Good to see new members joining, welcome.

Infuriating to see Notts at the top. last time we had a 'proper' county season in 2019, Notts were relegated with a terrible record of played 14, lost 10 and drawn 4. I wonder how Northants and Gloucester are feeling after they were promoted in 2019.

Massive disappointment but if you fail to 'Clean-up' when the opposition is 7 down, then you will always make it difficult for yourself. We didn't make the most of getting them out for 89 and perhaps were looking for 'Demons' in the pitch and not for the first time, we make an average Hampshire look good.

Malc wrote:

Dear me Paul, cheer up a bit.

We could still win this game - I think we will. We qualified for the top group of the CC. Watching some of the young lads come through has been so exciting. Yes, the T20 QF was disappointing, but we did still re@ch the knockout stage. The injuries to key players has been devastating at times. The RLC was a brilliant tournament with some ‘development’ players.

You are right and typing now (20.33pm as we sit 136-2) you could see a win. Unfortunately I have seen all my cricket for this year as work and the good old ECB not wanting CC cricket at weekends means that Sunday was it for me as far as watching goes but yes I would gladly share a cuppa/banana with you at any time. Yes it might not be all bad but I suppose I want it all, a consistent Test team and a successful County side. Cheer on the team in my absence. Paul

Cheer up, pal. Come and sit in block 16/17 today and I’ll share a banana and a cuppa with you 👍.

PS There’s more to the departure of KB to Hampshire than you’ve suggested.

It is still a source of wonder as to why we let him go in the first place. The fact that during his last match (The Div 2 title decider, Trott's last game) he still wasn't sure at lunch, if he would still be staying. No wonder he looks like a man on a mission. It looked a poor decision then and still does. We seem to come up with some 'Left field' choices on overseas players and I often think, "If they are not Test standard, then why bother". Don't think we will get a 4th innings score to win, it already looks 30 too many. I am glad in a way that it (The season) is coming to an end, what looks like 2 Test series defeats, a poor T20 Q.F, lack of a decent fixture list (Same as usual) a stupid unwanted competition, I am almost glad it's whimpering out with the hope of better seasons to come.

A strange day and I felt they bowled better than us. Hampshire gave too many wickets away with bad shots whereas I felt Abbas in particular was superb and gave us nothing. I would rather be in their position now but perhaps the pitch isn't as bad as the scores suggest and we might see more runs tomorrow.

'Tiger' Smith used to stand up to Foster so I am not sure just how 'Fast' he would have been even though Smith was a Test wicket-keeper. The book on Foster by Robert Brooke, 'And The Fields Were Sudden Bare' is an excellent read and a great insight into how used and abused cricketers were before WW1.

A very good day for us and I did think that once we were 2 down we might capitulate but well done to the Benj/Hain partnership. Onwards and upwards.

Of course, I was forgetting that Buttler is not playing.

Typical, he is ready - but not for Warwickshire. He would have been a prime swap for Curran who has no real form and is not that good anyway. Trouble is though, Wood is fit and they might want a bit of pace. I doubt they will drop any bowlers apart from Curran so they won't have both Wood and Woakes in the side.

It just goes to show how important it is to start your innings with a decent scoring rate and not lose early wickets. It may sound obvious but we often get found out by relying on Hain too much because the first 3 have failed. Never felt we ever looked that convincing in this competition and in the end we just came up short as is often the case in this format.

What is as important as anything is giving members value for money so at least we get some cricket on Saturday and Sunday at least every other week. If not, the membership will dwindle and that will mean they will probably not watch any cricket at all. What's the point if you are working all week and the weekend comes and you are twiddling your thumbs having spent £150+ to be a member. Have the ECB or counties ever wondered what might happen if The Hundred/T20 fails at some point - There will be nowhere for them to go and no members to feel the commitment to watch will mean they try and rely on the 'Short Format Brigade' but alas they will have already gone.

The problem with central contracts is that they were initially to stop players overdoing it, especially fast bowlers finishing a Test in the north and then having to jump in a car and go and play a CC game in the south. The trouble is now, they are used to give players a rest before they even get to their home ground to start a new season. I remember a tour to New Zealand where Woakes hardly played (If at all) and the first CC of the season, the ECB said he needed to rest for the upcoming Tests. They use it to wrap players up in cotton wool but it leaves them rusty and in need of games when the Tests actually start.

Graham Thorpe is talking nonsense. The trouble now is that anyone who comes into the squad has had no 'Proper' innings, just a few 50 over knocks or a pretty 25 off 15 balls in The Hundred. Never again should a fixture list have no CC cricket whilst a Test series is on.

I am amazed how he bowled (Admittedly when younger) for us for years and he has been picked in England squads without getting picked MOST of the time and yet he is injured. England seem to have a habit of returning injured bowlers back to their respective counties. Perhaps the old ways of just letting players play for their counties and picking them in form/fitness worked better.

I think this was the game when the umpires said the game had to be played on a wet pitch that was drying out by the time Warwickshire came to bat on it. This was because the BBC refused to allow it to be played on a pitch next to the match one. This other pitch was dry but the BBC would not move their cameras so they played and the pitch got worse as the game went on. Dennis Amiss commented on it in his book 'In Search Of Runs'.

I hope they would take a younger bowler with pace rather than Curran who doesn't really do much damage on English pitches so what chance has he got in Australia. His 2 wickets per Test will frighten no one. I often wish Woakes had never played for England because he gets picked for so many squads without getting a game and no cricket at all is just frustrating for him. I just wish the England set-up would say "So Chris, we don't want to pick you so go back to Edgbaston and give your best to a side who want you". The England camp are ruining his career by just wasting his time on the sidelines when he is fit. If fit, I think he will go to Australia but cannot see him, Anderson and Broad all playing at the same time.

I stand corrected, if those idiots Glamorgan hadn't made a hash of things v Yorkshire then we would have gone through. How on earth did they lose from such a straightforward position. So Leicestershire also go through and Notts do not.

Fewer injuries at the start of this cup competition would have seen us through seeing as we only went out on net run rate and Notts (I do not like them) scrape through. If anything, this pile of injuries has at least given a few youngsters the chance to play at a higher level and a few of them have taken the chance which makes the future seem brighter at least. If the same thing happens next year where The Hundred is made out to be more important than this competition (Which let's face it, we are only world champions in after all) then we will have had young players who will not be daunted at the prospect of a step up in the quality of cricket.

Forgot about Brad Hogg. He was a big part of the 2004 CC winning side although not taking many wickets and was really miffed not to be retained as overseas player for the 2005 season.