BristolBear
Member
I’m not sure I’d be writing Johal off after one poor season.
I thought he was pretty good last year. Didn’t set the world alight but more than held his own and didn’t look out of place when in the first team.
I’d more ask, why have so many of our bowlers taken a step backwards.
You’d argue the only 2 that haven’t are Norwell and OHD. And Norwell hasn’t been available. It’s noticeable they’re the most experienced, so coaching probably has the least impact on them.
Is this the impact of the new bowling coach? Maybe a full off season is needed rather than the turning up after the start of the season. Hard to work on things during the season. Not ideal to not have a top bowling coach in the off season, and pretty poor by Robinson to push Welch out the door.
What do people think of the Barnard signing? I’ll admit to not having gone out of my way to watch much of him. But what I have seen, he looks reliable if not world beating.
I got the feeling he’s going to offer the consistency Bresnan sometimes lacked in his time with us. He’s probably not going to win many games single handedly, but will always contribute something. He seems to have had no fitness issues so far, which for our bowling attack is a big plus.
I think the point about the youngsters is very poignant. We have a lot of players who we’ve seen glimpses of potential, or been told how talented they are for a while but don’t seem to get the opportunity they would elsewhere. Now obviously they can’t all play at once, but to me it seems that Ethan Brookes, Johal, Garrett, Mousley, and Bethell are all in the exact same place they were 2 years ago when we first started seeing some of them. The only one to have really progressed is Yates, and that’s been stunted this year.
It’s too early to properly judge Smith, Shaikh and Maddy, but you don’t want the same stagnation of their progress.
GerryShedd wrote:
I am amazed by some of the negativity on here. We were short (by my count) of 15 players today, had two sixteen year olds and a seventeen year old and didn't quite win.
Overall, with the resources that we had I thought we did well to come so close to qualifying - but maybe I'm just a naive fool.
Anyway, here's my report:
https://deepextracover.com/2022/08/warwickshire-v-somerset-royal-london-one-day-cup-edgbaston-stadium/
I believe between England, The Hundred and Injury Somerset were down 16 players. Also considering that we had the club captain, a test opener, 2 very experienced bowlers on OHD and Norwell, plus a player touted for an England call up in Yates, (not even counting a seasoned pro in Lamb), experience was definitely on our side. We can point to young players, but their young players outperformed ours. An 18 year old scored 90 and was the backbone of their innings.
Also factor in they had nothing to play for and had lost all their games, it’s not a pretty picture. They just played better, and considering the 2 sides, that shouldn’t have been the case.
The batting without Pandya and Burgess was rather toothless. Just really lacked any drive. Happy to stack up dots, didn’t seem to be any impetus.
It’s easy to say we had 3 teenagers, but they didn’t do much. Their 18 year old scored 90, and was the backbone of their innings.
Think we go through without the injuries, so some bad luck involved too.
As a positive now there’s a longer rest period for Burgess to be fit for the championship, plus some time off for Norwell, OHD and Rhodes. Would be handy to get the players like Hain, Bethell, Davies who are at the bottom of the hundred table before the semis and get in the nets, rather than not be allowed to be released until after the final.
This season will now be defined by whether we stay up, but it’s hard not to be pessimistic. The club seems to have no long term cricketing plan, and there’s too many rumblings from behind the scenes, and established players leaving, to think it’s just nothing.
113 off 16 overs. Up at 7’s now.
I think we’re struggling to manipulate the field, would like to see us pushing into the gaps more and pressuring fielders. Instead we seem to think we can rely on boundaries, but we’re not hitting them.
I’m tentative in saying this because it could easily come back to bite me in the county championship match in September. But is there a player who has dropped off more in the last couple of years than Steven Davies?
Averaging 16 in the CC this year, didn’t play T20, averaging 9 in the RLODC.
He’s 36, contract ends next season, they’ve got Rew there who turns 19 in the winter. I wonder if we can expect this season or next to be his last.
Highveld wrote:
I'm sure some here will be devestated!
Shame as was actually making a positive contribution to the side, when he was fit.
He seemed to be exactly what you want from an overseas. Contributed well, in his case with bat and ball, rose to the challenge with the ball in the big moments too, and most crucially he seemed to be a leader on the pitch, always really passionate about what he was doing.
Wouldn’t be against him as a T20 overseas next year.
Am I right in thinking that if it’s rained off or a tie, we don’t go through because of Net Run rate?
Bugger.
That’s no front line spinner for the knock outs if we get through.
Lucky tomorrows match is at Edgbaston not Ciderabad.
Would be very handy to get Bethell or Mousley off the bench of one of the Hundred teams.
If he was trying to bat the other day I can’t see it being the season. Though maybe he might not be able to keep for the rest of the season.
I suspect both Burgess and Pandya won’t play against Somerset. But I think they’ll be available for the quarter finals. Otherwise at least for Pandya he would have just gone home.
For Durham they obviously loose Lees, Potts and Stokes to England. 3 to the hundred. Plus Wood is injured. They save Rushworth for CC. They have Eckersley out too. Plus in the CC they rely heavily on Bedingham and Petersen as overseas too who aren’t playing in this competition. Probably fair to assume another injury or 2 to players we wouldn’t be familiar with. So whilst it’s not all the hundred, they’re lacking a lot of players for various reasons.
Think whatever happens against Somerset I just can’t see us winning the competition. Our bowling isn’t good enough against good teams, especially without a front line spinner. Also without Pandya and Burgess we lack a top order batsman who can consistently go at more than a run a ball.
Pitch seems a weird one. Not a bad pitch to bat on as it were, but a hard pitch to score runs on.
The sort of surface where you could bat out the draw very comfortably, but never go above 2 an over.
From what I’ve heard it’s a combination of some players feeling selections don’t reflect performance and clear favourites of the DoC and coach; some players have been asked to play with knocks and niggles, whilst others are rested and protected; this has also resulted in some players feeling that the CC has been devalued as players were rested or held back in the CC but played in T20 matches; and finally the feeling that newly signed players especially those with a white ball focus have been much better treated than those who have been at the club for a while.
What you don’t want is a situation where they chase the T20 so much you end up with a bunch of white ball mercenaries, who won’t help younger players progress, and won’t be round long enough to care about the club.
I’m very 50/50 on this. He impressed on the original Indian tour but that was against a very poor England side, with zero confidence.
But, he is consistent, has the extra pace that can cause havoc, and is an intelligent cricketer. Time will tell, and results will be the ultimate factor.
I made my 3 suggested changes based on clear issues that are not going to disappear. Not just impulse.
I’d change the captaincy as I don’t believe Rhodes is a great strategic captain in terms of fielding and bowling decisions. I also believe it is negatively effecting his performances this season. He can contribute more as a player and his batting has been down the last 2 seasons.
As for the director of cricket, I don’t want someone at the club who doesn’t want to be there. Fairly consistent rumour is that Farbrace wants out, he wants to coach again. It’s well known he lost out to Silverwood for the Sri Lanka job, and is looking for a head coaching role. How can someone be in charge of the long term running of the club if they’re not planning on being there. Also both his domestic and overseas recruitment have been decidedly patchy, and the pathway hasn’t exactly been churning out players. Plus squad planning has been poor, we can argue injuries but we also all know Woakes, Norwell, Miles and Stone have well known injury issues and last years run of fitness was more luck than skill. So having a bowling unit so reliant on those players is very naive.
Robinson seems to have created a big divide in the dressing room, and I’m not entirely sure how big a role he played last year. It was Troughtons squad. We’re losing players this season like Hose and Sibley. Also his character pushed Welch out the door as Welch couldn’t work for him and we’ve seen the effect that’s had on the team. He also has apparently alienated a number of players this season, who are unhappy with their treatment. Rumours are abound about Lamb being gone this season, and Rhodes, Burgess, OHD and even Hain going into their final years next year.
So it’s not impulsive, I think the club is in a very unstable place, lacking a clear plan, with the 3 figure heads in very different places with very different priorities, and it’s at the long term detriment of the club.
1) Captain
2) The coach
3) The director of cricket
180 needed off 14. We’ve barely made an attempt to chase this. Truly bizarre.
Have been saying the same this whole tournament. Without Pandya and Burgess we really lack that ability to drive the score. Even when they don’t hit the fence, they push the running between the wickets. The others don’t quite have that same ability to hit big or push the fielders. Smith seems that sort of cricketer though, so will be interesting how he goes.
Sibley on the other hand seems to be of the belief we can bat out for the draw.
Tayls79 wrote:
I have just seen Micky B in the nets while queing for a coffee. Looked to be hitting well but grimacing and grinning in equal measure. I don't think he'll miss much CC but not sure how he'll go today.
Interesting Lamb is in at 4, suspect that’s entirely to do with Burgess not being fit. You wonder if it’s a case of Burgess only batting if we can win, and not risking him if we need 150 off 10.
More concerned about how bad the injury is. Whether he’s going to be able to bat or if he’s out for some time. Don’t need him missing for the championship matches.