paulbear wrote:

Yes, I can only agree with how good it is to see us making runs without Hain. Thought Maxwell was going to go big last night, that's always the problem with being one six-hit away from a landmark, the temptation to get it with one hit but he did play well and kept the impetus of the innings going. Not sure what the crowd numbers were last night but I am sure some of the 'Bearboffins' we have out there will know.

After the performance last night is there room for Sam Hain ???????? Only joking but there is an argument for sticking to a team that scores in excess of 200 and wins by a big margin.

The crowd looked big on you tube - the Hollies looked absolutely packed and the bar takings must have been exceptional.

From my distant armchair I get the impression with Brookes he is not coping when under pressure - has looked vulnerable bowling at the death or when he has been tanked. As a result when watching last night I was surprised he was given the ball for the last over especially as the spinners had really got the better of the batsmen.

Must comment on THAT catch - quite simply the best I have ever seen. Even the Yorkshire commentators asked for it to be shown again - praise indeed!!

mad wrote:

I'm thinking this past week has been a strong reason we should return to one single 18 team county championship. Firstly the format itself when played with no fear just kicks the crap out of any of the shorter format flotsam and jetsam.

Secondly, if and I say if the result no longer matters and it's entertainment that is THE key thing and if it's okay for England to lose 5-0 this series - so long as we've been entertaining - then I see no reason whatsoever why county cricket cannot return to the glory days of one single division 17 rounds of 4-day fixtures loads of festival grounds being used to host the matches no relegation so all youngsters can be given carte blanche to show what they can do and everyone have a similarly jolly time watching county cricket as 25,000 were able to yesterday

Grasp this opportunity while we can. County CHAMPIONSHIP CRICKET is the next best thing to what unfolded these past 5 days and must be restored to the centrepiece of the domestic season immediately.

I agree about the merits of the 4 day game but would prefer a 2 division of 9 teams playing home and away. However, the one day game is here to stay and will always draw the bigger crowd. The T20 has proved its popularity and should be the white ball game of choice. The trouble is the ECB have tried to cram in too many formats and keep trying to reinvent it (the Hundread being the latest with city teams). If the 18 counties played just CC and T20 both in a 2 division league structure with a T20 Finals day to end the one day season a simple fixture list would tell people when to expect games.

Should ALL Ashes games be played at Edgbaston? We do seem to produce the nailbiters!!!

Interestingly scores were neck and neck at 6 overs, 10 overs and 15 overs. Once again our performance in the final 5 (69 scored) won us the game

Interestingly scores were neck and neck at 6 overs, 10 overs and 15 overs. Once again our performance in the final 5 (69 scored) won us the game

Given how much these games will bring to the area should the club not ask for a contribution such as reducing the debt the club has to the city

bad light halting our march. Should have put the spinners on.

Looking that was,mad, 3 wickets down and still over 500 behind!!

BristolBear wrote:

Totally agree with the declaration seeming odd. The only thing I can think of is Rushworth came back and said that it was very flat and we’d need all the time we could get.

It’s looking very hard going for the bowlers already. But I’ll be interested to see how Briggs goes.

Nah! Both openers gone still over 500 behind - some really tight bowling

Not sure why OHD came out faced 2 balls and then next over Burgess faced a couple before declaring. A great score though - let's see if OHD et al can turn them over now

Should someone tell Hassan this is not a one day game? 50 off 35 balls !! Excellent parnership with Burgess

With rain expected around 3 should we declare over lunch ?

Due to being out for the evening I missed the game live. So later on and watched it from the beginning. Seeing how most of our wickets fell trying to hit the ball in to Cannon Hill Park I very nearly switched the TV off at the interval. Thank goodness I didn't - some superb all round bowling and fielding and has been said virtually all the wickets were achieved through skillful bowling. As a critic of him so far I will say Moeen's bowling was of the highest order.

I think it's time Sam Hain came clean and tell us what he has done to upset the England selectors !! Absolutely incredible he keeps being overlooked. BB - I hope you are right and I hope that "great moment" comes next match.

It seemed to me when Moeen got the first wicket there was just a "polite" coming together of the players with some high fives. Previous games when a wicket fell there seemed to be an enthusiastic coming together of the team with real meaningful high fiving. Did anyone see it that way or is it me being picky?

Actually Miles 18th Over only cponceeding 8 runs put us in a winning position with 34 runs needed by Derbys. It was the next over by Woakes that did it for us conceeding 20 runs. But should we have had fast bowlers on at the death ?
Breaking their opening partnership was a bit bizarre.

All in all very disappointing.

I might be on my own but I hope he does go to England. We can return to the balanced side that won the first 4 games in the Blast. I feel his arrival has upset the balance of the side including dropping Yates just so he can open the batting. And let's face it he has contributed very little in the two games. If he does go off to England then if he returns later on it should be solely as a member of the team and not as captain.

BristolBear wrote:

Really sums up the state of English spin bowling if we do go back to Moeen though.

That would be through playing red ball cricket in spring and autumn. Plus in white ball it's 4 over max with the main aim to stop the opposition scoring.

Well if England call up Moeen we can get back to picking our unbeaten team!

Streetly_Bear wrote:

We did score 200+ today though. Although I didn’t think we would and we left it too late to attack. Hain was sublime and without him we would be in a mess.

For me today the difference was one of their ‘big’ players scored big. Hales failed but Munro delivered. Both of ours, Ali and Maxwell simply didn’t deliver.

Having done absolutely no research at all I think Maxwell is coming in too high, I don’t know where he has played in other competitions but I always thought of him as a number 5.

I’d drop Benjamin, who hasn’t really contributed any significant runs, bring Yates back in at the top and move Ali to 3, Sam at 4 and Maxwell 5.

That order makes a lot of sense.