If you are going to go to all the trouble of signing an overseas pro then sign someone who is of Test standard or what is the point. Just because someone comes from Australia, it does not mean they are going to be automatically be fantastic. There are plenty of Aussies who have been over here over the last 25 years and struggled. I hope this bloke doesn't become one of them.

It might be that your version is a bit more accurate as it has been a few years since I picked up the book on Foster and had gone through the book on Jeeves and tiger Smith's book also during the same period. Yes, I can imagine a days play might consist of 120 overs and a side scoring 300 runs, a good amount of first day runs but only 2.5 per over. Pity we haven't the footage to watch to see just what it was like. It seems strange now to think that in 100 years time, any fan will be able to watch a game from 2022 in crystal clear quality as though it was being played live.

Amazing that Leicestershire had 56 overs but still couldn't get the 219 needed to win but I suppose having lost 6 wickets, they played out a draw. Having said that, there are plenty of old games on 'cricinfo' where you see a side chasing about 210 in 90 overs and they still fail to get the target despite only having 4 wickets down. A totally different game then with batsmen not really adept at fast scoring and uncovered wickets meaning that it was difficult to force the pace. In the Robert Brooke book on Frank Foster, he states that Kinneir married a German ex-Lady Of The Night and he went bald almost overnight not long after their marriage and his skin turned blue after 'Catching Something'.

Only joking but as there were not that many over in the game, 288.2, I take it that there was rain/bad light at some point so difficult to say if the home side had only 56 overs to bat of if it rained and they had the 4th innings interrupted.

Sepp Kinneir v Leicestershire at Leicester 1907. I remember only certain bits of it as I was just 10 at the time and it is difficult for a man of 125 to remember everything. The match was drawn as Leicestershire's target of 219 was too much for them as they ended 148-6 (56)

Yes, without Stone, Woakes and Norwell, our opening bowling looks easy for most openers to cope with. Miles can be very hit and miss.

Whomever we pick it cannot be any worse than losing to Somerset. That was a poor performance and we made them look like world-beaters. Lancashire are a good side so another poor 4 days (or 3) will see us losing ground. Getting Woakes back would be superb.

It looks like is has all gone now, we will be lucky to draw, 92-6 and it has been a bowlers day, 199-12. And yes, the way Barker went was a shambles, he didn't even know before the lunch interval of his last game, whether or not he was off to his new county. We are making Somerset's ordinary attack look good and Rhodes must be kicking himself for having a bowl.

Wouldn't be the first time we got an overseas signing wrong but it is early days yet even though McAndrew hasn't got a first class record that would make a batsman shudder. Looking at the list of bowlers that other counties have managed to get hold of, seems as though we were a bit slow in getting someone.

Not many sides really bowl first at Taunton so Rhodes must have been convinced about something. I think we would do well to win it from here as 400-500 looks a possibility.

Would love to see him play for us during a whole season, what a joy that would be. He was fine playing county cricket and as often happens, England get hold of him and he picks up more injuries that he did before he ever got noticed by the selectors.

I was there at the weekend but Friday looked amazing from what I saw on the live feed, Burgess just looks like he can do anything with the bat so far and having the ability of the tail to just stay in is a massive help. I hat it when tailenders just come in like they don't care and give their wicket away. They do not need to even look to score, just having someone at the other end who can score is enough and O.H.D's stubborn refusal to surrender is admirable. I do feel we will get periods like we saw on Saturday when Briggs/Rhodes bowled, where we looked stale and lacking in ideas but we hung in which summed up our endeavours last season.

So far after losing the toss, we would more than settle for this.

Totally agree, there are all sorts of things that need to be changed and if I wasn't on my way to work I would have a bigger say but we all care about the game and fewer days of first-class cricket (with the U.K weather) is not the answer at all.

Not that many more inside. It is disappointing but then again it was during the last game of last season v Somerset when we only had a fraction of the people I expected on such an important day. It was set up for a grand finish as we didn't rely on any other results and yet I doubt there were more than 4000 in and then they most of them went when the CC trophy was being presented. I know it's cold but I hate it when there is no cricket at weekends and here we are with some to watch and nobody really wants to come. What I have always wanted to know is how people call themselves cricket fans when they don't even bother to watch any county cricket and just come to T20. Come next year and there will be a clamour for Ashes tickets from 'Fans'. That's my first gripe of the season over with. Lamb was superb and the daunting situation he came into, didn't stop him from playing his shots and virtually scoring twice the rate of Hain.

A poor day and the bowling looks uninspiring and flat apart from Ollie and Danny. An awful start to our innings and with the weather looking better than it was first broadcast to be, it could be a horrible couple of days if we don't get stuck in with the bat.

Very cold although I have been colder - Mainly in my youthful stupidity in wearing just a thin jacket over a t-shirt. A fair
bit of short stuff was put away with relish and a major surprise to see Burns get out right before lunch. Went into the club shop at lunch to mainly keep warm and was surprised by the lack of anything other than loads of shirts and the usual array of caps. I suggested to the club about getting some old scorecards printed up and sold. To produce them would be peanuts (Ex-printer typing) and they could be from past games like last seasons title clincher v Somerset back to the 1972 title clincher v Derbyshire where 'Big Bob' took 8-44. Other similar cards v Hamp 1994, 1997 Refuge v Glouc and assorted Test matches, etc. About 5p to produce, if that and selling them for £1. No harm in trying but loads of shirts which no one seemed to want isn't going to draw people in other than to get through the shop to watch the cricket. Back to the game, the pitch looks a bit dead, a typical cold pitch for a cold day and I just hope we make it look like a good strip to bat on also. Good to see Ollie bowl well and he looks happy to be back. It's the first game, not going to make any predictions either way

When he got in the England side, he was a real asset and at number 8 or 9 was a member of such a massively powerful team and I do think they ditched him too early. When he came to us, I was excited but his bowling was on a downward curve but he was a good number 7 and I think as a batsman (Yes, I am still going to use that term) he would have been ideal to bowl a few overs without real potency. Cannot help but think that the 'Rafiq Incident' had some sort of bearing on his decision. What a way to go though after that last match v Somerset.

At least we do have some cricket on Saturdays which is good news seeing as a few years ago they seemed to start virtually every game on a Sunday even if the T20 games were weeks away which made no sense. Also, having looked at the official site, it looks as though the T20 side will be called 'Bears' and the 'Birmingham', dropped. It would make sense seeing as we now have a team called Birmingham, in The Hundred.

Malc wrote:

paulbear wrote:

We must now only play on Friday. I was very down after the Hampshire game and the way England played so weakly v India but in the space of a few weeks the season had a strong finish. I hope all our players have a really good winter for lifting me/us up and that day last week was a fantastic occasion only tainted slightly by so few people in the ground.

Hi Paul. I sent you a direct message last week. Did you receive it?

Yes. Malc I did get your message and replied to it also and it was one of the first things I though of as I stood in the queue for a beer during the tea break last Friday (Somerset 7 down). What a difference a few weeks makes. You were optimistic whereas I just wanted the season to end. Your comment cheered me up and makes my pessimistic paragraph look pretty ridiculous now (Thank God). Bless you for doing that and I may see you next season during our defence of our title.