Northants close in on comprehensive victory

Day 2: Glos 192 and 34 for  1 v Northants 404.

Call off the champagne. Cancel the double decker bus victory parade. Gloucestershire aren't going to cruise to promotion and glory. After the positivity of the opening game, the Jessop Tavern View is now feeling as hesitant and unsure as Alex Gidman's footwork about what this season has in store.

Gloucestershire were rolled over by a very handy Northants attack and then conceded a first innings lead of 212. It could have been slightly different. At one point during the afternoon Gloucestershire had Northants at 283 for 8. Had they managed to finish the job and only concede a lead of around a hundred then the picture would be very different. As it is, with captain Michael Klinger already back in the hutch and appearing to have begun this season as he finished the Sheffield Shield, the question really is when will Northants win, rather than if.

King John sums up what went wrong with the bowling very nicely:

"We didn't hit the right areas for long enough and that made it very difficult for the captain to set fields, which would contain the scoring.

"We had good little spells where we took wickets, but then tended to drift off line again. Whether that is fatigue I am not sure, but our skill execution wasn't up to the mark.

"Inexperience has been an excuse in the past, but a number of our guys are now into their third or fourth season of first class cricket, so it no longer applies.

"They know what is expected on our home pitches and it's about maintaining their skills, which they were unable to do today.

"With three seamers out injured, this is our A team. We showed in the first Championship game that we can perform, but we need to be consistent."

We can't say it any better.

All of these young bowlers have, in the past few seasons, demonstrated that they have ability. However, bowling is all about consistency and it will be a long season if this isn't rectified. The absence of Ian Saxelby is particularly hard felt. Saxelby offers the Glos attack a little bit more experience and that all-important consistency.

What happens today will show us a lot about the Gloucestershire side. Do the boys have the application to bat all day and at least make Northants bat again? We remember having these crucuial moments at several points last season. Not so much crucial in terms of the result, but crucial in building confidence and demonstrating fight. We don't mind supporting a crap cricket team as long as it shows a willingness to fight.