The weather looks bad tomorrow (Am I clinging on here) so if I was Billings, I would have declared with a lead of about 290. Perhaps he is happy with a draw. The bowling will have to be looked at for next season as OHD cannot be burdened with being the only strike bowler if our injuries do not improve. If Dawson is outbowling Briggs then that is an issue as Dawson outbowling anyone is cause for concern for any spinner. I didn't realise that Davies played another horrendous shot v Hampshire after playing one of the worst I have ever seen v THE SAME OPPONENTS in the T20 Q-F. Do players not learn from previous mistakes. I am not even thinking of going tomorrow and maybe the weather forecast is a blessing.

BristolBear, you have it right as most of us have witnessed. Cannot think of what our score might have been without Hain in this game. OHD was getting baked on the first day but bowled like he has done all season, with no complaints or histrionics. Looks like no one will be able to use these conditions. It is a million miles away from Tuesday when I baked in the shade and it would be strange that a low scoring game might end up being drawn as tomorrow looks bleak as well.

Looking at the forecast last night and this morning. It looks very dull and very rainy for tomorrow - Could it be that this game might actually be a rain affected draw if the forecast is correct, would we have thought this after the first day, a lot to be decided before then though.

Yes Malc, all of the above adds to the frustration of being there and being annoyed (AGAIN). If we know Sibley is going then we have to ask the question, "Just how much does a player who is going, care about playing out his contract". They messed Chopra about in similar circumstances. A lot was talked about Miles yesterday and he looks well off the pace at this level and his accuracy has been missing all season. A good/bad session for us first thing tomorrow could decide this game. The sort of commitment that Sam showed in his innings should be a lesson to his team mates. He was totally unselfish and put faith in OHD as so many have this season and never thought about his 100 until it got within a single. I had never seen a player get out live for 99 in the 45 years I have been watching this season it happens twice. The pitch has not looked a minefield but a 250+ runchase will be difficult.

Stone stranded 92* having run out of partners.

meashambear - You are right in every respect. It does make more sense to have someone who has opened, to come in at 3 instead of a player who is young and has not found his feet yet. No one fears our bowling with OHD way ahead of the others. Miles concedes too many runs and if he could at least contain for a bit, he could build up some pressure that way.

A real shock to hear on the way to the ground, that we were bowling. Cannot complain once they were 43-5. Pity we could not have held on 3 down at the close as they were running out of ideas and steam. Even worse as Saidi bowled plenty of rubbish with so many 4 balls, no-balls and innocuous bouncers that when he did get a ball in the right place, it confused the batsman. Would love an 80 lead but it looks way off at the moment.

He is but it is yet another 'Shocker' in a season which has seen some awful umpiring. There is a fine line between disappointment and dissent but if the umpire says he showed dissent then he can say "only because it was a poor decision".

Every player will be saying to every captain, "You had better win the toss or else, if you think I am going to enjoy chasing leather all day, think again...". If we do have to bowl first, I dare any of our batsmen to say, "You bowlers, the sooner you get them out, the sooner we can sit in the pavilion eating Fab lollies".

As I see it, Lancashire did know the laws by going (Or thinking about it until told otherwise) for a run once the stumps were broken knowing that overthrows are allowed in this way. I think the umpires just wanted to get off and in this situation the ECB will always back the officials, being the conformists that they are.

I think in a situation like this, when whatever umpires meetings happen (If they do), they need to clarify this situation in case it happens again and so that every player/umpire/management, have a clear message about how the laws work in this situation. Unfortunately, I doubt that it will happen and that it will be forgotten. In normal circumstances, with the stumps broken and the batsman ,Well in', if the ball ricocheted away, the batsmen would try and get another run and to run them out, the fielding side would need to have ball in hand with a stump taken out. If all stumps are in the fielders hands because they assume they won and are gathering souvenirs, tough, they should be told "You assumed it was over and if you remove all stumps then that is your fault". Looks like this will ramble on, just a pity it was in a final and not a meaningless game where neither side had anything riding on the result. I feel for Lancashire and think they were hard done by.

SC_Bear, you know what they say about 'Common Sense', it's not very common. I have been to Death Valley, extraordinary place, the only place so quiet where I could hear the second hand on my watch and yes, very, very hot. It does not look anything like Birmingham though.

By the letter of the law they are right but seeing as the 'keeper attempted a run out and the ball broke the stumps with the batsman well in, under normal play, the batting side could try for what could be deemed, as an overthrow and go for a run. I doubt it makes a difference whether it is the first or last ball. If this is the case in future, any team can break the stumps on the last ball and assume the game will be over and the ball called dead. I agree with Vilas and that the umpires were too hasty to 'Assume' the ball was dead. If it happened to us, I would be furious and it looks as though luck has shone on Hampshire yet again.

Would love to have seen Hampshire lose as they got away with last ball mayhem a few years ago when they had a runner for a batsman and on the last ball, all 3 ran and it caused all sorts of confusion and Somerset should have been awarded the game.

I will be there for all 4 days unless the pitch is dead and it looks like a high scoring draw. I will definitely be in shelter on the first day, I am very brown anyway being a groundsman who works outside all year so no hurry to top up the tan but do not want to burn either.

In terms of bonus points, they matter little unless you bowl a side out cheaply and getting them out for 400 in 110 overs will get you more bonus points than having a side 250-8 at the 110 over mark. It seems to me that just about every player has not been as consistent as last season and when 11 players in one team do that, then there will be a huge problem. We have a good bowling attack when we get them onto the field at all times but the loss of Woakes, Norwell and Stone (If he was ever considered for a CC place) is crucial and if it wasn't for O.H-D's vast improvement over the last 4 years, we would be in an even bigger hole. Briggs does not look like a player who will get you 5-60 on the last day with the pitch turning square and just chipped in usefully last year. When the management look at an overseas player for next year, I hope it is someone who once played Tests and still has plenty to offer and someone who will make the opposition worried. Jeetan had this effect and every county knew he was a threat and Harmer at Essex has it also. We cannot have someone who doesn't even seem worth his place in the team.

Another game where we are looking at a draw as being the best we can hope for. Very ** off at not having Hain for this game, reminds me of 2010 when both Bell, Trott and Woakes were included in a Lions side to play India 'A' whilst Harmison was ripping us apart at Riverside. They would have got better practice playing for us instead of the Lions, where players are depriving their counties of their services in games that no one is really that bothered about. I know I am going away from the subject here but it is annoying and disruptive.

Davies is going to have to watch how he gets out and what shots to play. After that absolute shocker of a dismissal in the T20 QF, the management might eventually run out of patience with him. A great start and unless we get a lot of early wickets, we could be chasing the game and yes Lilly, you are right, this has been a season that I will file under 'Urrrgh!'.

Again we seemed to lower our standards against a team we should have beaten. There are only the 2 openers in their team who I would actually have in our side, the rest are journeymen who made us look ordinary. We have all been saying the same things about Davies and Stirling all season in this competition and I hope we don't see the latter again and the shot Davies played was just 100% horseshit. That put on the back foot for the rest of the innings and 187 should have been more than straightforward for us. Brathwaite has been poor and if not for that last over heroics for the Windies in the T20 world cup final, no one would know who he was and he has made a living off it ever since. If you look at his T20 record, it is very poor and not worthy of an overseas pro. We seem to have a habit of making a mess of QF's after a good showing in the qualifying tables. Disappointing evening not helped by the stupid confusing road works nearby that made me have to do an extra 3 miles just to get home 8 miles away.

I didn't either but Leicestershire must be hurting after Yorkshire only scraped through because of the point deduction that Leicestershire got and that after beating them in the last game. Sometimes when fortune smiles at you in cricket it can take you all the way, Worcestershire's CC titles in 1964, 1974,1988 and 1989, Hampshire being saved from relegation in 2016, Pakistan's world cup 1992. There are many more.