The only change i would make for Lancs on Friday is to bring in Barnard for Benjamin. The bowling attack has been really good for the first two matches, so no need to change it.
Also, i think Davies has captained the team really well in the two games so far. He's constantly talking to the bowlers, and is giving out a positve vibe which is looking good - long may it continue!
Averages are not always the most reliable sources to judge a player though. Player A could have a high average because their first season was a huge success however in recent seasons they have struggled. Player B may not have had the high scores to push their average up but has consistently made important and telling contributions.
Deliberately not used examples as I don’t have any data to back up my comment 😊
If I'm reading correctly on here, we have a pace attack who are all crock, one player who is a complete passenger, another who can field but otherwise doesn't deserve a place and we have the wrong wicket keeper. And all but two of the batters play too many stupid shots.
How on earth will we ever manage to win a game?
GerryShedd wrote:
If I'm reading correctly on here, we have a pace attack who are all crock, one player who is a complete passenger, another who can field but otherwise doesn't deserve a place and we have the wrong wicket keeper. And all but two of the batters play too many stupid shots.
How on earth will we ever manage to win a game?
Absolutely agree - it is obvious to everyone we have been rubbish in our first two games.
Hold on this is a long one; but hope it explains where a lot of us are coming from.
This is all about perspective though, let’s be honest, everything is targeted at this competition, this is the priority. Yes they’ve won the two games. Both because of the bowling. The batting was average, no better, no worse.
The problem is, as we’ve found out the previous 2 years, you need to be strong in both aspects, and 3-5 players performing consistently in each. Last year Yates and Hain carried the batting, no one else was consistent, and it’s looking the same again. And that doesn’t work come knock out time against the best teams.
And considering the amount of money poured into this t20 team, at the expense of the championship side, it’s not unreasonable to have high expectations.
I think the other issue is, we’ve seen Robinson have a reluctance to change players despite a lack of performance, and use 1 decent performance after 6 poor ones justify that decision, and that lack of consistency doesn’t work in one off knock outs. We have a lack of consistency, with players like Benjamin and Bethell being passengers for a season now.
This is all made worse if the likes of Gleeson, Garton or Ali is hurt long term. As that was the entire off season recruitment, and it hurts the genuine strength of the side, wondering whether changes need to be made based on that is perfectly valid.
It’s about building a side to win the entire competition not the group. And going in with the same batting lineup that failed last year and expecting something different is just odd, especially when we’ve seen how good Barnard has been since mid way through last year; and that Burgess went on loan and outperformed almost all our batters. Every other side rotates, uses players in form, Robinson just doesn’t, it’s a locked door, just because we drop a player doesn’t mean they can’t come back in, but why not especially early on see who’s performing?
Winning now doesn’t equal winning later; and actually the way we’re going about this year seems very similar to the last couple of failures, which is why there’s the concern that we’re just repeating ourselves for a third time, which is even more egregious with how much we’ve targeted this competition.
To be fair, you say "the last couple of failures" but didn't we win the group in both of the last two seasons? I know we then lost in the quarter finals but it's still not a bad record, and we can't have won all those games with only one or two players scoring runs (especially given the number of times we racked up 200 or more)
Presumably Moeen should be back soon, and that will strengthen the batting.
Exiled Bear wrote:
To be fair, you say "the last couple of failures" but didn't we win the group in both of the last two seasons? I know we then lost in the quarter finals but it's still not a bad record, and we can't have won all those games with only one or two players scoring runs (especially given the number of times we racked up 200 or more)
Presumably Moeen should be back soon, and that will strengthen the batting.
Moeen is at the T20 World Cup. He’s not back for a while. If England let him play once he’s back at all.
Winning the group and choking in the quarter finals is a failure when you consider the resources piled into T20 cricket.
And if you look at the scores cards, yeah other batsmen got a score or 2 here and there. But as I said, it’s the huge lack of consistency. It’s when they scored their runs too, flat tracks against weaker attacks, or when others have scored already, very few match defining innings.
At the end of the day, the expectations are set by the club, they’ve very overtly targeted T20 for 2 if not 3 years in their recruitment. They’ve talked about winning, but not gotten to finals day. Apart from Surrey, I can’t think of any other side who’s T20 squad costs more than ours, when you consider the names, how many are seemingly white ball only now, the last 2 years have arguably been underperforming. And it’s noticeably negatively effecting the championship side now too.
BristolBear wrote:
Hold on this is a long one; but hope it explains where a lot of us are coming from.
This is all about perspective though, let’s be honest, everything is targeted at this competition, this is the priority. Yes they’ve won the two games. Both because of the bowling. The batting was average, no better, no worse.The problem is, as we’ve found out the previous 2 years, you need to be strong in both aspects, and 3-5 players performing consistently in each. Last year Yates and Hain carried the batting, no one else was consistent, and it’s looking the same again. And that doesn’t work come knock out time against the best teams.
And considering the amount of money poured into this t20 team, at the expense of the championship side, it’s not unreasonable to have high expectations.I think the other issue is, we’ve seen Robinson have a reluctance to change players despite a lack of performance, and use 1 decent performance after 6 poor ones justify that decision, and that lack of consistency doesn’t work in one off knock outs. We have a lack of consistency, with players like Benjamin and Bethell being passengers for a season now.
This is all made worse if the likes of Gleeson, Garton or Ali is hurt long term. As that was the entire off season recruitment, and it hurts the genuine strength of the side, wondering whether changes need to be made based on that is perfectly valid.
It’s about building a side to win the entire competition not the group. And going in with the same batting lineup that failed last year and expecting something different is just odd, especially when we’ve seen how good Barnard has been since mid way through last year; and that Burgess went on loan and outperformed almost all our batters. Every other side rotates, uses players in form, Robinson just doesn’t, it’s a locked door, just because we drop a player doesn’t mean they can’t come back in, but why not especially early on see who’s performing?
Winning now doesn’t equal winning later; and actually the way we’re going about this year seems very similar to the last couple of failures, which is why there’s the concern that we’re just repeating ourselves for a third time, which is even more egregious with how much we’ve targeted this competition.
Totally agree with your sentiments, Bristol. However I would perservere with Bethell. He is an outstanding fielder and classy batsman. His bowling should be utilised too, when needed.
Robinson must be more ruthless and drop Benjamin for Jamal or Burgess. He is desperate at the moment.
A few observations on yesterday's game:
The batting is obviously a concern.
The fielding is sharp.
Davies captain's really well in this format.
Garton. The jury's out but he could be a game changer once he finds his rhythm and has a few shots in his locker.
Mousely needs to find some consistency with the bat.
Benjamin is a liability currently.
Get rid of that awful stadium announcer screeching "bring the noise" every ten minutes. Bring back Becky Wood.
Whatever happened to all the extras for the T20’s? They had Becky Wood, Aatif Nawaz, the BBC WM commentators, usually an ex or current player as well.
Seemed much slicker and well produced both inside the stadium and on the stream.
The screechy voiced announcer says:
"Come on, you bearsfans, who wants a "Sack Benjamin" t-shirt? Let's hear you. Like me, you're here to make a lot of noise, not to enjoy the cricket. Let's hear your chants of "We want Burgess" and "Where's Barnard?" And how about a loud "You bearsfans!!!!"
PS - her next door neighbours say: "Don't sack her. It's so peaceful here when she's away at the cricket."
PPS - gerryshedd would like to make clear that the above post is not sexist in any way. He would be equally sarcastic about a male announcer with a high pitched, screechy voice.
There were 13,700 tickets sold for this. I wonder whether this was less than expected and how much Warks earned from Blast Off after Derbyshire have had their cut?
I sort of expected more to have been sold, I looked at some tickets a week or so in advance once I saw the weather was starting to look better. There was very limited availability except in the Hollies Stand, which I had no interest in, so was a tad surprised to see so many empty seats when I tuned in on Saturday.
I think the sales would have been at the lower end of expectations.
There were lots of empty seats in the Wyatt stand so I'm very surprised if it showed limited availability on-line.
Perhaps some tickets were sent to Derby and Lancs on a sale or return basis, so they would not be showing as available on the clubs ticketing site?
KingofSpain wrote:
A few observations on yesterday's game:
The batting is obviously a concern.
The fielding is sharp.
Davies captain's really well in this format.
Garton. The jury's out but he could be a game changer once he finds his rhythm and has a few shots in his locker.
Mousely needs to find some consistency with the bat.
Benjamin is a liability currently.
Get rid of that awful stadium announcer screeching "bring the noise" every ten minutes. Bring back Becky Wood.
The announcer asked us to indulge in what she called the Vitality clap. Apparently it's not, as I first thought, an unpleasant disease.
The group stage is, effectively, a qualifyin g competition for the play off games, so the ideal situation is a team goes into the quarter final, and finals day, with a squad that is fit, in good form and knows their strongest team. Therefore, a well coached side, would be trying various combinations of players to be able to play the best side in the knock out stage of the competition.
Part of having the strongest side is ensuring you have the best player in each position, which is why having the best wicket keeper available is important. a dropped catch, or missed stumping, could cost a game and eliminate the side from the competition, which has a financial effect on the entire business.
> > Get rid of that awful stadium announcer screeching "bring the noise" every ten minutes.** Bring back Becky Wood.
Agreed.