That’s Game over then, lots of mitigating factors to be in this position today but hard to disagree with lacking that winning mentality.

Poor chap, such a shame his body wasn’t able to cope with the demands of professional sports. When he was fit he was such a key performer.

I wish him well for whatever his future plans are.

But those in power tell us the 16.4 is more interesting to watch…..

A championship win as a captain is not to be sniffed at. As a player I felt he was a decent enough county player however I don’t think he quite kicked on in the way we had hoped when he signed. Formed a good partnership with Sibley when in Div 2 but often struggled at the start of a season before getting into the grove by September.

Will be missed but not irreplaceable. Having said that I don’t have much faith in our recruitment department at the moment so who knows who will come in.

Good luck to him, I’ll watch out for his stats in the seasons to come.

Very impressive

Frankly I don’t think that is any of our business. If he has then I’m sure the club is aware of and working with him to best take care of the situation.

My thoughts, for what they are worth, is that strike rate and average are both important however the vital aspect is the context with which they are in. Sam Hain may well have a lesser strike rate than others but he is needed to bat through due to higher strike rate batsmen not being able to stick around. The 'finisher' role will probably contain a player with a low average however the high strike rate is important to get the score over the line.

Adaptability is surely the key, playing what is front of you. A balanced side should contain players who can hit big boundaries as well as knock singles around. That has been my biggest frustration this year, we just don't seem balanced plus players blatantly out of form still being picked.

We really lack a powerful batsman to clear the ropes in these middle overs. We just invite pressure on ourselves without the ability to pressurise the opposition.

I sort of expected more to have been sold, I looked at some tickets a week or so in advance once I saw the weather was starting to look better. There was very limited availability except in the Hollies Stand, which I had no interest in, so was a tad surprised to see so many empty seats when I tuned in on Saturday.

Averages are not always the most reliable sources to judge a player though. Player A could have a high average because their first season was a huge success however in recent seasons they have struggled. Player B may not have had the high scores to push their average up but has consistently made important and telling contributions.

Deliberately not used examples as I don’t have any data to back up my comment 😊

The batting still looks fragile to me, but the bowling line up is working really well so far. I hope Hassan isn’t injured though, he looked in quite some discomfort at the end there.

It doesn’t look too good at this stage

It really is a weak looking batting unit

82-3….

Poor batting has been a reoccurring theme for years and yet the one constant in the coaching set up is the batting coach.

Essex are a very good side with some big time players right through their squad.

But that is still a very poor defeat!

Yes we have injuries, but the squad that has been built looks distinctly average and lacking in many areas.

There may well be big questions that need to be asked at the end of the season.

Perhaps the comments should be ‘the lack of an in form front line spinner’?

Feel for Sam, a very tough start to the season for various reason!

Let’s hope Benjamin can improve on his average!

This is going well (I feel I’ve said this before in this match….)

An excellent effort indeed. Delighted for Simmons, but I’m mindful that we all thought Johal was going to be the next big thing after his performances in the Bob Willis Trophy final.