Preview from the Somerset perspective.
https://www.somersetcountycc.co.uk/news/first-xi/royal-london-cup-preview-warwickshire-v-somerset/
They can (just about) qualify, depending on other results/
There's quite a few unfamiliar names in their squad.
Looks like Norwell is fit and back in the mix:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/warwickshire-v-somerset-12-august-2021/
At least Norwell, Miles and Bresnan will all have played some competitive cricket before September.
No doubt who player of the match is today...
Andy wrote:
No doubt who player of the match is today...
The PCA MVP stats gave it to Charlseworthy from Somerset. Don’t need any more evidence than that of their redundancy.
Fewer injuries at the start of this cup competition would have seen us through seeing as we only went out on net run rate and Notts (I do not like them) scrape through. If anything, this pile of injuries has at least given a few youngsters the chance to play at a higher level and a few of them have taken the chance which makes the future seem brighter at least. If the same thing happens next year where The Hundred is made out to be more important than this competition (Which let's face it, we are only world champions in after all) then we will have had young players who will not be daunted at the prospect of a step up in the quality of cricket.
I stand corrected, if those idiots Glamorgan hadn't made a hash of things v Yorkshire then we would have gone through. How on earth did they lose from such a straightforward position. So Leicestershire also go through and Notts do not.
Would have been unjust for us to make a semi final and we burnt up our quota of good luck on others results for the T20.
On the whole I'm fairly happy with the competition though and I like the fact it is development. Bethell looks a great performer and it was good to see his runs contribute to a victory today. Johal and Bulpitt got better as the competition went on, this time next year they will be confident of kicking on further - though I see neither of these two are quite as young as I thought. Benjamin isn't really a grad of this competition, but good to see him move up at the same time.
Another point that occured to me today is that our experienced players have come into better form from the competition too. Lamb has scored heavily, not just this knock. Pollock has quietly improved, though he's mixed ducks with scores. Mousley snapped a run of poor form in the 2nds.
Something that hasn't gone well is the amount of batsmen out when set. Clearly a mental block, but easier to solve that if you have the ability first...
Plenty of positives to take from this competition. Lamb has pretty much dominated. 360 runs at 60 he's way ahead of the other Bears batsmen and I think he has finished up 7th highest run scorer in the comp overall. He's so strong through extra cover. Yates also excellent even though he faded a little. Johal and Bulpitt really grew as the comp went on. Bulpitt might be worth keeping around, see what Welchy can do with him. Keep having to remind myself Bethell is still only 17, unreal potential. Great to see Mousley get in and get a few runs too, if he'd have been available the entire comp who knows how far we could have gone.
We've played on some excellent pitches too, particularly at Edgbaston.
I agree with pretty well all of the above.
Yesterday was an excellent contest with eventually the right result but with the outcome in doubt until the end.
I also agree that there needs to be a special shout-out for groundsman Gary Barwell and the excellent pitches that he and his staff produce time after time. With the number of matches played at Edgbaston and all the extremes of weather, that must be quite a challenge·
I thought 3 really positive things came from this competition.
I don’t think they quite deserved to go through, but performed really well considering , and I hated seeing some comments on social media about “disgraces” and the like, because they were anything but.
Now it’s time to get Hose and OHD fit; and the likes of Burgess and Rhodes will probably be crying out for a rest as they’ve played every match in all formats.
I certainly enjoyed the game yesterday, the match ebbed and flowed as a good game of cricket should. That's the beauty of the 50 over format, there is time for the match to swing between both sides.
When we needed 100 with Lamb and Bethell at the crease I have to admit I wasn't confident but they played the situation brilliantly. Such a shame they were unable to see it over the line.
As has been said the youngsters will certainly have benefitted from the experience and some of the more established lads have been able to gain some form and confidence.
I'd also like to point out that there was a good number of youngsters at the ground, it's almost as if dad's (and mums) want to take their kids to games of cricket in the summer, if only the ECB would sort the schedule out and invest in proper advertisement then the 16.4 nonsense would not have been needed.