That is interesting actually. And of those 4, three are solely batsmen, though Davies kept in the T20, Yates pretty much doesn’t move from slip. Mousley is also usually in the cordon.
I can understand Burgess, he’s kept in every match, champs & T20. Plus we’ve done some long days in the dirt recently. So can understand why he’d be tired. Heard a rumour he’s had a bad back too, which is why he’s regularly getting painkillers sent out to him in the field.
Suspect that’s why he and OHD have been rested for the One Day Cup warm up against Wales.

I think the glaring issue is that we have only played one overseas at a time. And as much as I liked Ali, Maxwell and Hamza, and they did an ok job. None has blown sides away.
Surrey have played 3 at times this year (2 technically by the rules). But they’ve been able to play Worrall plus 2 of Abbot, Latham & Roach at various times this year.
Lancashire have been able to play 2 of Mitchell, Williams and Villas. Hampshire with Abbot and Abbas. Essex with Harmer and Bracewell. Even Kent have Singh and Stewart.

Even those that have only played 1, their contribution as a difference maker has been better, look at Henry for Somerset.

It’s definitely tougher to get a top batting overseas, but if other teams have been able to recruit a Latham or a Pujara, you’ve got to think we’d be able to get one too. But needs to be top quality, not another Pieter Malan.

Awkwardly though, if you were to bring in an overseas batsman, the person whose place would be most at risk is Will Rhodes.
But a team of say:
Yates
Davies
Latham/Pujara/A.N Other
Hain
Mousley
Barnard
Burgess
Briggs
Ali/A.N Other
Rushworth/Brookes
OHD/Norwell

Would be a real tough proposition for any side. Also don’t think we can underestimate how good Norwell is at this level, and we’ve recruited like he’s going to play. But I think we need to accept that’s not the case and perhaps take a similar approach as Surrey with our bowlers. Stockpile and rotate. As we’ve often been left with an attack that doesn’t have that real point of difference that Norwell offers.

A very good day all things considered. Frustrating that on a pitch that is so hard to bat on, Rhodes and Mousley have given away their wickets after doing the hard work well.
With Barnard and Burgess still to come, plus maybe Brookes swinging hard. We’ve got plenty of batting to out a decent target on the board.

In regards to out ground cricket I just think some places do it better than others. Scarborough is excellent, I’ve really enjoyed Cheltenham, Arundel and the old Whitgift festival in the past. Liverpool, Guildford and Merchant Taylors are really rather poor.

But equally, there are some grounds where what’s put on for fans during CC matches is shocking. Old Trafford is very inhospitable, almost everything closed, stands closed. Bristol not much better in my experience. Whereas the Oval, Hove and Chelmsford are very pleasant with full access, plenty of amenities or easy to walk down the road to grab a bite at lunch or tea.

I think we got a bit unlucky that they managed to build that score. Umpires screwed us badly.
Davies and Simpson were both out but not given multiple times early in their innings. If they’re out early as they should have been, they don’t bat those 20 overs between them. So De Caires and Higgins come in on a tougher pitch, newer ball etc. and they probably struggle the same way we did. It was clear it got easier to bat the older the ball got and as the pitch dried more through the day.

The keeper and slips seem to keep pointing to something Jennings is doing with feet when he’s coming down. That’s what OHD was pointing at too.

Suspect they’re all very unhappy with some of the decisions that have gone against them this morning.
Would be interested to know what it was all about.

I know it’s probably evened out because of the Wells dismissal.
But the Burgess decision was poor. Clearly doesn’t hit it.
Looks like the umpires gave into the appeal.

Been a fair few other questionable decisions this match.

Andy wrote:

Honestly irrespective of the 2 wickets, Barnard has bowled consistently very well here, beat the bat so many times.

This is probably the best he’s bowled all year. Just seems to have a bit more zip today.

I’m not sure Barnard has really hit his straps this season. Seen glimpses with the bat. Not too much with the ball.

I don’t think they will, but I’d be tempted to leave him and Bethell out. Suspect it’ll be Brookes and Bethell though.

Looks like the forecast has improved dramatically for the next couple of days.
Some interesting comments from OHD about the kookaburra ball, I’d completely forgotten we were using one. Suspect it’ll be a case of try and bat the entire day, give the bowlers some time with their feet up. Score as many as we can, not like we’re short of batting.

Not sure we’ll get much play tomorrow if the forecast is right.
But in a great position. Time to get as many batting points as possible and only bat once.

Going to risk saying this now before the inevitable collapse, but I think it’s a much flatter pitch than they made it look. They chose to bat for a reason.
Thought we bowled well on it, got some bounce, a bit of movement in the air with the new ball, but nothing extravagant or that you’d expect to leave a team 70 odd for 7. I think they batted poorly. Gave away their wickets often.
The scoring shots they managed to play from the top order and Stewart, show it’s a decent pitch. You can trust the bounce, hit through the line and it comes on nicely.
If the openers keep going like this, after tea if we lose a wicket I’d be tempted to send in Maxwell or Burgess. See if we can be level or ahead by the end of the day, and minimise the effect of the forecast rain tomorrow.

Think Lintott missing out for Maxwell says everything you need to know about how Robinson views Lintotts red ball bowling.

Am I missing something? Hain is part of the 12 named, at least the picture I just checked on Twitter names him in the squad, the website says he’s back too, it’s Mousley who’s out because of his hand.
I could see Bethell not playing with Hain back.
Maxwell fitting in at 5 or 6 instead of Mousley.

Weather suggests fine and sunny today, pretty poor the next 2 days.

Benjamin strikes me as one of those players who burst onto the scene and was great whilst people didn’t really know him. But now there’s lots of video on him, with teams doing lots of video analysis now, he’s clearly struggled a lot more.
He’s great on a flat deck, with the ball coming on nicely, not moving in the air (who isn’t), but if it’s tricky he just isn’t the guy in red or white ball.

I don’t think there’s a big difference at all between the 2 groups. If you look at the Lancashire side for example, they’re stacked but could lose to a stacked Surrey team.
We should have had the talent to win that match. I think part of it is a mental issue. After so many failures at the same stage it starts to weigh on you.
But I think it’s also the type of batsman we have. We have players who have flashes of brilliance followed by 3 games of nothing. And that means the odds of them not performing in a one off game, are much higher than them coming off. This is survivable in the group stages, but bites hard in the knockouts, especially when other teams raise their game.

Andy wrote:

Hose and Burgess played in previous seasons and previous quarter finals losses so what are you saying here averages aside? What are their strike rates like?

I think when you consider the international call ups we've had to contend with and then injuries I think it's been a great effort to make the quarter finals.

I'll make more comment on tonight's game later, my mind is scrambled!

Just that we have a lot of players who are very inconsistent and seem to be getting by on reputation rather than performance. And in knock out matches inconsistency is what kills you.

In regards to international call ups, didn’t we all agree we were better without Moeen? Now we’re using it as an excuse. We never have Woakes, we have accepted that same as Durham don’t have Wood and Stokes. Worcestershire don’t have Tongue. Yorkshire don’t have Root, Bairstow and Brook. It’s part of the game.
Same with injuries, every side has them. We have one of the biggest squads, we should be able to deal with it.
We need to rethink a couple of places in that batting line up. Benjamin is probably the most vulnerable.

Another year. Another choke in the quarter finals.
If Essex could run properly between the wickets it wouldn’t have even been close. Let alone their massive attempt to blow it in the last 2 overs.
The batting is just too Hain reliant. Need someone else to pitch in consistently.
Just seen a stat that sums it up really: 2 players that we let leave the club entirely and on loan this season in Hose and Burgess both averaged more than all our batsmen except Hain and Yates.
So Mousley, Davies, Maxwell, Moeen, Bethell, Benjamin, Barnard. For all the hype, this supposedly star studded line up, averaged less than 2 players we deemed surplus to requirements. That’s a bit embarrassing if you’re Robinson.
Even worse when you consider they were playing in sides that are considered weaker.

Feel desperately for Olly.
But you start to wonder how mental it is. You start looking for things that other bowlers might ignore. Struggle to bowl through minor issues because you’re scared of the huge injury.
I know there’s those that suspect that might be Norwells problem last year.

Think we’re definitely seeing why this is OHDs first T20 match of the season.
I’d like to see Davies stood up to him though. Would give the batsman something else to think about.

Out of interest does anyone know the general make up of our squad in terms of private vs state educated?