At least Malan is consistent.
It wasn’t the best but sometimes you just need to find a way to win. Especially in this format.

Exiled Bear wrote:

Isn’t Brookes injured?

He is indeed, a thigh injury I believe. Otherwise he’s definitely in this side. Was excellent in this competition last year. The faster they get him back fully fit, the better.

Apparently the ECB medical and fitness staff were present and spent a lot of time with Woakes during the second team match he bowled in.
The decision to leave him out was from the ECB, though they have potentially cleared him for the next 2 matches.
Conveniently, he has also just been named in England’s T20 squad.

Excellent performance by all. Great win.

1 thing, I would like to see Brookes back ASAP. If that had been closer, I’d be concerned about who’d bowl the death overs. Brookes was so good at that last year.

I would love to know what’s gone on with Woakes. This is his chance to shine. All the other England white ball players are playing except him. Notts will have Hales tonight.
It’s very strange.

About 15-20 runs short.
Actually didn’t look the easiest pitch to bat on for either side.
Tough start, on to the next one.

Completely agree. It said he had only started bowling yesterday, which is a head scratcher. Even though he didn’t play much this winter, he was at least training, he was then playing in the IPL, and they said he’d been training and bowling at Edgbaston weeks ago. I can’t quite understand how he’s not conditioned enough to play T20.
You’d assume if there was an injury they’d just say so too.

The commentary alongside the feeds definitely gets a lot more biased and ill informed come the T20’s than the county championship.
Somerset are the worst for me; but this Yorkshire lot aren’t far behind.

Seems familiar. Top order wickets and an overseas missing out. Need a set batsman or 2 for the middle 10, coming in against Rashid and Ferguson is so difficult.
What I will say is this is about as tough a starting match as they could get. Yorkshire at Yorkshire, full of so many England players, and Woakes still not playing. Let’s see how it goes, but this was always a long shot.

The side is:
Pollock
Hose
Rhodes
Hain
Brathwaite
Mousley
Burgess
Bresnan
Briggs
Miles
Lintott

Ethan Brookes and OHD miss out.

Yorkshire stuffed with star names, including Bairstow, Malan, Rashid, Willey, and Ferguson. This could be a tough one.

I understand Malan. They’ve clearly decided only 1 overseas per format. They want as much exposure for the younger players. It would be huge if they won something this year, but after this it’s time to expect things, and by seeing what the players are made of this year when they’re competing at the sharp end, they know exactly where the holes are for overseas or recruitment next year.

But no Woakes! What is going on?!?!? Yorkshire have Malan and Bairstow who are also England contracted and in the IPL. Not to mention Rashid and David Willey.

Benjamin’s issue is that by all accounts he struggles in red ball. And then in white ball, in the kindest sense, he struggles to make tough runs. If the bowling isn’t great and the pitch is flat he’ll score plenty. If it’s top bowlers or a tough deck, he doesn’t. Those were what brought him down at Essex.

It would be good to finally get a back up keeper on staff though. It does make me nervous.

Interesting no Burgess, Briggs or Lintott today.
Malan kept in the second game, and finally scored some runs. Suspect he is the back up keeping option behind Burgess.

Woakes plays in the first game! As does Rhodes, Brathwaite, OHD, Hose, Mousley, Lamb and Bresnan of the potential starting 11.
Expect to see Pollock and Hain in the second, also Burgess with Lintott and Briggs to get back into keeping against them in white ball.

Be interesting to see who plays in this now. If the Derby match had gone 4 days, no chance for that team. But with it ending in 2 and a half days; players like Rhodes, Briggs, Burgess and Hain might play a match each.

So attention turns to this now. Due to the Test match, it’s almost a case of the first 7 matches are away, and the second 7 at home.
It will be a good chance for some of the other players get involved and see our other overseas Brathwaite. I suspect Woakes will be available for the first few, with the ECB getting him ready for Sri Lanka, and lining him up for the T20 World Cup.
With Brookes apparently injured currently, I think the first side will look like this:
Pollock
Rhodes
Hose
Hain
Lamb
Burgess
Woakes
Brathwaite
Bresnan
Briggs
Lintott/Norwell (depending on the pitch)

Clearly very bowler friendly conditions throughout the 3 days, buts it’s a comfortable win and a job well done. Got the win, got a few bonus points, puts the club in an excellent position to get through to the top group.
What I would say is that the following 3 innings, show how good the first innings was, and that Hains and Burgess’s 70’s we’re equivalent to centuries in tough conditions.

I suspect this lead should already be too much on a pitch clearly offering a lot to the bowlers, if Warwickshire bowl well. It’s not just swing and seam, but a few batsmen appear to have been undone by extra bounce too.
Just a case of batting as long as possible now, take up some time, keep their batsmen in the field, and make that target as imposing as possible.

Definitely nice to see Hose get runs. He’d been the only one who hadn’t really contributed with the bat so far in these matches.
Lintott bowling well bodes nicely for the start of the T20’s too.

The pitch has got quite a green tinge to it, it’s moving in the air and off the pitch, so no doubt it’s a bowling wicket.
But they need to know they’ve got a day to score 150. Get a 300 run lead, take up some time, let the bowlers put their feet up and you’d expect them to win this.