Most things already said so wouldn't add much by repeating them all but Maxwell is not a 3 and will benefit being lower down the order, so the batting lineup suggested above makes sense.

I wouldn't bring Rhodes in personally, we've seen he struggles in T20.

Having said that Sam was limping a bit towards the end so our hand may be forced. Praying he stays fit because if anyone levels the one man team argument at us ATM I'm not sure we can argue too much!

Hassan Ali should help as well with the balance of the attack. And I think the balance of the team in general is a bit wrong. We used 8 bowlers yesterday and then had a 4 man tail.

Well we can't win em all and Derbyshire had one of their better days.

Better for us to lose now to a) get a bad game out the way and b) learn where our weaknesses are so we have time to rectify (although I do fear somewhat based on recent history we won't).

One thing I will say is how many times did we try the reverse sweep/lap today? Not one worked

That is surprising!

Is it me or can you not see the ball on the stream?

I'm really not sure who drops out for Moeen, it has to be a spinner but Briggs and Lintott have both regained form last couple of games, and if you take Mousley out you lose his batting.

If you take Brookes or Barnard out you only have two seamers.

I think it might be Barnard.

Same XI then?

A good player, so there will be plenty of interest.

I am surprised he's not had more of a chance in our T20 side.

Given that we gave Stirling a two match deal, I would expect Maxwell to be available for the Lancs game on Monday.

Moeen potentially the same if CSK lose today, otherwise one or two after that.

One of Briggs or Lintott will have to drop out when Moeen and Maxwell come in. Perhaps looking for Lintott to regain some form, which he didn't really do today.

No Hassan Ali is a big disappointment - could be the difference between winning and losing

For me Mousley plays over Yates, otherwise agree with you Exiled. Mousley is a more explosive batsman, we already have two openers (in Stirling and Davies) and Mousley offers an equal amount with the ball.

Briggs surely will play, and as said Brookes only plays when Woakes isn't available.

He changed the momentum of the series 4 years ago. You could see the change in Australian batsmen from that second test onwards.

I do think unfortunately he may be done in red ball. To be fair he's not even really playing much white ball despite not playing any red ball for yonks.

Given that he's clearly well down the pecking order in red ball (9th choice seamer in red ball? If you include Woakes, Barnard and Brookes), it's crucial he goes well in the white ball stuff.

I thought his form was iffy at best last season, so hoping he can be a lot more economical.

Benjamin's form is a worry, but seconds form doesn't always translate to firsts

Gloucestershire have a championship match on Thursday, and don't kick off their blast campaign until next Wednesday so that'll be the difference in starting XI's.

I would expect us start on Saturday with:
Stirling, Davies, Hain, Benjamin, Mousley, Bethell, Barnard, Briggs, Hasan Ali, Lintott, Miles

Perhaps Burgess in place for Bethell.

Woakes to not be available having been selected by England for the Ireland test.

Maxwell and Moeen to come in for Stirling and Briggs when available.

Really sad news, and Colon cancer tends to tough to overcome but fingers crossed he can show the same fighting spirit he used to show on the pitch and beat the odds.

Surrey are rolling through Middlesex this morning, so looks like it will be second place at the end of this round of fixtures.

Surrey are rolling through Middlesex this morning, so looks like it will be second place at the end of this round of fixtures.

Another really good win. Good job we didn't need too many more runs!

Man of the match has to be Hassan Ali, wickets and a crucial innings, at a point where we looked like we were potentially losing the upper hand we'd gained in the first innings.

Good to see Rhodes get some runs, Davies yet again plays a stupid shot very unbefitting of a vice captain.

If I remembered rightly Surrey had already started to pull clear of everyone else at this point last season, so to at least keep pace with them is good and it will be interesting to see how they cope with not being clear at the top.

SC_Bear wrote:

Fantastic piece of business. Durham fans must be as incredulous as we were when we inexplicably allowed Keith Barker to walk away.

It's worth noting that Rushworth explicitly stated it was for personal reasons, so perhaps not much Durham were able to do about it

0-1. Yates for a diamond