And yes, Simmons on Critchley looked out.

Quite a few leading edges didn't go to hand either. Ultimately we're 70 short.

Need a 'bang bang' with the new ball.

Yep, don't know what the umpire was playing at there, the moment he went to confer with the square leg umpire the batter knew he could get away with it.

He got hit on the head and spent time off the field.

Mousley, talented lad though he is, has some really soft dismissals.

Yeah bit surprised, particularly with a 230 lead. Guess they didn't want to leave any risk of Essex going in and making 400 and have Harmer spin us out on day 4, Chelmsford can break up a bit sometimes.

Just nice to see a bit of pace in our attack for once. It makes a difference. Rae looks legitimately rapid and Simmons is sharp and was right on the money from word go.

Rae looks quick

Blimey he'd be sweared out if he played half his games at Edgbaston.

There is an article from the Edgbaston site about him taking on the vice captaincy. Within this article is a picture of him at Taunton holding a cap with the white Bear on it. Article dated 4th April 2024. No idea how to link stuff on here.

I thought he was capped at Somerset away last year? I'm probably mistaken.

People wanted him dropped at one point last season, it was absolutely wild.

He always plays so responsibly, doesn't
do anything rash. Never gives it away.

His bowling won't always pose a threat on flat pitches but Ed Barnard is giving guaranteed runs week in week out at the moment.

Not sure how serious a red ball option Lintott actually is.

Good luck to Rae and Che. Interested in particular to see Simmons pace.

Difficult to predict the XI tomorrow. Really depend on conditions I suppose. Allinson and Beard being amongst Essex squad would suggest pitch will favour seam. Essex spinners would be playing regardless of the conditions due to their quality and batting ability (Critchley). Chance Rae and Simmons play? Rae and Briggs more likely?

Robinson mentioned in his interview post Surrey that Jamal was feeling his back. If they knew this, why on earth give him the new ball when Surrey only needed 89?

He's probably worth a punt. Lancashire signed Will Williams like this, he was playing club in the UK then signed for Lancs mid season, and he turned out to be a good pick up. This lad does indeed have a modest record though. It is very difficult to pick up decent overseas players at the moment to be fair, like we've all said.

I'd have probably given Liam Guthrie, currently playing in the 2's, a go instead. He has a bit more pedigree, come through an extremely strong WA pathway in Aus and took a 6fer for QLD in the Sheffield Shield only a couple of months ago, he's also a left armer who i know definitely bowls high 80's.

Rae looks like a Gavin Larsen signing.

Didn't know this about Zaman Akhtar, we are becoming an increasingly odd run club though, who seems to miss out on talent right under our noses quite a lot.

I wish Michael Rae well though, hope he's quick, we're crying out for a bit of pace. Jamal looks like a bit of a trundler let's be honest.

Guthrie is rapid.

OK, we essentially released Olly Stone at the end of the 2022 season, yes he was injury prone (overall record suggests he played a little more than people remember, he was never like Norwell is now), but he didn't need to play every game to have a positive impact on the season.

Craig Miles in 2022 played 7 red ball games and took 11 wickets at an average of 63 (imagine the reaction if Brookes turned in figures that bad?!) and got given a 3 year contract.

We rewarded garbage and released quality.

Squad management has been poor for ages now.

Re. Recruitment. We've no margin for error here because we don't have a steady, sustainable pipeline of seamers coming through the pathway to back up the 1st team squad. The cupboard has never been so bare in that regard. Means that everytime we sign a bowler we need them to hit the ground running. An almost impossible expectation, recruitment is so tricky