Yeah 2 very good innings. He needed it too as it seemed he was starting to get criticism.

Can't wait for next week

Theses lot get ever so indignant!

I haven't said he doesn't get in. If he has a good pre season and shows form he'll be in, I'd hate to think he just walks in though. Yates, Sibley, Hain and Rhodes will most probably start the season all being well. Overseas batsman, maybe? We only normally pick 5 batsman early season, keeper at 6 and have the extra seamer. Is Davies gonna keep? Does Burgess keep the gloves and bat 6? We have lots of batting options now. Does Benjamin stay in 4 day contention? Does Lamb continue his improvement? Mousley will be challenging for a spot. This is a good thing, we have proper competition for places. We were in a situation years back where it seemed certain batsmen came in and were untouchable.

GerryShedd wrote:

FuerteventuraBear wrote:

Hain faced 2 balls and was out twice.

A king pair for Sam; and also a pair today at Taunton for Tom Abell.
Hain and Abell - an almost biblical quadruple failure.

This amused more than it should have !

Cold?

I don't think he necessarily walks straight into our 4day side.

Massive that at the end from Brez.

Yeah we've shown some character, shame we had to come off as it looked as though Miles had just found a nice bit of rhythm.

They mentioned during the Test series that for the past 4 or so years bowlers have been putting the ball in the right areas with more consistency than at any other time since they started tracking this kind of thing. We're in a bit of a golden era for seam bowling at all levels I think.

Pitches are definitely spicier, most counties are leaving a bit on it now in red ball and produce absolute roads in white ball cricket. And if your playing the majority of your red ball cricket in April/May and September the bowlers are always going to be in the game in quite a big way. It's why England are struggling to produce a quality spinner, the time of year we play is just not conducive to dry pitches and gradually wear and encourage spin bowling.

I think batsmen play (and leave) swing bowling well, unless it's late swing. Seam movement, that bit of nibble, is a nightmare though. Ben Coad has got a serious first class record and I bet he don't bowl much quicker than 78mph. Any seam movement though he finds it.

white-lightning wrote:

coolerking wrote:

Is it the pitch? Or great bowling? Or bad batting?

The same pattern for years: Basically bad batting.

No. Last week was bad batting. This is genuinely tough batting conditions. Headingley, particularly when the clouds are in, is a great bowl first ground.

India (not a bad team) got rolled here batting first a fortnight ago.

It's very odd that Yates, Briggs and Holder have been named in the squad not even 24 hours ago but not selected in the XI. I can see how Holder might be dropped. I can perhaps see how Briggs might miss out for tactical reasons at a stretch. Yates though...

Woakes is in. Johal drops out of the 13.

Away at Yorkshire. Any changes? Brez in? Holder out? Woakes in?!

Good luck to him. He may very well end up doing great for them. He was never gonna be anymore than a t20 opener for us though, and he was hanging onto that by a thread. Davies will be opening next year and Yates has so much more upside all round than him.

Worcestershire might use him down the order to replace the departing Ross Whiteley.

Hi Phil,

A) Skyline and Tom Dollery have good views of the pitch. There's a bar in the Dollery that's open every match. The Dollery is accessible for all members for all domestic games.

B) Priority window should be enough I'd have thought, I don't go international fixtures. Shouldn't be an issue.

C) Sit pretty much wherever you like anywhere in the ground for virtually all domestic fixtures. If there is a dress code I'm not aware of it. I'm normally cutting about the place in t-shirt and shorts. Occasionally a vest. Yeah drink wherever. I think there is an alcohol free stand (Family Stand), most grounds have them now I believe.

D) I'm not sure what you mean mate. If Bears get to the Quarter Finals of the Blast for example, members can purchase tickets for that game. In 2015 members got to attend that fixture for free.

E) Yeah you can bring guests into members areas. I've done it myself with 1 or 2 mates on various occasions.

Exiled Bear wrote:

The reaction of some of our "fans" (particularly on Facebook) when we lose is bizarre. They seem to expect us to win every game and think it's a failure otherwise. Sure, we probably should have won this game, and the batting at times was poor, but we've qualified for the first division and are going into the last two matches with a decent chance of winning the Championship, which is far above my expectations for the season!

The reaction on social media whenever we lose is always absolutely crazy.

2nd new ball is the game tomorrow.

Malc wrote:

Dear me Paul, cheer up a bit.

We could still win this game - I think we will. We qualified for the top group of the CC. Watching some of the young lads come through has been so exciting. Yes, the T20 QF was disappointing, but we did still re@ch the knockout stage. The injuries to key players has been devastating at times. The RLC was a brilliant tournament with some ‘development’ players.

Cheer up, pal. Come and sit in block 16/17 today and I’ll share a banana and a cuppa with you 👍.

PS There’s more to the departure of KB to Hampshire than you’ve suggested.

Yes plenty of positives.

Think Hose could also be struggling at some point. He's 29 in October and nowhere near the 4day side.