.

The whole of the evening could be summed up as a disappointment after members were struggling to think of questions to ask. Pooley attended to replace the absent John Emburey who is currently in India with Ed Joyce, Jamie Dalrymple and Chris Peploe who are taking part in a pre-season training programme. There was also a long debate involving the Zimbabwe tour, where several members expressed their contrasting views on this matter. A vote was taken as to whether we should tour or not and there was a narrow majority against touring, although the abstentions could well swing the final decision either way. Vinny Codrington noted that as opposed to counties being obliged to pay money back to the ECB, the counties will probably just receive a lower level of funding from the ECB in future years.

The evening began with questions of a Middlesex nature, mainly on the topic of Spinners, overseas players and our aims for the season. The question of whether we thought about getting a different overseas spinner when Kumble was refused by the Indian board was raised and it was agreed amongst the panel that we do need strength in this area. We did look at other options, but we decided to develop the youngsters with an eye on the future, rather than getting a "2nd rate" overseas player.

We are likely to go with the players that we have on board at the start of the season, but we might look to use the rules and regulations get other overseas players if both Klusener and Hayward are in the South African squad. In response to a further question asked by (Barmy) Kev, we will not be looking at the North Staffordshire league this season! Despite all this, Andrew Strauss did state the point that Middlesex are keen on returning to the one overseas player per county idea as from a cricketing point of view 2 overseas players takes up too many places in our side especially because of the rules concerning EU contracts. Strauss added that teams are becoming too reliant on their overseas players as match winners and this isn't developing many good English match winners. In addition, Vinny Codrington stated that situations involving EU passports are getting complicated and if a person has a work permit then they legally cannot be denied employment in their expertise.

In the absence of Strauss, Owais Shah will captain the side and it is unlikely that we will appoint a vice-captain in Strauss' absence. It also looks like Ben Hutton will step up to opening with Sven Koenig during this period, but we have not yet decided who will take up the number 3 position.

With regard to the current squad, Nick Compton had an operation last week he may have to forego the whole season with Durham University due to the rules (only in exceptional circumstances can you miss a term only- usually you must miss the whole academic year). This could open up the possibility that he will be able to play full time for us this season, but we must remember that he is still not at full fitness at this point in time. It was also mentioned that the reserve batting should not be a problem as it looks like we will have Compton back and Dalrymple will be full time this year. Klusener will also be able to fill a spot in the middle order. However, I am sure that many of you share my concern that this is not a convincing argument of a strong 2nd string batting line-up given that Compton is not at full fitness and Dalrymple is not yet a proven first class batsman. (Barmy) Kev also managed to ask a question that was on the tip of everybody's tongue- would we manage to avoid our usual drop in form during the August period? Jason Pooley's responded by saying "Try being a coach!" On a more serious note he then added that we should now have the quality in depth to take us right through to the end of the season. It was also confirmed that Michael Brown has joined Hampshire on a 2 year deal, Robin Weston has not been offered a first class contract and Thos Hunt has recently put pen to paper in a one year deal with Somerset (surprise surprise there)!

Looking at our new signing, Ben Scott, Jason Pooley commented that he is one of the "top 5 keepers in the country", although I feel that having barely played a first team game in his career it is rather premature to make this judgement. We also made an attempt to sign Ben Trott and we did indeed speak to him whilst we were unaware of what seam options would be available to us. Eventually Kent offered him a new deal and signing him would have almost certainly prevented us from signing Melvyn Betts. Another name that was constantly brought up was that of Eoin Morgan, who is currently in Bangladesh with the Ireland under 19's and will probably join us with the summer-contracted players. He is an exciting prospect and he also has an English passport! Mali Richards was also talked about and we are hoping that he will return. He will be offered a contract so long as he understands what is being asked of him and that he acts under a certain level of discipline. He has been known to be unreliable, both with his university, and with us.

Focusing on Lords and outgrounds, there are 7 championship games at Lords this year, which is one more than last year. Given the immense fixture list at Lords, it will be extremely difficult to ever have a full programme of championship matches there. If we were to reach the quarter finals of the Twenty20 cup or the Semi-finals of the C & G trophy we would also not be able to play these at Lords due to fixture clashes and so we would be forced to play at Southgate. The Twenty20 (Mickey Mouse) zonal games will be played at Richmond (vs Sussex), Southgate (vs Essex) and Lords (vs Sorry). There is no Uxbridge this year, after the management felt that the staff there were not as accommodating as they could be. There will also be a one day game against the West Indies at Shenley on June 23rd.

There was also brief talk about our financial situation ahead of the upcoming AGM. The reason for the high increase in membership costs is that 2 high profile overseas players must be funded. The members have realised this and Middlesex are very grateful to us for doing so. We also managed to receive an increase in the number of memberships last year, the first time we have done so in around five years. Gate receipts have also increased and these funds will be used to increase facilities at the outgrounds. These improvements will include a fence being put up at Southgate to stop people walking into the ground without paying! Financially we have done well this year and have put money back into the Middlesex Cricket Board fund in order to aid clubs in Middlesex. We are nervous about our finances after possible fallback from the world cup and Zimbabwe tour.

The evening concluded with Andrew Strauss and Jason Pooley confirming their hopes and aims for the season ahead. Strauss indicated that we have an excellent squad and have more sufficient bowling resources than were available last season, meaning that we must now look to challenge and hopefully beat some of the top teams in the country. Jason Pooley added that we must get promoted in the NUL, hopefully as champions, but the main goal is obviously the promotion. We must also try to start reaching more one day finals and aim to finish in the top 3 of the county championship. In response to these hopes, a member questioned the panel as to whether we would try and push on in one day cricket to secure more sizeable totals. The answer to this question was simple- KLUSENER!! Pooley also noted that the Twenty20 helped us out massively last season and we must hope that our middle order will now be able to learn from Klusener and try to accelerate their scoring rates. Andrew Strauss closed by saying that the players believe we are a capable team and that everybody is looking forward to the new season.

And so the evening ended- but not quite! Drinks in the bowlers bar followed and in just a matter of weeks from now, we will all be ready to start cheering the 'sex to victory again! Roll on April… MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE!!!