Moving on from the Worcester game.
Essex away. Essex need a response after we put them in a tail spin!
Sibley back?
Woakes in?
Moving on from the Worcester game.
Essex away. Essex need a response after we put them in a tail spin!
Sibley back?
Woakes in?
Andy wrote:
Moving on from the Worcester game.
Essex away. Essex need a response after we put them in a tail spin!
Sibley back?
Woakes in?
Possible. But which batsman to drop (I guess, Bresnan - he is a batsman now - or Hain / Lamb) ? But whoever it is, Rhodes must surely drop down the order !
Also possible. But which bowler to drop? I guess Stone would be rested (or that would be enforced by the ECB) ?
Anyway, it is a week and a half away !
"You can take the boy out of Atherstone, but you can never take Atherstone out of the boy !"
"The Bears and the (footballing) Foxes for ever !"
Are you honestly suggesting we drop our leading run scorer?
If Sibley and Woakes are both available I'd leave out Bresnan & Norwell.
I wouldn't make major changes to the batting order, just have Yates at 3 then Malin, hain & Lamb, with Woakes at 7 & Burgess at 8.
Maybe, for one game only, Rhodes needs to sit this one out?
But like the man says, this game feels like a long way away at the moment!
I’d drop Lamb if Sibley is fit. I think it would be very harsh, but in my opinion he needs to do more. He seems to do ok without doing great. A couple of 50’s are nice, but at 5 he needs to be putting pressure on the opposition, and making big match winning contributions. Hain is also a much better fielder.
I suspect Woakes will come in for Stone, even after the weeks rest, the ECB will be protective of him. They won’t want him injured just before the series.
I think we risk undervaluing Bresnan too. I think he’s a bit off the pace bowling wise at the moment. But it’s his attitude that is most important. He knows how to win matches, without him and his leadership (let alone his work on scoreboard) we don’t beat Essex or Notts.
Squads up. The XI that drew with Worcestershire plus Brookes and Sibley.
Andy wrote:
Squads up. The XI that drew with Worcestershire plus Brookes and Sibley.
Stone's still there then - and Woakes isn't! I guess the ECB aren't bothered about 'overplaying' Olly and 'underplaying' Chris!?
"You can take the boy out of Atherstone, but you can never take Atherstone out of the boy !"
"The Bears and the (footballing) Foxes for ever !"
How foolish we all were to think that we might see Woakes actually play for his county.
Got to assume Sibley comes in, so do they drop a batsman or a bowler? If it were me, I’d drop Miles, give yourself an extra batsman against Harmer. But I suspect it will be one of Hain or Lamb.
Miles is still injured. Could leave Norwell or Bresnan out and have the extra batsman.
Miles is still injured. Could leave Norwell or Bresnan out and have the extra batsman.
BristolBear wrote:
How foolish we all were to think that we might see Woakes actually play for his county.
Got to assume Sibley comes in, so do they drop a batsman or a bowler? If it were me, I’d drop Miles, give yourself an extra batsman against Harmer. But I suspect it will be one of Hain or Lamb.
I'd agree with most of that, but I suspect the 2 left out of the 13, will be Henry B and Lamb. Both Sibley and Lamb were in the Seconds team against Northants (game just abandoned) - Dom presumably there to get batting practice before Essex - and Matty because he's about to dropped! Brookes is nowhere near the First team at the moment, his bowling is all over the place!
"You can take the boy out of Atherstone, but you can never take Atherstone out of the boy !"
"The Bears and the (footballing) Foxes for ever !"
It’s an odd situation, no one has performed awfully, everyone has contributed in some way. Yet you’d say very few have performed so well as to have guaranteed a place.
I think you’ve got 6 guaranteed players, not all for performance reasons either. Both Yates and Burgess for recent centuries, plus being wicket keeper. Sibley because of his ability. Malan as overseas. Stone as the out and out best bowler. And Rhodes as captain. The other 5 spots are a free for all, of players that have done ok but not great.
I’m sure Robinson sees it differently, but that’s how it appears from a distance.
I'd always play 6 batsmen with the keeper at 7 unless the keeper is a genuine gun batsman who can bat in the top 5. Most other counties go with 6. We tend to always have the extra bowler though. It's crazy to have the extra bowler when we have Rhodes who is very capable and able to bowl 12-15 overs a day if required.
So no Woakes for us, as apparently ECB said no to all players coming back from the IPL. But Billings is in Kent’s squad.......
Interesting.
Sibley comes in for Lamb. Interesting that Sibley opens with Rhodes, rather than Yates. Thought Rhodes could do with dropping down to 3 or 4.
Nice to win the toss for once! Need to make it count.
The wonky camera is awful. Also, this live stream makes the one at Edgbaston look like sky sports.
Rhodes out early again, at the moment he has a touch of the Ian Bell when he is at the crease. He looks comfortable and then gets out.
It's not the XI I'd have picked, but we move...