Ode to the Gidman brothers

How much of a step up in class is there from Division 1 to Division 2?

Why not ask the Gidman brothers. The two principal mainstays of Gloucestershire's team for the past several years, both headed off to try their hand in Division 1 this year. This is how they have been getting on.

Will Gidman

County Championship

7 Matches

213 runs at an average of 19 with 1 fifty.

4 wickets at an average of 89.

No appearances in either the one day cup or the t20.

In 2014 Will scored 850 runs, including 3 hundreds at an average of 53. He took 40 wickets at an average of 24.

Alex Gidman

County Championship

11 Matches

374 runs at an average of 23 with 2 fifties.

1 appearance in the one day cup. 1 appearance in the t20.

In 2014 Alex scored 1,200 runs, including 4 hundreds, at 45. In 2013 he scored 1,100 runs at 51.

Ouch!!!

Re-appearing at Nevil Road next year???

Miles eases his way into a bucket load of wickets

Day 1: Northants 333 all out v Glos 18 - 0

On the opening day of the 2015 county championship, new Gloucestershire captain Geraint Jones decided to get an early look at exactly what sort of bowling attack he had to work with over the coming months. At the end of the day, he probably had a fair idea.

Craig Miles tore up the Northants batting for career best figures of 6-63, whilst the rest ran in manfully without quite so much penetration. If Miles can stay fit this summer then he will end the season with a bucket load of wickets now that Will Gidman is no longer around. Miles has been a top prospect for the last couple of years, yet injury problems have stopped him being inevitably snaffled by Somerset, meaning Glos fans should get at least one more good year from the young seamer. In order to get out of division 2 it is all about taking 20 wickets and the big question Glos will face this year is whether Miles can stay fit, and whether others can support him and take their share of wickets. Can '38' Fuller take 30 odd wickets? Can Norwell? Maybe Kieran Gourmet-Burger will be that man after taking 3 for 48 on a very handy debut.

It was also encouraging to see another perennial Gloucestershire injury concern, Gareth Roderick, take a club record-equalling 6 catches in an innings whilst not managing to break any fingers! A very encouraging start for another key Glos player this year.

Having reduced Northants to 162 for 6 you would imagine Gloucestershire's new hierarchy would be slightly disappointed at the end of day 1. However, bat well over the next couple of days, and Glos can set themselves up for a solid start to the season. How the new-look Glos batting line-up fares will be interesting to see. Is James Fuller really good enough to bat at 8?

On a side note. The Jessop Tavern View definitely raised a smile at seeing old boy Alex Gidman trapped lbw to Tim Bresnan for not many on his Worcestershire debut. Fans at New Road should get themselves ready for a lot more of watching that leaden front foot planted and the ball cannoning into it!

For video highlights from Day 1, click the link below:

http://www.ecbtv.co.uk/video/i/4634569/title/northamptonshire-v-gloucestershire-day-1

Update- Northants have finally put the Day 1 highlights up on YouTube:

That time of year again: The 2015 season preview

There's something about the county cricket season that always takes the Jessop Tavern View by surprise. Some of this must be due to the relentless treadmill that world cricket seems to have become these days. There's the fact that the seemingly endless World Cup has only just finished. There's also the latest edition of the IPL, which kicked off this week, replete with the usual glitz, glamour and sponsored everything (do Citi moments of success still exist?)

There's certainly also a shadow cast by the sad news of Richie Benaud's passing, plus the distraction of events in the Caribbean, where England are beginning their tour amid news that Paul Downton has just been relieved of his duties as ECB managing director. Basically, there's just a lot going on in the cricket world.

However, the most likely reason we can think of for our surprise is simply that 2014 didn't end all that well for Gloucestershire and thus we've been burying our heads in the sand to some extent over the winter. Let's recap events as best we recall.

Last season
Championship: 7th Div 2; NatWest Blast: 8th South group; Royal London Cup: quarter-final

None of the above was very good. Neither was it all that surprising, but the end result was that John Bracewell's second spell as director of cricket ended rather ignominiously. The county have since appointed an interest double act to replace him; former Glos (and England) off spinner Richard 'Michael' Dawson is head coach and legendary Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey (batting, bowling and drinking all specialities) is his assistant. Dawson is still only 34, but is highly-regarded and had been coaching at Yorkshire after leaving Nevil Road a season or so ago. He and Harv played together at Yorkshire from 2004-2005 and it will be interesting to see how the new coaching setup works out. As Alex Winter's Cricinfo preview headline states, hopefully the new regime can freshen up Gloucestershire.

The coaching appointments come against a backdrop of the loss of two key players and stalwarts of the county, the Gidman brothers. Will Gidman will surely be the bigger loss to the 'shire. The bowling all rounder is at the peak of his powers and it's understandable that he wanted to test his skills in Division 1. He led the attack with aplomb since joining from Durham in 2011 and he will undoubtedly trouble many a Division 1 batsmen as well as contributing handy runs in the late middle order.

Over the last 13 seasons Alex had been a great servant to the county and was in good form at the end of 2014. Gidders posted back to back 1000 run seasons in the last two years after giving up the captaincy. However, at pushing 34 he's probably not going to get much better. It's a shame he has departed to local rivals Worcestershire, but again the prospect of playing in Division 1 was surely too tempting for him to pass up, especially with Gloucestershire in a state of flux after Bracewell's departure was announced last year.

So, where does all this leave us? Well, we still have a bit of a mess where the captaincy is concerned. Michael Klinger will not arrive until June, meaning that Geraint Jones will captain the championship side until then, after signing on purely as a batsman. This is no bad thing, as a) he isn't a very good gloveman and b) we have no shortage of keepers, with Gareth Roderick, Cameron Herring, Peter Handscomb (see below) and possibly even youngster Patrick Grieshaber(?) all seemingly on the books for 2015.

We have also picked up Australian Peter Handscomb, who we confess to having never seen play. Bizarrely he and Klinger struck the only two Big Bash hundreds last season. Considering we've struggled mightily in t20 over the past few seasons, his addition looks a sensible one, especially with t20 pioneer Harv around to pass on some knowledge. He's also conveniently a non-overseas player, courtesy of a British passport found in a drawer somewhere. Plus he can also keep wicket. It seems that Gareth Roderick's fragile fingers will be the least of our problems in 2015.

The rest of the batting is a mix of the old (O'Mish), the new (Will Tavare, who had a very promising debut season) and the in-between (Chris Dent, Ian Cockbain, Benny Howell, etc). We also landed another British passport holder in Kiwi all-rounder Kieran Noema- Barnett. 'KN-B' is sponsored by Kiwi burger chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen and judging by the picture on the official site, he certainly knows his way around a beef pattie.

We still seem to have a handy-looking bowling attack. Craig Miles is finally fit and has always taken wickets when playing regularly. The 20 year old will likwly lead the attack if he can stay off the physio's table. James Fuller is still around, as are Liam Norwell and David Payne. All three have the potential to take wickets in Division 2. They are also capable of going around the park on any given day (hi, KP). We don't really have a spinner worthy of the name, but Jack Taylor and Tom Smith are both functional players who won't let you down, nor bowl you out all that often.

Conclusion:

We've ended this preview feeling a lot more enthusiastic than when we started. The side is maturing and we do still have some talent despite losing the Gidmans. The Jessop Tavern View is too cynical to be dreaming of promotion though. We're inclined to agree with the folks at Deep Extra Cover, whose preview states 'If only because of the presence of big guns Surrey and Lancashire in the second division of the Championship this season it is very hard to imagine that Gloucestershire will win promotion to the first division for the first time since 2003'

That said, is it too much to ask for Dawson's boys to maintain a semblance of a title challenge, while improving on our woeful t20 performances and continuing to mount a challenge in the Royal London 50 over cup?

Wonders never cease as Glos storm to 3 day victory at New Road

Gloucestershire 378 (Gidman 146, Roderick 98) and 178 for 3 (Dent 51) beat Worcestershire 194 (Oliver 52, Miles 4-54) and 360 (Oliver 179, Norwell 4-69) by seven wickets

We're back for one of our monthly cricketing posts. This time we're tackling that rarest of beasts, the County Championship. Not only did the boys achieve a rare win on Sunday, it was in fact our first win at New Road since 1986. It seems hard to believe that this is out first Championship match since we were hammered in the reverse fixture at Cheltenham in late July, but that's the county cricket schedule for you.

Anyway, this time we have much better news. This time around the boys secured a convincing seven wicket win over Division 2 leaders Worcestershire inside 3 days. This was a superb performance, where we shook off the lack of an injured (and soon-to-depart) Will Gidman to dominate Worcs almost from start to finish.

There were encouraging performances all round, from stand-in skipper Gidders' dominant 146 in the first innings, to Gareth Roderick's impressive 98 batting at number 3 and on to Craig Miles, who again bowled well to take 4-54 in the first innings. Liam Norwell's excellent 4-69 in Worcs second knock polished off the tail in double quick fashion after Dent finally got rid of the dangerous Richard 'Bath' Oliver for a career-best 179. We then made short work of the 177 target, with Dent finding a semblance of form with a 50 and Gidders blasting a no pressure 45 to see us home with more than a day to spare.

What to make of this effort then? This is clearly an excellent win against a Worcestershire side who have dominated Division 2 so far this year. Miles did exceptionally well to dismiss the country's leading run scorer, Daryl Mitchell for just 4 runs in the match and the batting really fired when we needed it to in our first innings. Basically, a quality job which the boys should be proud of.

We lie 6th in the table, which is a decent, if not awe-inspiring return for the season. There are now just two Championship games left this season and they don't take place until September 9th. so, what's next for the boys?

Most pressingly, we have a crucial final Royal London group game away to Derbyshire on Thursday, a win in which would secure us a home quarter final next week. The semis follow the week after, before the final which splits the remaining two championship fixtures in September. Dare the Jessop Tavern View dream and risk booking Lord's tickets for September 20th? A home quarter would go some way to making the dream a reality, so let's cross our fingers for a convincing win on Thursday.

Gidman and Fuller tear through Kent….and then Glos don't mess it up!

Gloucestershire 252 and 212 - 4 v Kent 114.

Going into this match Gloucestershire's season was dangerously close to coming off the rails. Lying joint bottom of Division 2 and with minus points in the t20 'Blast' another defeat would have have seen us clamouring for the return of Jon Batty. Fortunately we won't need to resort to that.

Having won the toss on day 1 Glos limped to a seemingly disappointing 252 all out with only the returning Gareth Roderick making any real contribution. However then the fun began.

Before the season began it appeared fairly obvious that Gloucestershire's weakest suit lay very much in their batting, fielding, bowling unit. With only Will Gidman of guaranteed quality we were heavily reliant on the sticky tape holding Ian Saxelby together lasting a full season and on Craig Miles being able to replicate last seasons impressive introduction to first class cricket. As it has transpired Miles is yet to take the field and Saxelby wishes he hadn't. Whilst Gidman has continued to impress (18 wickets at 13) opposition teams have figured out that if they blunt Gidman then Glos have very little to offer, well, little to offer other than a succession of four balls with which to help yourself.

Thus, going into this match it was hardly comforting to see Benny Howell being drafted in to do the job as a fourth seamer. We like Benny a lot as a Frenchman and as a cricketer, but when your side is struggling to take wickets do you really want to pick a batting all rounder? It didn't strike us as the most aggressive of selections. Clearly though King John is a wiser man than we, and he had clearly poured over hours of tape of Kent's batsmen and decided that we didn't really need any bowlers and that even James Fuller would take wickets. What an astute man.

For a while this morning it appeared that Glos fancied throwing away their overnight position of having reduced Kent to 33 for 6. English youngsters Sam Billings and Adam Ball serenely took Kent passed the follow-on before Kent combusted again to lose their final 3 wickets for 13 runs. Gidman taking 4 for 14 from 12 overs and Fuller capturing 4 for 32. Whilst Gidman's economy is helped by the fact that runs come freely at the other end he has now consistently taken wickets for 3 and a bit seasons, and scored runs. It would be interesting to know whether he does figure in a Peter Moore's powerpoint presentation. We suspect not, but how close he is would be interesting to know.

Fuller on the other hand continues to flatter to deceive. One day good, one day going for 38 an over. He is the sort of cricketer who we love to watch as something is always happening when he is on a cricket field. Be that taking wickets, biffing runs, getting destroyed by Scott Stryis or deliberately bowling beamers. He is the Jessop Tavern's sort of cricketer.

In reply Glos looked to be making a hash of it 58 for 3, with captain Klinger again failing to make a mark. But cometh the hour and cometh the Gidman, Alex this time. Gidman and O'Mish proceeded to do what wise old timers are suppose to do in the middle order and calmly constructed what should be a match deciding partnership of 135.

With two days to go surely Glos cannot lose from here. The question will be how big a lead we need and how long we feel our bowlers need to take 10 wickets. We'd like to see a mid afternoon declaration giving us 4 and a half sessions. The weather may also play its part so Glos would be encouraged to get on with it.

Shire in superior batting side shocker

Day 2 Stumps - Gloucestershire (252 and 213/4) lead Kent (114) by 351 runs with 6 wickets remaining

It's not often that the Jessop Tavern View gets to write about a game where we're clearly the better (batting) side. Opportunities to talk up our batting lineup using words such as 'patient', 'disciplined' and 'dominant' are few and far between for fans of the 'shire.

However, on the evidence of the two days versus Kent so far, we are watching the better side exerting their dominance over a Division 2 rival. Having initially underperformed with the bat yesterday, the boys bounced back to reduce Kent to 2-4 on the way to 33-6 overnight. A Kent fightback (from 33 up to 101 for the loss of just one early wicket) prompted fears of a minimal 1st innings lead for the boys. Luckily, Gidman dislodged the stubborn Ball for 37 and we managed to polish them off for just 114 before lunch. The remaining two wickets added just 13, leaving keeper Billings not out on a valuable 42,

Kent had managed to avoid the follow on and Glos started the afternoon session poorly, with Klinger (who's in a really bad trot at the moment) departing early to Claydon. Dent was soon castled by what sounded like a jaffa from the first ball of Stevens' spell. Will Tavare also departed cheaply, which brought the experienced, yet frequently unreliable pairing of APR Gidman and O'Mish together. Despite our concerns, the experienced campaigners batted rather sensibly, putting on an excellent 135 as the Kent bowlers began to toil in the roasting afternoon sun.

Sadly, our admiration for their efforts in avoiding their trademark loose shots when well set was somewhat spoiled by our guffaws of laughter as BBC Radio Kent, in a seemingly straight-faced piece of commentary, described Gidman's 'slender' figure as he waited at the crease. Much as we admire the former skipper's weight of shot, the days when he could get into his waist 32 whites are long past.

Gidders eventually departed for an excellent 85, leaving Roderick and the Irishman to see us through to the close with a healthy (dare we say potentially match-winning) lead of 351, with 6 wickets still in hand.

Sadly, the weather forecast isn't great for tomorrow and Wednesday, but hopefully the boys can set an unreachable target in the morning. Having performed admirably thus far, you would have to back our bowlers to get through Kent's sketchy-looking batting line-up, barring too much rain over the next couple of days.

Is a first win of the season on the horizon? Let's hope so.

Video highlights of the match so far below:

Day 1

Day 2

Saved by the rain

Gloucestershire 134 (Dent 61, Masters 6-48) and 251 for 2 dec (Tavare 100*, A Gidman 119*) drew with Essex 305 for 8 dec (Foakes 132*, Foster 91)

Yes, we've been lazy. We have been on holiday, though. A rather belated summary of the 'shire's last LVCC game v Essex follows.

Rain. Bat poorly. Rain. Bowl ok. Tricky last day to navigate. Two quick wickets. Bat better. Two hundreds. Draw.

Day 2 Highlights:



Day 3 Highlights:



Day 4 Highlights:

Tavare shows the old timers how it's done

Day 1: Glos 292 - 5 v Hampshire

Gloucestershire's batsmen batted like it was 2013 as they made there merry way towards a late first innings collapse by posting an encouraging 292 for 5 on day 1 of their 2014 campaign.

On his championship debut, Will Tavare made all the headlines by ending the day 135 not out. His knock was even more impressive as he helped steady Gloucestershires ship at several points throughout the day, something he'll no doubt become accustomed to doing throughout the season. Chris Dent departed early but Tavare and Klinger put on 163 for the second wicket to make sure Glos got a foothold in the match. With Tavare then nearing his hundred, Klinger departed and the old experienced heads of Gidders and O'Mish headed to the middle one-by-one to calm young Will's nerves and help him to his debut ton. 10 minutes later and both Gidders and O'Mish clearly felt they had imparted all of their wisdom and so off they trotted without bothering to add any runs to the scoreboard. Clearly something that O'Mish said must have struck home as soon afterwards Tavare was down the picture and smashing Liam Dawson for 6 to bring up his ton. O'Mish was seen on the balcony applauding ruefully at the thought that Tavare had disobeyed his instruction to have a swing and get yourself out cheaply when you are well set.

Will Gidman then helped Tavare add another 103 for the fifth wicket before he fell just before the close of play. It will now be left to Tavare, Cameron Herring and the bowlers to get the score up to 400.

The day had begun with the surprise inclusion of 19 year old Matt Taylor as the fourth seamer. Ian saxelby had been mooted for a potential return, but apparently he pulled something in the shower in the morning. Taylor's selection actually was down to the pitch conditions. Taylor has been mentioned as the new Mike Smith, and whilst we enjoy having the option of a left arm seamer we do wonder whether anyone knew that David Payne had also been selected?! Alternatively maybe Gloucestershire are going to issue in a new, Mitchell Johnson inspired era where-by every county goes desperately searching for a left arm quickie. Who knows!

Highlights of Tavare's maiden ton:

 

2014 Season Preview: Same same but different?

Here we go, another year and, despite England's monumentally herculean attempts to suck all love out of cricket supporters in this country, the start of the county championship almost seems like welcome respite from the rather unprecedented fall from grace the national team has suffered in the past 6 months.

Gloucestershire appear to have approached the 2014 season with very much a, 'if it ain't fixed, don't….' Oh, hold on. That's not quite right.

The off season has seen has seen Glos manage to successfully add absolutely no new faces to a squad that performed manfully last year without really threatening to look like promotion candidates in the championship or trophy winners in white ball cricket. The familiar lines about young players coming good this year has been heard once more emanating from Nevil Road (behind the sound of the builders)

Gloucestershire fans are now very familiar with this line. We invest nothing in the playing squad, enabling money to be ploughed into the ground redevelopment which will enable us to host the occasional one day international against Zimbabwe or, heaven forbid the Netherlands!

Still, let's not grumble too much. The Jessop Tavern actually supports the idea of investing time in blooding young cricketers and we would certainly much rather watch David Payne be rubbish than Jon Batty. Oh hold on, we did have to watch Jon Batty. It is an admirable approach to building a sustainable cricket club in the modern era, even if the results haven't quite been there.

The squad does have potential. Last year the bowling department really struggled to back up a batting unit that contained 4 men who passed 1,000 runs in the championship. Will Gidman once again led the way with 50 wickets, and whilst Craig Miles burned brightly at the start of the season, he faded in the second half due to a combination of being over bowled and being worked out by batsmen. It will be interesting to see whether Miles continues his progression this season, or if he falls back amongst the Liam Norwells of this world. Speaking of Norwell, both he and David Payne now really need to step up. It has been a few years now since they both emerged, excitingly into the first team. Both have plateaued since and require reviving.

Both Miles Hammond and Graeme McCarter will push them for first team cricket and at least one of these four really needs to have a breakthrough season if Gloucestershire are going to consistently take 20 wickets. Then there is Ian Saxelby. The Sax should be back after injury ruined his 2013 season. Whether he can return to top form will also play a big part in Gloucestershire's season.

In the spin department,…..ah, forget it. Lets not even bother going there. Tom Smith has been retained to hold up an end and Jack Taylor has put his dart board away and learnt how to bowl properly, well at least that's what the ECB say!

The batting, and this is hard for the Jessop Tavern to say, is the strength of the squad. 1,000 runs for captain Klinger, Gidders, O'Mish and Dent should be repeated again this year. Dent in particular needs to back-up finally breaking through as a batsman of real substance in 2013. Benny, the House and Gareth Roderick provide able backup. In Division 2 there is no excuse for this lot not to fill their boots again. This being Glos though we fully expect to watch Klinger wilt under the pressure of setting fields to too many four-ball bowlers, Gidders to score meaningless hundreds late in the season after failing to assert himself at the start of the campaign and for O'Mish to revert back to scoring lots of pretty 30s.

So what can we expect trophy wise!? Last season the t20 was a shambles and it is difficult to see it being any different. The lack of experience or variety in the bowling attack and a lack of firepower in the batting means that it is hard to picture Glos doing much better this season. Still, at least we won't have to watch Dan Christian this year. The return of 50 over cricket is probably the best chance of really challenging for silverware and, if everyone can stay fit, then a promotion challenge is a distinct possibility.

On a final note, it will be interesting to see who else gets blooded from the academy. It is all well and good to invest nothing in the squad and place your faith in an academy system, as we have already said this is a highly commendable way to run a cricket club. However, such sustainability relies on having a convey belt of talent coming from the academy. Who the next young thing will be is perhaps the most exciting thing Gloucestershire fans have to look forward to.

Streaker-gate!

Cheltenham cricket festival streaker Daniel Butcher has stirred up something of a controversy following his highly amusing late afternoon streak during the third day of Gloucestershires recent victory over Worcestershire. Allegations have emerged that the Jessop Tavern Views hero, Alex Gidman, challenged Mr Butcher to streak with the grand sum of a £100 bet. County cricket doesn't get juicier than this.

Emerging from one of the marquees, Mr Butcher made a slightly undignified naked clamber over the advertising hoardings before embarking on a rather serene jog to the middle of the old college ground. Some what bemused, Mr Butcher had time to have a look round and take it all in before security made a belated appearance and chased him off to the pavilion.

Unbeknownst to those watching his naked antics was that Mr Butcher gave Alex Gidman a sly little wink as he trotted passed the slip cordon. Presumably the rest of the Gloucestershire boys thought this was pretty normal. Gidman did after all go to Wycliffe College where passing the soap in the showers is not only a hobby but an actual subject. As it turns out Mr Butcher also attended Wycliffe at the same time as Gidders and this is where they became "firm friends", to quote Butcher, or where "I have no recollection of ever meeting Mr Butcher", according to Gidman.

The Gloucestershire Echo decided to run a comedy piece at the weekend detailing how Gidders had apparently bet his old school friend £100 that he wouldn't streaker during the festival. In a fitting end to the story Mr Butcher revealed how he has given the money to a cancer charity in support of his Dad who is fighting the illness. All very heart warming.

But no. Enter big bad Kaiser Tom Richardson to quash any such fun. "Alex Gidman categorically states that he made no such suggestion to his old mucker Daniel Butcher about carrying out a streak" lambasted Richardson, who was evidently so angered by the possibility that such a story might inject a bit of character back into county cricket that he put a gun to Gidman's head and made him also issue an official statement 'categorically' denying the allegation. "The only thing myself and Mr Butcher have in common is a similar waist line and a love of pies", Gidman thoughtfully didn't add.

So there we go. Never before have Gloucestershire been moved to issue so many statements during one Cheltenham festival. A week previously Kaiser Tom was on his soapbox, round the back of the ice cream van at the chapel end preaching an apology about the state of the t20 pitch for the match against Warwickshire (no similar apology was issued for an identical pitch and scorecard for the following weeks game against Glamorgan which Glos managed to win) Now Tom is ranting about a charity streak. It is unconfirmed as yet, that when Mr Butcher was being led away Kaiser Tom was seen offering him a discount on a flat in Bristol.

In Praise of....Gidders!

Day 2: Glos 562 - 5 dec v Kent 165 - 2.

The Jessop Tavern View is running out of superlatives with which to describe Gidders. So long have we marvelled at his nimble footwork, his wonderful balance and the way that his head falls so far to the off side requiring him to so magnificently play around his front pad. He's always been a hero of ours. Even when scoring 528 runs in 2012. Even when scoring 679 runs in 2010. Even when scoring 481 runs in 2008. We knew he'd come good. We knew it was only the captaincy restricting his lumbering front foot from once more becoming planted and his broad bat swinging through the line on nice flat pitches.

Yesterday at Cheltenham Gidders helped himself to a glorious first double century of his career. So easy was it for Gidman that having compiled 211 runs he then found that the only way to let someone else pad their average was to run himself out.

Gidman now has 754 championship runs at 62 this season.

O'Mish, who also scored a relentless hundred yesterday, has 560 runs at 50.

Both have 3 centuries this season. Combine this with Captain Klinger's 3 hundreds and Gloucestershire's veteran top order batsmen have all done their bit to give the young bowlers something to bowl with.

Whether they can manage to find 20 wickets on a sun baked College ground pitch might be asking a bit too much in this game though.

Video Highlights from Day 2:

Dent and Gidders help themselves against sorry Kent

Day 1: Gloucestershire 348 - 3 v Kent.

After all the build up and all the excitement over the passed several months today finally saw the talking stop and the cricket begin. It's time for Cheltenham.

God only knows what poor old Kent thought today. Even with the newly arrived Vernon Philander, Kent's bottom of the table bowling attack must have despaired when arriving at the sun baked College ground this morning and losing the toss. The only good thing at Cheltenham is that there are at least enough people watching to chuck the ball back from the boundary.

In ruthless, and un-Gloucestershire-like fashion, the boys sensed a side ripe for the pumping and duly cashed in all of their chips. Well, apart from Dan Housego. At the moment he probably wouldn't even know what to do if he were dealt a full house.

Chris Dent and Gidders didn't need asking twice, and once the new ball was safely negotiated, helped themselves to a stand of 267 for the third wicket.

Speaking after his career high 153 Chris Dent said how he "thought it was time he really knuckled down and scored some big first class runs". Considering how Dent is now midway through his 4th season of first team cricket we'd agree that it's 'about time'.

Gidders continued his fine season with an unbeaten 145. Gidman now has 688 runs at an average of  62 since relinquishing the captaincy. His best season saw him score 1244 runs at 49. We'd like to see him get somewhere near this in the final 7 games.

Dan Housego on the other hand started the season with 150 on the first day against Essex. Since then he has scored 250 runs in 13 innings at an average of 19. Ian Cockbain scored 224 'red ball' runs just down the road in a 2nd Xi match against, ahem, the MCC Combined Universities. Still, as they say, you've got to score them. Will we see 'Shagger' Cockbain batting at 3 any time soon? Unlikely. The feeling is that his strokeplay is probably more suited to slightly lower down the order and it is unlikely that Gloucestershire will tinker with a batting lineup that is starting the produce the goods.

Tomorrow should see Gloucestershire really grind Kent into the floor and post a big score of 500 plus. Then poor Craig Miles, James Fuller, Will Gidman and Tom Smith can have fun being hammered to all corners.

Still, if nothing else, todays run-fest should whet the appetite for the carnage that we could be in for when the t20 circus turns up at the world's most historic cricket festival.

Video highlights of Day 1:

Glos and Glamorgan demonstrate collective lack of ambition

Day 3 and 4: Gloucestershire 478 v Glamorgan 448 and 176 for 2.

So, what was the point of that?


Gloucestershire and Glamorgan played out an incredibly tedious draw that does absolutely nothing for either side. Gloucestershire take away 8 points, Glamorgan 7. According to captain Klinger, Glos were looking to build a lead of around 130 on the final morning before hoping that Glamorgan might feel a little bit of pressure when all they could hope for was to bat out the draw. Instead Gloucestershire crumbled to Michael Hogan, who took 5-13 in 26 balls to finish with 7-92, thus proving that it was possible to take bunches of wickets on an incredibly benign Bristol pitch.

We understand that wickets only fell because Glos were trying to score quickly, which is exactly what they would have had to do had they allowed Glamorgan to set a final day total. We also realise that Glamorgan probably wouldn't have had the bottle to set a chaseable total on such a flat pitch.

This reflects badly on both sides. Had this been further towards the end of the season then the liklihood is that a result would have been attempted to be contrived. But what is the point of not doing it now? At least give yourself the opportunity to get in the mix at the top half of the table. As we frequently point out, the difference between a draw and a loss is 3 points, plus there is no relegation, so nothing to fear from the wooden spoon.

Anyway......

Klinger and Gidders continued their good form. Both of these guys should now be eyeing up at least 1000 runs for the season. The House also got some runs on the board and Gareth Roderick continued to look the part as a genuine wicketkeeper-batsman. Craig Miles also helped himself to another 5 wicket haul.

Other than that this game is now cast aside as instantly forgettable.

Day 3 Highlights:



Day 4 Highlights:

Ed Young to the rescue

Gloucestershire 222 (Gidman 110, Kerrigan 5-68) and 173 for 9 drew with Lancashire 310 (Katich 96, Miles 6-88) and 270 (Prince 64, Croft 64, McCarter 4-95) 

The Jessop Tavern View admits it has some previous when it comes to Ed Young. We've frequently been critical of his 'bowling' and queried whether he is worth his place in the team, given his average of 70. The answer to this is 'no'. However, his brave resistance with the bat yesterday, batting for 6 odd overs despite a wrist injury sustained earlier in the match, proved he does have some value to the 'Shire.

Gloucestershire were set an unlikely 358 to win, after Lancashire extended their innings for a few overs at the start of the day, taking their lead to over 350. Once batting again, we swiftly lost Chris Dent, whose inability to stick around when circumstances require circumspection are a worrying trend. Given his obvious talent, King John should be having a word.

Corporal Klinger didn't last a lot longer, either, falling on the stroke of lunch to the handy Kerrigan. While he scored more than 10 today, he does already seem a rather binary player, lacking the consistent plundering which marks out a true Div 2 overseas mercenary. Housego didn't last much longer himself and it was thus left to old stagers, Gidders and O'Mish to bat for 29 overs while putting on 54. It was pleasing to see Gidman scores runs in the second innings, as given his first innings ton, we had predicted a single figure score second tine around. Once he departed, trapped LBW by non-overseas South African, Andrea Agathangelou, Benny Howell arrived and curbed his natural attacking instincts in another time-consuming partnership with Marshall. Hamish did surprisingly well in this knock, ultimately batting 204 balls for his 44.

Glos lost 4 late wickets to pile on the pressure, but McCarter and Young survived until the final over, leaving Liam Norwell to safely navigate the final delivery of the match. A creditable performance, given our mounting injury list among the bowling attack. 18 year old Craig Miles is looking more and more impressive with every match. We even heard rumours that the England Lions were running an eye over him. That's all we need, one of our few fit, decent quality bowlers getting called up. Yes, we know that's a parochial thing to say, but hey, we are proudly one-eyed west country folk here at the Jessop Tavern View.

A final word of credit must go to Glenn Chapple. 900 wickets is not an easy thing to come by and is testament to his skill, fitness and durability over a long career. His post-landmark comments were typically self-effacing and mostly focused on him just playing for a long time. However, to paraphrase 'Sir' Geoffrey Boycott, he must have bowled some good deliveries along the way, else all the batting was rubbish.

Video highlights from Day 4 below:

Gidders to the rescue

Day 2: Lancs 310 v Glos 143 -4.

An intriguing poised game continued to see-saw its way between the rain clouds and leave Glos with a fighting chance of still getting something from the match.

It was a day of contrasts as 39 year old Glenn Chapple bagged his 900th first class wicket and 18 year old Gloucestershire paceman Craig Miles took career best figures of 6 for 88. Even more impressive for Miles is the fact that this is the third match in a row in which he has taken career best figures, following up his 4 for 83 against Hampshire, and 6 for 99 against Worcestershire. Whilst these figures are clearly impressive for a young bowler, lets not forget that both Liam Norwell and David Payne took wickets when bursting on to the scene. Norwell and Payne both seemed to have regressed this season and it is to be hoped that Miles can continue to take wickets when teams more familiar with facing him.

After losing an hour to rain in the morning, Gloucestershire did everything that could be asked of them. 5 quick wickets left Lancashire reeling on 244 for 9 only for numbers 10 and 11 to put on 66 for the last wicket. In the context of this match that final wicket partnership could well turn out to be a decisive one. I guess we shouldn't blame Gloucester's young bowling attack too much, but having worked so hard to put themselves in a good position they did seem to throw it away too easily by spraying it around to the tail enders.

In reply Glos were very quickly in the mire. Captain Klingon became Chapples 900th victim, Dent lazily left a ball that thudded into his pads to chalk up yet another dismissal that speaks more about his lack of concentration than his lack of technique. The House slashed at a ball that was too close to his body to cut and O'Mish was strangled down the legside. At 66 for 4 at least we were thinking that Lancashire's final wicket partnership wasn't quite as key as we first thought.

But then cometh the hour, cometh the Gidders. Standing tall, and lumbering forward Gidders and Benny managed to steady the ship and set sail for an inevitable early morning collapse on day 3. We do pity the poor buggers who have to write summaries for all the county championship matches day in day out, but we think they were really stretching it when they whimsically muttered that it is easy to imagine how much Gidman could have achieved in the game were it not for injury. Whilst Gidders has always been susceptible to niggling little injuries, we can't think of any major periods when he was out of the side. The Jessop Tavern does have a slightly soft spot for Gidman mainly, we suspect, because he represents everything that we love about Gloucestershire. For the most part Gidman is maddeningly inconsistent, frequently getting himself in, then even more frequently getting himself out. Yet he always offers you those glimpses of talent. Those moments that make you think, maybe now he will kick on and dominate teams on a weekly basis. Gidman hasn't passed 1000 runs in a season since 2009. He has 2 hundreds since that same year. 2009 was also Gidman's first season as captain. Unfulfilled potential. Probably not. He's probably achieved everything we could realistically have expected.

Still, we are happy to re-write this if he makes a big ton today. And speaking of tons, whilst it's been nice to see Benny cementing himself at number 6 (and bizarrely becoming a handy bowler) it's about time he hit a first class hundred.

Anyone else fed up with 'encouraging performance'?

Day 4; Worcs beat Glos by 10 wickets.

The writing was so obviously on the wall for this one that the Jessop Tavern feels that most Gloucester fans hardly need us to comment.

2013 continues to be an up and down season for the Shire who are still struggling to shake off the tag of being a young team still learning their trade and displaying "lots of positives".

We can start with the positives. Debutant wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick translated his excellent 2nd XI form into runs for the first team and thus has posed an interesting selection problem when previous gloveman Cameron Herring recovers from conjunctivitis. Roderick scored a backs to the wall 79 not out to lend an element of respectability to the final score. After the 'Jon Batty years', having two young stumpers battling it out is a most welcome change. Craig Miles also returned figures of 6 for 99 to underline his potential. He also contributed to a 9th wicket stand of 48 with Roderick.

Sadly though Glos yet again find themselves putting forward encouraging performances by youngsters to mask what was a comprehensive hammering by Worcestershire.

Shorn of Will Gidman and Ian Saxelby the bowling attack really failed to step up to the mark. For all Craig miles' 6 wickets, sadly 260 runs were on the board before he opened his account. Both James Fuller and Liam Norwell returned respectable figures, but neither led the attack. With David Payne struggling for form it is to be hoped that both Gidman and Saxelby are back from injury soon. Jack Taylor performed an admirable impression of Ed Young, failing to take a wicket whilst leaking runs at almost 5 an over.

With the experience in this Gloucestershire side residing solely in the batting department it is disappointing that no batsman contributed a significant score. But hey, we've moaned about this before so why should we be surprised. Glos can probably consider themselves a little bit unlucky to have run into Alan Richardson on devastating form but enough Gloucester batsmen got starts that someone should have gone on (that's you Gidders; not as easy as milking hundreds from the students, eh?!)

Before this season started King John was trumpeting about how youth and inexperience were no longer acceptable excuses. It would therefore be nice to not have to keep writing about 'encouraging performances' from young players. Whether theses youngsters are ready to make the step up from 'encouraging performers' to week-in, week-out performers remains to be seen.

Northants close in on victory

Day 3: Gloucestershire 192 and 280 for 9 lead Northants by 68 runs.

So, let's cut to the chase and consider the question that all Gloucestershire fans will be wondering; what's the chance of rain tomorrow?

Sadly, not great if the weather channel prove to be correct.

Unless something remarkable happens, Northants will wrap up a thoroughly deserved victory. Glos will go and dwell on a few positives from their second innings fight. At 109 for 4, and opening game centurions Dan Housego and Hamish O'Marshall joining captain Michael Klinger back in the pavilion the odds were on for a dispiriting innings defeat. Instead, lead by former skipper Alex Gidman, Glos fought back to at least take the game into a fourth day and make Northants bat again. When you finish bottom of the county championship you have to take whatever small victories you can.

The disappointing aspect of today's batting effort was that several plays got themselves into a position to play the sort of knock that could have seriously given Northants the jitters. Sadly neither Dent, Gidman or Benny could convert their half centuries into anything more meaningful. Young Cameron Herring also displayed encouraging signs of his potential with a second half decent contribution of the match. Gloucestershire will now rue the lack of runs in this match from messers Housego, Klinger and O'Mish who contributed only 44 runs in 6 innings between them. When half of your batting lineup scores less than fifty in the entire match you ain't going to win many matches.

Season preview: The only way is up, up, up.....

We're sure we are not the only ones, but with the weather still freezing, we're not exactly in the mood for the start of the county championship. still, we are nothing if not professional so we'll grit our teeth, fire up the heating, and have a think about what we might expect from Gloucestershire this year.

We still feel that last year's wooden spoon wasn't quite as terrible as it would appear on paper, and that there were definitely enough positives, or perhaps more accurately, glimpses of positives, for us to move towards the 2013 season with a little bit of optimism.

The only major new signing has been the appointment of Aussie Michael Klinger as captain. Klinger doesn't exactly come in on a wave of great form, his 330 runs at an average of 19 during the recent Australian season is a slight worry. His one day average of 42 suggests his preferred format, and also points towards where Gloucestershire's focus is for this season. Still, he represents an experienced new face, and whilst he isn't in the class of Kane Williamson he fills the troublesome openers berth.

Other than that, what would represent success for Gloucestershire?

Promotion will of course be talked about, and whilst this is a fairly obvious goal it would be nice if Gloucestershire could at least be in the mix come the final month of the season. The squad looks painfully thin, and only an injury free season would really allow the Shire to seriously push for promotion. As already mentioned, the signing of Michael Klinger probably means that our main focus will be on the one day competitions. Last year saw the green shoots of recovery in both the t20 and the 50 over competition. The signing of t20 specialist Dan Christian will provide the batting firepower that has been lacking in the past few years.

On paper, Gloucestershire's strength would appear to be in the batting. Klinger, older Gidman and O'Mish should all be targeting 1,000 runs. Chris Dent, Dan Housego and Ian Cockbain will all be looking to break away from their 'promising' tags and really put down a marker that they are real players of substance. Last year only one Gloucestershire batsman posted more than a solitary hundred. That man was Kane Williamson.

The bowling again appears to be a worry. The continual injury woes of Ian Saxelby puts into doubt exactly where the wickets will come from. Saxelby and Will Gidman have been consistent performers for Glos over the last two seasons. They are backed up by Liam Norwell, David Payne and James '38' Fuller. All three of them have shown promise. The question is, can one of these make the next step and become a 40 wicket a season bowler? One of them will need to. We are going to ignore the spin option. Let's just say that the Nevil Road groundsman won't be digging out the short blade on the mower and he can leave the rake at the back of the shed.

Who keeps wicket is anyone's guess. Richard Coughtrie's lack of runs seemed to see him fall from favour at the end of last season. The door is therefore wide open for youngsters Cameron Herring and Gareth Roderick. Lets just praise the Lord that it won't be Jon Batty.

King John has repeatedly made clear that it is no longer acceptable for the team to hide behind the 'inexperienced' tag. Whilst this remains a young squad, all of the youngsters now have a good two seasons behind them. If these young guns are to be the future of Gloucestershire cricket then it is time for them to stand up and be counted.

Michael Klinger- a (superficial) analysis

The Jessop Tavern View rarely needs an excuse to put some meaningless cricket on the TV and while away a few hours, but up until now we haven't had the opportunity to watch the 'Big Bash' t20 competition from Australia.

However, with Sky conveniently airing endless live matches from Down Under over the Christmas period and the Shire having recently signed South Australia's Michael Klinger as captain for the 2013 season, we had the perfect opportunity to settle down in front of the box and enjoy some mindless slogging, all in the name of 'research'. And then spend three months thinking about writing this piece.

Conveniently, the official site has recently published a two part interview with Klinger where he talks a bit about his career so far, his IPL experiences and his motivations for joining Gloucestershire. One thing which we find slightly concerning in the interview and from looking at his career record is a clear preference for the shorter forms of the game. Klinger is coming to Bristol off the back of a mediocre Australian domestic season, where he's averaging just 19 from 9 first class matches with a highest score of just 56. (He'll fit right in with those figures). He's fared better in the one day arena, with 341 runs at 42, but reserves his best performances for the Big Bash, where he has a highest score of 71 and has a solid strike rate of 114.

So, what does all of this tell us about Klinger and his likely impact? Not much, really. The title of this article was a bit of a clue. What the Jessop Tavern View is worried about is that we've signed a captain whose best performances in recent years have been confined to the shorter form of the game. That's not a bad thing in itself, but Glos did finish bottom of Division Two of the County Championship last year and you would think that our 4 day performances are the most pressing issues facing the new skipper. We're probably over-analysing his 4 day performances, but in 11 first class appearances for Worcestershire in 2012, he scored 606 runs at 35 with just one hundred. The Jessop Tavern View is mildly concerned that we may not be getting our money's worth from a man, who at 32, may be better suited to T20 thrashes as opposed to constructing a long innings on English early season pitches.

Time will of course tell, and Klinger said all the right things in his interview with the official site- apart from the bit about being pleased to receive an email from Alex Gidman offering his help ahead of the new season. Those are the kinds of emails which need to go in his junk mail folder, or better yet, be deleted without reading.

Anyway, onwards and upwards with the first pre-season friendlies only 8 days away. It snowed here in London yesterday, so we're not imagining the players are exactly desperate to pull on the triple-layered sweaters. Even they are full of a bit more enthusiasm than us, wait until their cold hands feel the sting of the first booming cover drive from  Marcus Trescothick down at Taunton in 10 days time...

Michael Klinger signs for Glos.....calm yourselves.

Gloucestershire announced the signing of Aussie plunderer Michael Klinger as their overseas superstar for 2013. More than this, Klinger will attempt to bring his experience of leading South Australia to two consecutive wooden spoons in his appointed role as new club captain. Klinger stepped down as South Australia's skipper at the end of last season. He is the Australian Alex Gidman. No seriously, he is. He has a career average of 37.

Over the last 3 seasons Klinger has scored over 3000 runs at an average of 48 in all formats of the game. Klinger also led the Adelaide Strikers to t20 and a one day trophy. His overall record suggests a player slightly more comfortable in the shorter forms of the games without being a total one day specialist. His first class record this year seems him averaging 26. Last season he averaged 33 in first class matches. In seven matches for Worcestershire last year he scored a respectable 413 runs at 37. Make of these statistics what you will. We're going to suggest he's a journeyman pro.

Whilst the signing of Klinger will hardly boost the membership numbers, it does represent a very shrewd and sensible acquisition by King John and Kaiser Tom. Sadly, gone are the days of marquee overseas signings that get the juices flowing in advance of the season starting. The years of watching the top names plying their trade left long ago. What we are left with is Michael Klinger.

However, as we said, Klinger is a shrewd signing. Lets run through some of the positives. He's clearly not crap (although it's yet to be seen how a hard season of teaching pilates and captaining the team affects him) and he brings with him a wealthy of experience of playing tough, uncompromising Sheffield Shield cricket. He's an opening bat which will hopefully help Glos to solve the opening crisis of last season (6 different openers used...and Jon Batty). He also has captaincy credentials that are marginally better than Gidders. He has also committed for the whole season, and having an overseas player around for the entire year can only be good for a young squad. Finally, and most importantly, Klinger is used to be being shit. South Australia have finished bottom of the Sheffield Shield for the last 3 years (and this year are currently second bottom). For this final point alone, the Jessop Tavern View thinks he looks like a good fit.

One last thought however.......and whisper this quietly. How does a man who hasn't played international cricket for Australia get a work visa? We thought that international credentials were required to prevent clubs signing any more Shabbir Ahmeds. He has played for Australia A, but whether that counts......?