Also, how does anyone think that reducing the amount of time that the players play (i.e. reducing the amount of practice they get) will make them better?

white-lightning wrote:

Good win today. Well done to Chris Benjamin. Why did Hain miss today's game? Hopefully it's not anything serious?

"A hip niggle. Nothing to worry about" according to the social media

Another good effort with the bat. We have real depth in the batting this season

Whisper it quietly but I think we have quite a good T20 side this year…

We’ve been lacking explosive batsmen at the top of the order for a while now, and I know it’s early days but Stirling certainly fits the bill (and Davies, although he failed today). And we still had Hose, Brathwaite and Benjamin to bat today as well!

Exiled Bear wrote:

I don't think this rain delay is going to help us.

Or maybe it will 😆

Restart at 8pm, 16 over match

I don't think this rain delay is going to help us.

Squad:

Carlos Brathwaite (C)
Chris Benjamin
Jacob Bethell
Danny Briggs
Ethan Brookes
Henry Brookes
Alex Davies
Sam Hain
Olly Hannon-Dalby
Adam Hose
Jake Lintott
Craig Miles
Paul Stirling

I doubt that the departure of Welch is the sole cause of the poor bowling performances, although I'm sure that it's contributing a bit. Perhaps last season our bowlers collectively over-performed, or maybe the conditions are less favourable this season? I can't remember what the conditions were like at the start of last season but it's been pretty dry this year so far. At this point in the year last season we had played 6, won 2, drawn 3 and lost 1, so if we can draw this one the only difference will be one extra draw instead of a win. Of course, with the different format this year that leaves us much further behind and with a lot more to do in the second half of the season. I suspect that the break in the championship for the Blast has come at a good time for us.

Agreed, Davies is naturally an attacking player so would be more suited to a role down the order, when he’s facing bowlers that are more tired (in theory, assuming we don’t lose four wickets in the first 10 overs…)

Early season pitches usually aren't great for spinners. The only spinner with more wickets than Briggs in Division 1 at the moment is Matt Parkinson.

Apparently the ball this season is a bit different - the seam is less pronounced. This is one theory as to why scores so far this season have generally been high

This is embarrassing

A good fightback this afternoon. We could easily have been looking at a 100-200 run deficit

I agree that Rhodes has enough credit in the bank. It would be great if he could find some form soon though.

He is, but needs to get some overs in for the 2nds first

Squad:

Will Rhodes (C)
Chris Benjamin
Danny Briggs
Michael Burgess
Alex Davies
Sam Hain
Olly Hannon-Dalby
Matt Lamb
Jake Lintott
Nathan McAndrew
Craig Miles
Dom Sibley
Rob Yates

Still no Norwell, so I would guess that it’ll be the same team as the Somerset game.

GerryShedd wrote:

Somerset had actually lost their last seven County Championship matches.
My Deep Extra Cover colleague Harry Everett, who has been commentating on the live feed, obviously enjoyed the change of fortunes:
https://deepextracover.com/2022/04/somerset-finally-break-their-losing-streak-beating-warwickshire-inside-3-days-at-taunton/

I played cricket with Harry while I was living in Exeter and know quite a few Somerset supporters through that team (including Annie Chave, I’m not sure if anyone follows her on twitter or subscribes to County Cricket Matters - I’d recommend doing both). One slight positive for me is that this defeat came against Somerset, rather than a team like Surrey or Essex!

Might Woakes be in contention for this one? He was apparently due to play in the Somerset game but had one or two niggles

It seems that McAndrew can bat, at least