Or you could have both group winners automatically qualifying for finals day, 3rd and 4th play each other from the other group, then the winner of those two matches play 2nd place for a spot at finals day. Really incentivises finishing top then. Keeps the same number of matches as now too

The issue is that if he was needed by England today, then he should have been needed yesterday as well. It’s also the inconsistency - we all know that if it was the other way round and Woakes wasn’t playing for England, that he wouldn’t have been able to play for us. I know woakes has a central contract, but that shouldn’t make a difference in this situation really.

BristolBear wrote:

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.

Most of those are expected international call-ups though, which you can plan for. I don’t think the impact of Hassan’s unexpected call-up can be overstated. I think without that, we make finals day. Our pace bowling attack has definitely been our weakness this season and needs to be addressed.

Ultimately, as others have said, we have been shafted by the format of the competition where you could win 14 out of 15 games and not make it to finals day. I know that we benefitted from this in 2014, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t change.

“Dan left the field on Sunday and didn’t return after getting struck on the right hand whilst bowling,” said Larsen.

“He required stitches between the webbing of his ring finger and little finger and will be closely monitored by our medical team. We remain optimistic about his availability for Thursday’s quarter-final.“

Doesn’t sound like it’s certain for Mousley.

Mousley split the webbing according to Rhodes.

I think with Worcestershire and Durham tying and Lancashire being washed out, we are guaranteed a home quarter final no matter what happens here…

Will we be helped or hindered by DL here? It’ll reduce the number of runs needed but also increase the RRR

Yep, same umpire and I’m certain that wasn’t out. Literally the ball before we saw how much it’s swinging, and it’s hit him outside leg stump. Very poor call.

Fair point. Hales was out by that point though. Anyway, going much better now

Why not give Mousley or Maxwell a go though, as we have in other matches? They’ve usually been successful in the powerplay

Why is Brookes bowling two overs in the powerplay?! Ok, he got a wicket but he has consistently shown that he can’t bowl 6 good balls in a row.

In fairness, I think the club have been ahead of other clubs on the diversity and inclusivity front for a few years now. I’m sure there’s more that could be done though.

It’s a bit frustrating, as it seems like we weren’t far off being in a winning position. 50 more runs in the first innings, or 50 less for them and we’d have had a shout.

Seems like a bizarre decision to include Tongue ahead of Woakes, to me.

Well at least we haven’t yet collapsed in the second innings as I expected us to. The turn that Critchley and Harmer are getting is worrying though!

It’s ok, this is all a tactic so that we’ll be able to bowl last on this pitch - get bowled out cheaply, follow on, get a lead and then skittle them…..

Wouldn’t surprise me if they select him for the Lord’s test, given his record there. Not sure how that would affect his Blast availability though.

Hassan for Brookes the only change? Win this and we must be almost guaranteed qualification and a home quarter final

Yeah unfortunately I just have no faith in Brookes at the moment. Even when they needed 24 from 4 balls I thought he would bowl a full toss above waist height that would be hit for six, and then we’d lose. Fortunately we scraped over the line but that might not happen next time.

You’re probably right, I was only half watching! Either way, it’s not great