Now that's better. We didn't get dragged inti mediocrity like we often do when facing unfancied sides (Yes. Everyone has the right to win games) but we got a good score on the board once Moeen got stuck into the bowling and stopped being 'Subdued Moeen' as one bloke said to me on Friday. Nice to see someone get after Patel instead of treating him with too much respect and letting him bowl his 4 overs for 24-25 runs. Great pacing at the end from Hain and Mousley and the spinners did their usual thing. Interesting to see Waite, Cobb and Brookes get combined figures of 9.5-0-117-4 today, that is what we should have been doing on Friday.
Total garbage. If your spinners are doing a good job, why bring on a bloke who has already gone for 15 in his only over. Moeen, if you are in that early, you cannot afford to piss about playing pat-a-cake with their part-time bowlers. Cobb is a non-spinning so-called spinner. 444 games in all cricket with 132 wickets tells its own story but we have always managed to lower ourselves against rubbish bowling over the years and along with Waite and Brookes, we made ourselves look stupid against a club bowling attack.
No need to edit a highlights package, just play the whole game from the beginning.
Lovely bowling at the end unlike some of the overs from about 10-15 where all we saw was length bowling rather than fuller and well directed deliveries. The last 2 overs were superb and even though I had us as favourites for most of the game, Malan and Ferreira got Yorkshire very close.
The most disappointing thing was yesterday and piddling along with slow scoring that given the situation of the game, wasn't necessary. The pitch, although slow, was not full of demons as Somerset showed today so no excuse for yesterdays batting and to lose a game where we were in control for all but Sunday morning is awful and demoralising. Any pace we have, is the same and no frontline spinner looks naive at best. Now alas, we are the only team with a win in the CC Div 1.
Unfortunately, he will bowl though which could yield a few runs for the opposition.
Moeen can stay there for all I care. He has always been a pampered cricketer, probably too many family members watching him when he plays, telling him how good he is and believing it. He has done nothing in this T20 world cup and don't remember him doing much last season. All I do remember is him taking over the side last season and we suddenly looked disrupted and kept losing.
Brilliant from Hain, didn't go today but still happy. BUT, a few of us did mention the declaration which we said was a strange one considering the lead. Why go on to almost a 500 lead. Sorry Mr Vince but a few of your team mates and a fan or two, might wonder why 108 overs when realistically 450-460 in 120+ might have been better. Not hindsight, I did say a few things about the lateness of the declaration yesterday but hey! We got a draw when it looked like a loss just after lunch.
Strange to bat for so long when we are always going to have to score at 4 per over once they had a lead of about 440. Hampshire can set attacking fields all day anyway so why go on to almost a 500 lead. Now way that I think we can win even thought the pitch is doing nothing but fewer overs to bat will suit us. We did rather wilt in the sun but I thought our attitude in the field was good with some good stops and chasing.
As for the Barker issue, if he wanted to go South, then it might not have made any difference what he was offered here anyway. It was badly handled though, I was at his last game and it was still unclear at lunch, if he was leaving or not. Can't say I ever warmed to him during any time he was here but not every player who plays for us has to be liked, as long as they can do their job.
Yes, he takes a wicket then he doesn't bowl the last over.
Good solid batting but the feeling now is that if Benjamin is in the side, he has to go in AFTER Bethell. Hopefully Yates will be back and come straight back in. Both Barnard and Bethel can bowl so that makes even more sense to leave Benjamin out.
Good bowling again and the spinners once more strangling the middle overs/order 11-0-64-2. Yes, Benjamin is lucky to be in but even his brief innings today didn't fill me with confidence, his inability to time the ball is worrying if he continues to get picked.
I often looked at our old pavilion and thought "How on earth do we ever get Test matches with a pavilion like that..." but even though I was happy that we had a new one, I cannot say it is very pleasing to the eye or a place where I sat a lot during games. It was all based on being big and getting loads of people in but when you are a business, I suppose this sort of pavilion is needed in terms of making a profit.
Should have won that one. Their bowling is nothing special and it was a pity to see Davies get out when set and there were some lame shots. It looks like a fairly comfortable win for Durham but at certain stages we were so much in control that people around me were saying that they could not see us losing unless we started to give wickets away. We did well to claw it back to under 200 but we must pick things up now and look to change the side. The batting looks weak and surely Barnard has a place in this side, he should replace Benjamin, would score more than him and bowls as well. He scores quickly, it wouldn't be so bad if Benjamin came in, got 25 off 15 balls and then got out but he is getting a run a ball and then doesn't kick-on.
England should make things clear to him so he can look at his career and decide where to go until he retires. The national side have always treated him poorly, if they had the good sense to pick him earlier last season, England would arguably hold The Ashes now. I would love to have him in the side until the season ends, the national selectors have left him out of the T20 world cup squad whilst picking the overrated Chris Jordan so he owes them nothing and should, as a professional cricketer, be allowed to play.
Totally agree, by taking a late wicket, you have earned the right to have a go at a new batsman and should not let the opposition have the chance to put a proper batman in first thing in the morning, they should face the dilemma of whether to put in a night-watchman or not. The bowler has earned that 'Pressure Moment' to bowl at someone new and it has been taken away.
Have to agree about the opinions that we are prioritising the T20 Blast. If you have a good championship side, that is the basis of all good clubs. A good 4-day side usually contains players who will play T20 anyway, Davies, Yates, Hain, Bethell, Mousley, Woakes, Briggs, Miles, O H-D, etc so if the core are good, getting a big name to add in T20 doesn't always work anyway and a few of the recent winners of that competition have not had outstanding contributions from overseas players anyway. If you get the 4-day side right, you will get a lot of players for T20 from there and by all means get a good overseas signing but we have struggled to get a good signing in the CC lately apart from Hasan Ali but it's unfortunate that Pakistan keep picking him to carry the drinks. I hope something positive comes out of this poor defeat and regardless of whether or not we should have made them follow-on, if you get skittled for 94, it knocks your confidence, the opposition get a lift and they go into the last innings with a mindset of "We should be out of the game but we have now given ourselves a chance and to win now would be massive" and from our point of view the opposite applies. Hopefully a few 'rockets-up-the-posterior' for the team and they should all be told that no one is guaranteed a place in the side.
These two look as though they could bat forever and the lack of a front line spinner is looking like a poor decision although it doesn't mean we would have been in a winning position anyway. The 94 all out 2nd innings does look really bad in the context of the pitch not looking anything like being difficult.
Can't complain at 2 early wickets. Keep going lads.