That's a shame, another local lad leaving having not been given a proper chance. This happens time and time again. We tend to prefer signing players in favour of backing our own.

As comfortable a win as I can remember.

Definitely a good toss to win, pitch seemed fairly lively throughout.

Burgess is doing something exceptional every game now behind the stumps.

Excellent crowd I thought. An enthusiastic crowd too.

I said it the previous 2 seasons but I really enjoy this comp, win or lose. Shame there's not more games. 3 groups of 6 and play each other home and away next season perhaps?

Won the toss fielding

Totally understand that it's popular and people enjoy it hugely. However just because it happens in Rugby and Football doesn't automatically make it good or fair. And just because they used to have 120 overs a day for the County Championship many decades ago doesn't mean it should be happening today for an entirely different format. They went away from that for good reason.

I'm not necessarily suggesting they do away with some sort of Finals Day entirely anyway, a promotion/relegation play off scenario might be intriguing. I'd still rather see the top 2 up and the bottom 2 down after a culmination of 16 games though.

To have a 2 division, 2 up 2 down league format and then a Finals Day to decide the outright winner at the end would be odd though as teams will have already played each other twice (home and away) then would have the prospect of having to play, and possibly be required to beat, some sides for a THIRD time at Finals Day. It would lose the potential of having an exciting title race and all the twist and turns that brings over a sustained period too.

Yes Briggs back, no Norwell (pulled up in the warm up Friday). No Garrett in the squad, that seems harsh. Is Johal injured?

Yes I wonder where we stand here. H Brookes won't have played yet either, does he become available?

ajones1328 wrote:

Shame another washout of hundred cricket...ahh well !

Switching onto sky and listening to them try and justify how 4 formats of cricket can co-exist and how everyone has something they can pick and enjoy.. of course it's complete and utter bias and I'm sure people can see through it

Will be interesting to hear the likes of Robert Croft and Charlie Dagnall change their tune if the hundred is scrapped next season for a revised T20 competition

Dagnall, nice man though he is, will say/do whatever he can just to try and relevant. He tries very hard. Surely he, and the others, dont actually believe the sort of stuff they come out with regarding the Hundred.

Never been keen on finals day, 120 overs on the same pitch all on 1 day always feels a bit excessive to me. It's such a long day. Never been keen on teams scraping 4th in the group and shithousing their way to the title either. Felt weird in 2014 when we did it. Just doesn't sit right with me. I feel it can be incredibly demanding from a logistical perspective for some travelling fans too, particularly those from down south.

I appreciate and respect its popularity though.

A day of 8th in div1 v 2nd in div2 and 1st v 2nd of Div 1, just 2 games in one day might be OK.

I'd ideally want the winner of the top division to be the winner of the Blast outright though.

2 division Blast is so clearly the best idea. Home and away fixtures, each team plays each other twice, 16 games. Can market the top division as the English Premier League or whatever. Wouldn't even need to have Finals Day and knockouts, the team who wins the EPL will be the best side and will be worthy winners. Play it throughout the duration of the season with games on Fridays and/or Sundays only, each game would be a proper event. Everyone knows where they are and what the craic is. Can even have a Gillette Soccer Saturday style show on TV that provides updates from each ground. The relegation/promotion element would be huge. It really would capture the imagination.

Nice to see Hamza keep his composure after an uncertain start when he struggled to get a few away and hit the fielders a few times.

Good win. We were pretty solid throughout. It threatened to get close a couple of times but the young lads kept their nerve well.

Good toss to win, definitely a fair bit of seam movement throughout the first 15 overs.

Excellent all round performance from Barnard, List A best with the bat, good opening spell with the ball and a truly exceptional run out. If a run out like that happened in the Blundred we'd be seeing it on repeat on all platforms for the next month. Hopefully he's shut some of the doubters up for a bit.

How good was Hamza Shaikh six?! Nailed.

Love this format, it should be protected at all costs.

I didn't see it, what sort of dismissal was it?

Not according to the official site

Won the toss. Fielding.

Yates
Shaikh
Rhodes
Burgess
Barnard
E Brookes
Smith
Lintott
Garrett
Miles
OHD

First game this afternoon.

If the there is a ground somewhere that can provide decent viewing, comfort and toilet facilities then I'm sure people would be game. I certainly would.

But sitting on folding chairs that feel as though they could collapse at any moment (maybe I need to go on a diet) for 7/8 hours whilst peering through the gaps inbetween people's heads to try and get a glimpse of the game just won't do. And then you have to use a portoloo when you need to the toilet. I mean come on.

Outgrounds can occasionally be good but they do present problems.

Fair play to him, but I won't give that comp my viewership.

I'm sure it was a superb knock though.

Uxbridge is woeful do Middlesex still use it?

I'm open to Warwickshire using an outground but I can't think of one that's viable. Rugby school was terrible, poor viewing ground, uncomfortable and almost zero facilities.

Interested to hear other people's views/ideas.

What do we know about Michael Booth? As far as I can tell he's 22 and played 6 T20's in SA a few years ago so not much of a record behind him for his age. Anyone ever seen him play, who is he comparable too?