It's early April, so all cricket fans now know that its the time of year that they suddenly wonder how 3 rounds of the championship and 2 Royal London One Day cup games some how get crammed into the month of April. As a Gloucestershire fan writing a season preview there is the ominous thought that before the sun even starts to melt our Easter eggs our season could be done.
But spring is a time of optimism, and whilst the Jessop Tavern View has perhaps struggled to sustain this optimism through the summer, the 2016 season held enough positives to suggest that 2017 should at least be a fun season.
It has been the case for a while now that 4 day cricket isn't the priority in Bristol. Whilst the Jessop Tavern will always cling to hope that a crop of genuinely exciting and high quality youngsters will force this to be changed, we can also recongnise that concentrating on one day cricket is a wise business decision. It won't stop us moaning though. Our love of 4 day stuff runs confusingly deep.
So what can Gloucestershire fans expect in 2017?
Batting
Glos had a mixed closed season in terms of off-season squad management. It was already known that O'Mish was retiring, and that Maxy Klinger would only being coming back for a bit of limited overs slap and tickle. This represented Gloucestershire's two principal totems of experience in the top order.
In replacement up step Cameron Bancroft and Colonel 'Phil' Mustard. Bancroft had a taster for big woolly jumper cricket in 2016 (192 runs at an average of 21, with only one fifty) and is coming off a fairly average looking Sheffield Shield campaign down-under (536 runs at an average of 28, with two centuries). The Colonel batted his way into a contract at the end of last season with 447 runs at 55 (with 1 hundred and 3 fifties) in 6 games. A career first class average of 30 with 7 hundreds is probably more inline with what we can expect from the 35 year old looking to add a few extra years to his career in the cosy world of division 2. Clearly the two guys stepping in have big shoes to fill.
Maxy has been our best batter since joining the club, and O'Mish, whilst maddeningly inconsistent, was always good for his career average of 36 (incidentally, O'Mish did manage to retire with his Test average greater than his first class one. Always the sign of a very good player!) So the batting looks flimsy. Bancroft will presumably open with Dent, and how these two go will determine much on how Gloucestershire's batting takes shape. Dent is coming of the back of a career best year of 1200 runs at 47. Converting more of his fifties into hundreds would be nice, but ultimately he will need to produce this sort of form again in 2017. Graeme Van Buuren came from out of nowhere to look like a solid county pro. If he can average his 2016 figure of 45 over the course of a full season then the Jessop Tavern View will enjoy rolling out its bottomless pit of Jacques Kallis jokes.
Where will the rest of the runs come from? Can Captain Roderick settle into a more consistent run scorer? 725 runs averaging 32 in 2016 was respectable for a first time skipper. 6 fifties but only one hundred demonstrates that hitting 1,000 runs shouldn't be beyond him. The other 'batsman' to contribute significantly in 2016 was Jack Taylor. Of his 860 runs (average of 35, with 2 hundreds) the majority of these came as a biffer batting at 7 or 8. The experiment of playing him as a batsman during his bowling suspension seemed to confuse Taylor and inhibit his explosiveness. Gloucestershire will need him to continue his development as a batsman to add a game-changing dimension to our lower order.
Finally, Glos will almost certainly need the bowlers to continue their fine 2016 form with the bat. David Payne and Chris Miles averaged 27 and 25 respectively. Liam Norwell averaged 18 whilst also scoring a memorable hundred as night watchman. All 3 of these will need to continue these contributions as that top order looks shaky to say the least.
Who else looks likely to breakthrough in 2017? George Hankins is the young hope. He stuttered his way through 9 games in 2016, but a hundred late in the season against Northants suggested he was finding his feet. Other than Hankins the other two options are perennial Jessop Tavern View favourite Ian Cockbain, and Will Tavare. Neither fills you with hope, although our blindness to Cockbain's awful first class record means we are always willing to give him another chance to biff people around like he does in one day cricket.
A likely lineup for the batting seems to be; 1. Dent 2. Bancroft 3. Van Buuren 4. Roderick 5. Mustard 6. Hankins 7. Taylor
The problem piece from this lineup is the lack of depth. Colonel Mustard at 5?! This will leave coach Richard Dawson debating whether one of the 'allrounders' is needed. Benny and Kieran Gourmet-Burger again appear the only two options and neither really have the quality with bat or ball in 4 day cricket. This said, 2017 is still full of optimism at this point!
Bowling
Is this Gloucestershire's strength in 2017? The core attack of Miles, Payne and Norwell has been a group for a number of years now and, if they can remain fit, all are good quality division 2 seamers. 2016 brought 52 wickets for Miles, 43 for Payne and 39 for Norwell. Good enough for all 3 to be placed in the top 15 of division 2 wicket takers. Yorkshire loanee Josh Shaw also contributed 32 scalps in 2016 and it will be hoped that his wickets can be picked up by young Matt Taylor.
The spin department again looks fairly worrying. Jack Taylor took 22 wickets at 45, with a bowling action-related suspension thrown in for good measure. Tom Smith appears to have become entirely a one day cricketer. Graeme Van Buuren looked like he could get through a few overs, but essentially the seam attack will need to carry the burden in 2017. Is there much depth behind those mentioned? It doesn't appear so, a fact fairly worrying considering Miles, Payne and Norwell have all had their injury problems.
What constitutes success?
Promotion from division 2 is now harder than ever, particularly with Durham joining the mix for 2017. Realistically it would be nice to see competitive cricket and with Glos still in the mix come September. Possibly not mixing it right at the top, but entering September knowing that a run of victories would make things lots of fun. We presume that the lack of activity in signing more players to broaden the squad (surely 1 bowler was an option?!) means that there are a few young guys ready to go. It would be nice to start to see the next group of bowlers starting to come through to support Miles, Payne and Norwell.
2017 looks more like a fingers crossed campaign, but with enough genuine hope to make us not feel that Glos have completely given up on 4 day cricket.
A pair of long-suffering Gloucestershire County Cricket club fans attempt to put the world (and the Glos administration) to rights. Themes include: Is one England ODI a year a good model for financial success and ground redevelopments, whether a batting average of 35 in Division 2 of the County Championship is acceptable and why Glos continue to be rubbish.
Showing posts with label County cricket preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label County cricket preview. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Friday, 8 April 2016
The future is Bright (side) for Glos in 2016
It's early April. The whole cricketing world is still excited by a memorable T20 World Cup. English cricket fans are still reeling from Ben Stokes' decision to see whether Carlos Braithwaite could continually hit balls in the slot 90m over the fence. Capitalising on all of this is the start of the world's most exciting cricket competition. Pieterson, Kohli, the Universe Boss. None of these will be playing in the county championship. Yep, it is that time of year when all cricket fans scratch their heads at why we're starting the season when it is still cold and wet.
Step forward the 2016 English cricket season, and step forward cricket being played at The Brightside Ground. History be damned, this is is business. In a extra comic twist the 'Brightside' commercial partnership coincides with some spanking new neighbour irritants, otherwise known as floodlights and an outrageously bright yellow one day kit.
New floodlights. New one day kit. Exciting new ground name. None of these exactly points towards the club prioritising 4 day cricket for 2016. However, as traditionalists, the Jessop Tavern View has always held a deep love for the old competition. So what does 2016 have in store for Glos.
Batting will very definitely continue to be the key to any 4 day success for Gloucestershire. With Maxi Klinger not arriving until the end of May, young Aussie opening bat Cameron Bancroft will be seen wandering around with 3 jumpers scratching his head as another 60mph medium pacer loops balls down at him as he gropes around outside off stump wondering what his mates are doing back in Oz. Bancroft is a potentially very exciting signing having been good enough to get a test call up a few years ago. He is the sort of signing you can see being very successful, and it would be interesting to see if Glos try to develop him as a long term successor to Maxi.
Alongside Bancroft we are convinced that this is the year of The Chris Dent. 2,000 runs across all formats. 5 championship hundreds. We've no doubts. Potentially he will need to score the runs as poor Gareth Roderick appears to have been asked to be our keeper-captain. Clearly Roderick must have impressed everyone with his cricketing acumen, however you can't help but feel that the captaincy might impact his development as a cricketer at a fairly crucial stage of his career.
O'Mish will presumably bat like O'Mish, unless someone packed him off to some Mindfulness retreat to make him appreciate the enjoyment that can be felt from a good leave outside off stump and from scoring more than 30 before top edging to one of the 3 men back on the leg side. Complementing the top order will be Benny the bowler, Kieran Gourmet-Burger and presumably Ian Cockbain. We've always liked Cockbain so we'll back him to have a good 2016.
The bowling on the other hand continues to look paper thin. The addition of 32 year old Chris Liddle from Sussex looks like an attempt to fill James Fuller's shoes. Liddle has only 25 first class matches to his name and was seen as a one day specialist at Sussex. Whether he can replicate Fuller's ability to go all round the ground remains to be seen. The rest of the bowling remains. Miles will be backed to continue his remarkable progress and he will need support from David Payne and Liam Norwell. It would be nice if Jack Taylor could mature into an all-round cricketer to provide an alternative to Tom Smith.
However, that is about it. Scary really. Especially if you consider that none of the seamers have great fitness records. Aussie T20 player Andrew Tye will parachute himself in for the T20 Blast having impressed enough in the Big Bash earlier this year to have forced his way into the Aussie World T20 squad. You suspect that the T20 is very much where Glos see their bread being buttered.
2016 looks very much like a season for one day cricket at Gloucestershire. The club have clearly, and sensibly, identified this and based on the glorious success of last season it would be great to see the Shire build upon that. More pertinently, you cannot help but feel that the next few years will be very telling for the future of county cricket, and for clubs like Gloucestershire.
With city franchises looking more and more likely it is vital that Glos manage to create some sort of buzz around the club and start to attract the crowds to back this up. We now have what looks like a fairly sensible business strategy, new floodlights, new kit and some 2015 success. The club now just need to produce on the field to make Gloucestershire a relevant cricket club again. However, the club's decision to not invest more in the squad may yet scupper all the other careful planning. We hope not.
Good luck boys! Let's have some more great memories like last year.
Step forward the 2016 English cricket season, and step forward cricket being played at The Brightside Ground. History be damned, this is is business. In a extra comic twist the 'Brightside' commercial partnership coincides with some spanking new neighbour irritants, otherwise known as floodlights and an outrageously bright yellow one day kit.
New floodlights. New one day kit. Exciting new ground name. None of these exactly points towards the club prioritising 4 day cricket for 2016. However, as traditionalists, the Jessop Tavern View has always held a deep love for the old competition. So what does 2016 have in store for Glos.
Batting will very definitely continue to be the key to any 4 day success for Gloucestershire. With Maxi Klinger not arriving until the end of May, young Aussie opening bat Cameron Bancroft will be seen wandering around with 3 jumpers scratching his head as another 60mph medium pacer loops balls down at him as he gropes around outside off stump wondering what his mates are doing back in Oz. Bancroft is a potentially very exciting signing having been good enough to get a test call up a few years ago. He is the sort of signing you can see being very successful, and it would be interesting to see if Glos try to develop him as a long term successor to Maxi.
Alongside Bancroft we are convinced that this is the year of The Chris Dent. 2,000 runs across all formats. 5 championship hundreds. We've no doubts. Potentially he will need to score the runs as poor Gareth Roderick appears to have been asked to be our keeper-captain. Clearly Roderick must have impressed everyone with his cricketing acumen, however you can't help but feel that the captaincy might impact his development as a cricketer at a fairly crucial stage of his career.
O'Mish will presumably bat like O'Mish, unless someone packed him off to some Mindfulness retreat to make him appreciate the enjoyment that can be felt from a good leave outside off stump and from scoring more than 30 before top edging to one of the 3 men back on the leg side. Complementing the top order will be Benny the bowler, Kieran Gourmet-Burger and presumably Ian Cockbain. We've always liked Cockbain so we'll back him to have a good 2016.
The bowling on the other hand continues to look paper thin. The addition of 32 year old Chris Liddle from Sussex looks like an attempt to fill James Fuller's shoes. Liddle has only 25 first class matches to his name and was seen as a one day specialist at Sussex. Whether he can replicate Fuller's ability to go all round the ground remains to be seen. The rest of the bowling remains. Miles will be backed to continue his remarkable progress and he will need support from David Payne and Liam Norwell. It would be nice if Jack Taylor could mature into an all-round cricketer to provide an alternative to Tom Smith.
However, that is about it. Scary really. Especially if you consider that none of the seamers have great fitness records. Aussie T20 player Andrew Tye will parachute himself in for the T20 Blast having impressed enough in the Big Bash earlier this year to have forced his way into the Aussie World T20 squad. You suspect that the T20 is very much where Glos see their bread being buttered.
2016 looks very much like a season for one day cricket at Gloucestershire. The club have clearly, and sensibly, identified this and based on the glorious success of last season it would be great to see the Shire build upon that. More pertinently, you cannot help but feel that the next few years will be very telling for the future of county cricket, and for clubs like Gloucestershire.
With city franchises looking more and more likely it is vital that Glos manage to create some sort of buzz around the club and start to attract the crowds to back this up. We now have what looks like a fairly sensible business strategy, new floodlights, new kit and some 2015 success. The club now just need to produce on the field to make Gloucestershire a relevant cricket club again. However, the club's decision to not invest more in the squad may yet scupper all the other careful planning. We hope not.
Good luck boys! Let's have some more great memories like last year.
Saturday, 11 April 2015
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.
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
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?
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?
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Glos season preview 2012. Disclaimer: we know nothing
The Jessop Tavern View has this week been pondering what to put in this season's preview. Given that the county has lost several players from last year's 4th-placed squad and the only replacement of note has been perennial 2nd XI championship 'star' Dan Housego, we don't really have that much to say. Neither do the media by the looks of it, as so far we have only rated a paragraph or so in both the Guardian and Telegraph season previews.
County cricket has not been at the forefront of our minds recently, at least until we spotted Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown on our run home from work yesterday. For those of you wondering what county players get up to in pre-season, we can exclusively reveal that he was carrying two takeaway pizzas from Pizza Express and a can of Coke! Presumably a Chris Adams-approved pre-match meal.
Anyway, on to matters at Nevil Road. Can fans of the Shire harbour any hope of promotion this year or are we doomed to yet another season of toil near the base of Division Two? To be honest, we don't have a clue!
Batting:
The departure of 2011's leading run-scorer Chris Taylor in fairly shameful circumstances has left a potentially gaping hole in the Glos middle order. The addition of Dan Housego from Middlesex has left us with one big question, how do you pronounce his name? Is it How-sego or House-go? A tricky dilemma for those of us who have barely seen him play. Commenters please feel free to put us right. We will see if his reputation as 'the best player in the 2nd XI championship' can help replace the Child's 1137 runs.
No sooner have we written this then a glance at Cricinfo confirms the slightly more exciting news that we've re-signed Kane Williamson as overseas for the first half of the season! Let's hope Kane can continue his form from the recent test series against South Africa (where he scored a match-saving hundred in the third test) as opposed to last year's Glos form (831 runs at 36.13). His is still only 21 and according to King John has improved in all forms of the game for New Zealand in the past few months. Goodness knows we could use some improvement in limited overs cricket, so let's hope so.
In other batting news, we're hoping from another solid season from captain Alex Gidman, although 1000 championship runs has to be the bare minimum requirement these days. The same should be said of Chris Dent, who can no longer rely on the tag of 'promising youngster' as justification for not converting attractive 50s into 100s.
Worryingly Hamish Marshall has been named vice-captain. Let's hope he's not doing too much mentoring of Housego and the youngsters, otherwise we could be seeing a lot more quick-fire 30s and 40s from the batsmen, before departing LBW to an ugly swipe. Even more worryingly, Jon Batty is still on the books. Notwithstanding the stacks of catches he took in his first season when we had Gemaal Hussain, Kirb and Lewis on the books, surely his signing has been an unmitigated disaster? Here's hoping we're not relying on him for key runs this season.
All-rounders:
It has also been announced that we have signed the lesser-known Muchall brother, all-rounder Paul, from Durham after a pre-season trial. Here's hoping he can recreate the success of the last all-rounder with limited first class experience signed from Durham.
Speaking of Will Gidman, if he can produced 80% of last season's 1006 runs and 51 wickets then Glos fans will be more than happy. We hope you will be, anyway.
Bowling:
For the first time in around 15 years, the seam attack will not be led by Jon Lewis. His departure for the bowler's paradise at The Oval has left a lack of real experience among the promising seam attack. The emergence last year of the better Gidders, David Payne and Liam Norwell, plus the return to fitness of Ian Saxelby has left us with a raw but promising core of quick bowlers. We're also hoping to see more of tearaway Kiwi quick James Fuller, who tore through a team of Oxford students in a recent pre-season game at The Parks.
The two young spinners, Ed Young and Jack Taylor are both relatively inexperienced, having made their debuts in the last couple of years. Young spent the winter honing histan skills at the Darren Lehmann academy in Perth and hopefully has returned having picked Lehmann's brain on more than just how to put away an enormous volume of alcohol and still be able to play the next day. On a bright note, the departure of Vikram Banerjee has improved the overall quality of our spin options immeasurably.
Predictions:
Here at the Jessop Tavern View we are not noted for our optimism. With an inexperienced squad shorn of two stalwarts of proven quality in Taylor and Lewis we foresee a season of struggle. The best we can hope for is a repeat of 4th or 5th place and a good run in one of the interminable one day competitions. We fear that 6th or 7th may be more realistic though. Here's looking forward to how it goes.
County cricket has not been at the forefront of our minds recently, at least until we spotted Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown on our run home from work yesterday. For those of you wondering what county players get up to in pre-season, we can exclusively reveal that he was carrying two takeaway pizzas from Pizza Express and a can of Coke! Presumably a Chris Adams-approved pre-match meal.
Anyway, on to matters at Nevil Road. Can fans of the Shire harbour any hope of promotion this year or are we doomed to yet another season of toil near the base of Division Two? To be honest, we don't have a clue!
Batting:
The departure of 2011's leading run-scorer Chris Taylor in fairly shameful circumstances has left a potentially gaping hole in the Glos middle order. The addition of Dan Housego from Middlesex has left us with one big question, how do you pronounce his name? Is it How-sego or House-go? A tricky dilemma for those of us who have barely seen him play. Commenters please feel free to put us right. We will see if his reputation as 'the best player in the 2nd XI championship' can help replace the Child's 1137 runs.
No sooner have we written this then a glance at Cricinfo confirms the slightly more exciting news that we've re-signed Kane Williamson as overseas for the first half of the season! Let's hope Kane can continue his form from the recent test series against South Africa (where he scored a match-saving hundred in the third test) as opposed to last year's Glos form (831 runs at 36.13). His is still only 21 and according to King John has improved in all forms of the game for New Zealand in the past few months. Goodness knows we could use some improvement in limited overs cricket, so let's hope so.
In other batting news, we're hoping from another solid season from captain Alex Gidman, although 1000 championship runs has to be the bare minimum requirement these days. The same should be said of Chris Dent, who can no longer rely on the tag of 'promising youngster' as justification for not converting attractive 50s into 100s.
Worryingly Hamish Marshall has been named vice-captain. Let's hope he's not doing too much mentoring of Housego and the youngsters, otherwise we could be seeing a lot more quick-fire 30s and 40s from the batsmen, before departing LBW to an ugly swipe. Even more worryingly, Jon Batty is still on the books. Notwithstanding the stacks of catches he took in his first season when we had Gemaal Hussain, Kirb and Lewis on the books, surely his signing has been an unmitigated disaster? Here's hoping we're not relying on him for key runs this season.
All-rounders:
It has also been announced that we have signed the lesser-known Muchall brother, all-rounder Paul, from Durham after a pre-season trial. Here's hoping he can recreate the success of the last all-rounder with limited first class experience signed from Durham.
Speaking of Will Gidman, if he can produced 80% of last season's 1006 runs and 51 wickets then Glos fans will be more than happy. We hope you will be, anyway.
Bowling:
For the first time in around 15 years, the seam attack will not be led by Jon Lewis. His departure for the bowler's paradise at The Oval has left a lack of real experience among the promising seam attack. The emergence last year of the better Gidders, David Payne and Liam Norwell, plus the return to fitness of Ian Saxelby has left us with a raw but promising core of quick bowlers. We're also hoping to see more of tearaway Kiwi quick James Fuller, who tore through a team of Oxford students in a recent pre-season game at The Parks.
The two young spinners, Ed Young and Jack Taylor are both relatively inexperienced, having made their debuts in the last couple of years. Young spent the winter honing his
Predictions:
Here at the Jessop Tavern View we are not noted for our optimism. With an inexperienced squad shorn of two stalwarts of proven quality in Taylor and Lewis we foresee a season of struggle. The best we can hope for is a repeat of 4th or 5th place and a good run in one of the interminable one day competitions. We fear that 6th or 7th may be more realistic though. Here's looking forward to how it goes.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Preview: Gloucestershire v Surrey, County Championship
Proper cricket returns to give us a much needed rest from the abject performances we have been witnessing in the T20 over the last few weeks. Surrey currently lie 4th in the table on 81 points, Gloucestershire are 5th on 78 points. It is another game that will go along way to define our season. Win, and we are still challenging at the top of the table. Lose, and the scrap for the wooden spoon will start.
Hamish Marshall returns to the championship side after injury and weddings kept him sidelined for much of the first half of the campaign. He comes into the team at the expense of Ian Cockbain, according to the squad announced on the Glos cricket website. This would seem a little bit harsh on young Cockbain. We presume that Chris Dent will therefore open with O'Mish. We're not entirely convinced by this decision. O'Mish definitely isn't an opener, and the Jessop Tavern View suspects that Dent would be better served batting at 6 and cementing himself in the side with a few hundreds before moving up the order.
Dick Coughtrie will be given the opportunity to cast Jon Batty to the sidelines, by continuing his encouraging showings with the gloves during the T20. We hope that common sense will mean Coughtrie bats in the lower middle order and is not pressed to open. A top score of 45 in 14 first class matches suggests this is more his natural position.
Kaiser Bracewell has stated that he is concerned that the Kia Oval will turn later in the game and this explains why both Ed Young and Jack Taylor are included as the spin options. No Vikram Banerjee then. Everyone do a little dance. Payne, Saxelby, the better Gidders and Sperm donor make up the seam choices.
This squad selection shows really encouraging signs that common sense has at last arrived at Gloucestershire. Batty has struggled for a year and a half and we have a young and apparently competent alternative in Coughtrie. Banerjee has barely troubled anyone since his arrival in Bristol. Ed Young shows plenty of potential. Lets hope that these kids are now given the rest of the season to develop properly.
Surrey will present a good challenge to the youngsters. To look at the Surrey squad for today, even minus the England players, is to wonder how they are mid table in division 2. Yet crap cricket and strange decisions are things that Surrey have done almost as well as Gloucestershire in recent years.
Lets just hope that the boys can tune back in to 4 day cricket quickly. A good away result at this point in the season would be a great way to set up the second half of the season.
Hamish Marshall returns to the championship side after injury and weddings kept him sidelined for much of the first half of the campaign. He comes into the team at the expense of Ian Cockbain, according to the squad announced on the Glos cricket website. This would seem a little bit harsh on young Cockbain. We presume that Chris Dent will therefore open with O'Mish. We're not entirely convinced by this decision. O'Mish definitely isn't an opener, and the Jessop Tavern View suspects that Dent would be better served batting at 6 and cementing himself in the side with a few hundreds before moving up the order.
Dick Coughtrie will be given the opportunity to cast Jon Batty to the sidelines, by continuing his encouraging showings with the gloves during the T20. We hope that common sense will mean Coughtrie bats in the lower middle order and is not pressed to open. A top score of 45 in 14 first class matches suggests this is more his natural position.
Kaiser Bracewell has stated that he is concerned that the Kia Oval will turn later in the game and this explains why both Ed Young and Jack Taylor are included as the spin options. No Vikram Banerjee then. Everyone do a little dance. Payne, Saxelby, the better Gidders and Sperm donor make up the seam choices.
This squad selection shows really encouraging signs that common sense has at last arrived at Gloucestershire. Batty has struggled for a year and a half and we have a young and apparently competent alternative in Coughtrie. Banerjee has barely troubled anyone since his arrival in Bristol. Ed Young shows plenty of potential. Lets hope that these kids are now given the rest of the season to develop properly.
Surrey will present a good challenge to the youngsters. To look at the Surrey squad for today, even minus the England players, is to wonder how they are mid table in division 2. Yet crap cricket and strange decisions are things that Surrey have done almost as well as Gloucestershire in recent years.
Lets just hope that the boys can tune back in to 4 day cricket quickly. A good away result at this point in the season would be a great way to set up the second half of the season.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Why does county cricket love to shoot itself in the foot?
Having decided that Gloucstershire are a non-starter for this season's T20 the Jessop Tavern cast its eyes around the rest of the county circuit in search of a new T20 team to support. Figuring that we didn't want to be seen as complete glory hunters we decided to place our new found love behind the team with the worst nickname in the competition. The Dynamos from Durham.
Ok, we haven't actually decided to support Durham, as tempting as this might be, but we did find ourselves in Newcastle at the weekend and fancied a bit of cricket on a Sunday afternoon. We wished we hadn't bothered as we were treated to a wonderful example of how county cricket just loves to shoot itself in the foot.
T20 is a very marketable format. Easily the most marketable form of the game. It's short and sweet, and a wonderful vehicle for getting new fans in. Then you go and charge £17.50 a ticket on the gate (Gloucester fans will notice that this is £2.50 cheaper than you will pay to watch the Shire...presumably that's £2.50 to watch Murali) Why the hell are tickets so expensive? I know the argument. In comparison to other sports it represents good value. But do people not realise that its county cricket! Just because people pay stupid money to watch the Premier League doesn't mean that this is your reference point for pricing county cricket.
For me, someone with an interest in county cricket, £17.50 is just about ok. On Sunday I took along a friend who enjoys watching cricket on the tv, and the girlfriend, who doesn't enjoy watching cricket on the tv. Both had to be convinced that it was worth the money. Both my friend and my girlfriend represent exactly the sort of customer T20 should be aiming to attract. People with a passing interest in the game who don't usually go to watch live county cricket. Get these people in, for good value. Let them sit with a few beers and have a good time. It makes perfect sense. My friend in particular would be likely to come again. He works just up the road from Chester le-street and told me he had mentioned to the office the possibility of an evening out to the T20. This was before he realised it cost £17.50. Charge £10, heck, even 7 or 8 quid, and you would get these sort of people coming along.
My next gripe was that I only got to see half a match. After about 15 overs of Derbyshire's innings the drizzle started. It was only light drizzle, and there was no suggestion that the teams would go off. Derbyshire's 20 overs were completed and off they went. Cue the bringing on off the covers. The drizzle did not get any heavier for some time but because the players were now off the field the conditions were 'too bad' for play to be started in. Had they stayed out there they would have still be playing. Ridiculous. Worse still we sat there for 45 minutes before an announcement was made to the crowd. Presumably all the officials knew why we were waiting. Why wasn't this conveyed to the crowd immediately? After all, we pay for them to be there. After an hour of sitting and waiting the drizzle finally got heavier and it had clearly set in. Now I admit that the game probably wouldn't have been able to be finished. But why didn't they at least try. It's so incredibly frustrating when cricket shows such reluctance to try and play on. Bring the players back on quickly as the weather looks a bit dicey, try and get as much of the game played as possible. If the rain gets too heavy, then take the players off and at least we feel that an attempt has been made to play as much as possible.
My friend and girlfriend sat in complete bemusement. They couldn't understand how one minute they watching a game and the next minute they weren't when the conditions had not changed. Needless to say, we won't be seeing a penny of that £17.50 again. Similarly, Durham county cricket club will not be seeing my mate bring along his work colleagues.
Why can the people who run the game not accept that county cricket has almost no appeal to people outside of the core fans of county cricket. If you want to boost the popularity of the domestic game then you need to speculate to accumulate. Lower the prices, make sure you do your best to get as much play as possible, and give people a good time. Then people will start to speak positively about county cricket, and hell, they might even return.
I understand that the counties are desperate to raise as much money from the T20 competition as possible as they see this as their big opportunity to pull in the big crowds. But charging high prices is just the sort of short termism that is ruining the county game.
Rant over. Maybe I'll go back to supporting Glos again.
As an aside. I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that the golden duck this blogger suffered at Archdeacon meadow, and referred to in an earlier post, was due to piss poor advice concerning the bounce of the pitch and is still to this day the only first baller of his career. Now my co-blogger on the other hand.......
Ok, we haven't actually decided to support Durham, as tempting as this might be, but we did find ourselves in Newcastle at the weekend and fancied a bit of cricket on a Sunday afternoon. We wished we hadn't bothered as we were treated to a wonderful example of how county cricket just loves to shoot itself in the foot.
T20 is a very marketable format. Easily the most marketable form of the game. It's short and sweet, and a wonderful vehicle for getting new fans in. Then you go and charge £17.50 a ticket on the gate (Gloucester fans will notice that this is £2.50 cheaper than you will pay to watch the Shire...presumably that's £2.50 to watch Murali) Why the hell are tickets so expensive? I know the argument. In comparison to other sports it represents good value. But do people not realise that its county cricket! Just because people pay stupid money to watch the Premier League doesn't mean that this is your reference point for pricing county cricket.
For me, someone with an interest in county cricket, £17.50 is just about ok. On Sunday I took along a friend who enjoys watching cricket on the tv, and the girlfriend, who doesn't enjoy watching cricket on the tv. Both had to be convinced that it was worth the money. Both my friend and my girlfriend represent exactly the sort of customer T20 should be aiming to attract. People with a passing interest in the game who don't usually go to watch live county cricket. Get these people in, for good value. Let them sit with a few beers and have a good time. It makes perfect sense. My friend in particular would be likely to come again. He works just up the road from Chester le-street and told me he had mentioned to the office the possibility of an evening out to the T20. This was before he realised it cost £17.50. Charge £10, heck, even 7 or 8 quid, and you would get these sort of people coming along.
My next gripe was that I only got to see half a match. After about 15 overs of Derbyshire's innings the drizzle started. It was only light drizzle, and there was no suggestion that the teams would go off. Derbyshire's 20 overs were completed and off they went. Cue the bringing on off the covers. The drizzle did not get any heavier for some time but because the players were now off the field the conditions were 'too bad' for play to be started in. Had they stayed out there they would have still be playing. Ridiculous. Worse still we sat there for 45 minutes before an announcement was made to the crowd. Presumably all the officials knew why we were waiting. Why wasn't this conveyed to the crowd immediately? After all, we pay for them to be there. After an hour of sitting and waiting the drizzle finally got heavier and it had clearly set in. Now I admit that the game probably wouldn't have been able to be finished. But why didn't they at least try. It's so incredibly frustrating when cricket shows such reluctance to try and play on. Bring the players back on quickly as the weather looks a bit dicey, try and get as much of the game played as possible. If the rain gets too heavy, then take the players off and at least we feel that an attempt has been made to play as much as possible.
My friend and girlfriend sat in complete bemusement. They couldn't understand how one minute they watching a game and the next minute they weren't when the conditions had not changed. Needless to say, we won't be seeing a penny of that £17.50 again. Similarly, Durham county cricket club will not be seeing my mate bring along his work colleagues.
Why can the people who run the game not accept that county cricket has almost no appeal to people outside of the core fans of county cricket. If you want to boost the popularity of the domestic game then you need to speculate to accumulate. Lower the prices, make sure you do your best to get as much play as possible, and give people a good time. Then people will start to speak positively about county cricket, and hell, they might even return.
I understand that the counties are desperate to raise as much money from the T20 competition as possible as they see this as their big opportunity to pull in the big crowds. But charging high prices is just the sort of short termism that is ruining the county game.
Rant over. Maybe I'll go back to supporting Glos again.
As an aside. I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that the golden duck this blogger suffered at Archdeacon meadow, and referred to in an earlier post, was due to piss poor advice concerning the bounce of the pitch and is still to this day the only first baller of his career. Now my co-blogger on the other hand.......
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Preview: Gloucestershire v Essex. County championship.
Gloucestershire v Essex @ Bristol. May 29-June 1.
Since the Jessop Tavern View is playing the dutiful boyfriend this weekend by putting himself out on wedding duty, our big match preview of the upcoming championship match comes early enough for everyone to fully digest our words of wisdom.
Gloucestershire currently lie 4th in division 2, with Essex in 5th place. As this is the last round of championship matches before mid June this match will probably go a long way to decided Gloucestershire's fate this season. Win it, and we are right in the thick of the promotion battle. Lose, and the Jessop Tavern View will start looking up when the football season starts again.
It has become our favourite pastime recently to judge a side based on the ratio of youngsters to journeymen so we had better have a look at how Essex fare. Playing in their current match with Middlesex are 3 genuine youngsters in batsmen Jaik Mickleburgh (you have to be young to have a crap name like Jaik) and Adam Wheater, and left arm quick Reece Topley. Fitted around them are peg-legged Owais Shah, sometime England flat track bully Ravi Bopara, Graham 'the butcher' Napier, and veteran Matt Walker. Then the journeymen really begin. Mark Pettini. Tim Phillips. David Masters. We would say this is a middling effort.
On paper Essex look a far stronger batting lineup than bowling. Heck, Ravi Bopara has bowled the second most overs for Essex this season. We presume this is due to a slightly selfish streak that was agreed with Essex in the winter. 'I won't play in the IPL as long as you let me bowl', was probably the gist of the conversation, quickly followed by someone muttering under their breath that just because he can trundle in a bit won't make him a better player than Eoin Morgan. However, Essex's batsmen have not exactly been on fire so far. Sadly for Gloucestershire both Peg-leg and Napier have recently returned to the side and appear hungry for action.
Somebody who won't be playing for Essex is their overseas star, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. The South African thought he was a premiership footballer and decided to voice what surely must be the opinion of all overseas players by tweeting 'what the hell am I doing here'. There is something just not quite right about the twitter saga raising its comedy head in division 2 of the county championship. Perhaps more intriguingly, who the hell follows Lonwabo Tsotsobe on Twitter?!
As for Gloucestershire, well because we are writing this before the second day of the actual match, Gloucestershire's official website doesn't have a squad list yet. Will 'the better' Gidman be fit? Which of the young seamers will be chosen? We would expect the top order to remain the same and that both Norwell and Payne will play if Gidman is not fit. This is a big match for this young side and another chance for the bowlers in particular, to take on some second rate test players.
Since the Jessop Tavern View is playing the dutiful boyfriend this weekend by putting himself out on wedding duty, our big match preview of the upcoming championship match comes early enough for everyone to fully digest our words of wisdom.
Gloucestershire currently lie 4th in division 2, with Essex in 5th place. As this is the last round of championship matches before mid June this match will probably go a long way to decided Gloucestershire's fate this season. Win it, and we are right in the thick of the promotion battle. Lose, and the Jessop Tavern View will start looking up when the football season starts again.
It has become our favourite pastime recently to judge a side based on the ratio of youngsters to journeymen so we had better have a look at how Essex fare. Playing in their current match with Middlesex are 3 genuine youngsters in batsmen Jaik Mickleburgh (you have to be young to have a crap name like Jaik) and Adam Wheater, and left arm quick Reece Topley. Fitted around them are peg-legged Owais Shah, sometime England flat track bully Ravi Bopara, Graham 'the butcher' Napier, and veteran Matt Walker. Then the journeymen really begin. Mark Pettini. Tim Phillips. David Masters. We would say this is a middling effort.
On paper Essex look a far stronger batting lineup than bowling. Heck, Ravi Bopara has bowled the second most overs for Essex this season. We presume this is due to a slightly selfish streak that was agreed with Essex in the winter. 'I won't play in the IPL as long as you let me bowl', was probably the gist of the conversation, quickly followed by someone muttering under their breath that just because he can trundle in a bit won't make him a better player than Eoin Morgan. However, Essex's batsmen have not exactly been on fire so far. Sadly for Gloucestershire both Peg-leg and Napier have recently returned to the side and appear hungry for action.
Somebody who won't be playing for Essex is their overseas star, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. The South African thought he was a premiership footballer and decided to voice what surely must be the opinion of all overseas players by tweeting 'what the hell am I doing here'. There is something just not quite right about the twitter saga raising its comedy head in division 2 of the county championship. Perhaps more intriguingly, who the hell follows Lonwabo Tsotsobe on Twitter?!
As for Gloucestershire, well because we are writing this before the second day of the actual match, Gloucestershire's official website doesn't have a squad list yet. Will 'the better' Gidman be fit? Which of the young seamers will be chosen? We would expect the top order to remain the same and that both Norwell and Payne will play if Gidman is not fit. This is a big match for this young side and another chance for the bowlers in particular, to take on some second rate test players.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Give youth its chance....but please let them at least be good enough!
As a Gloucestershire fan I feel as though I am teetering on the edge of the abyss, desperately clawing at air to prevent myself from falling into what will surely be a never ending descent into the black hole that is minor county cricket! Crippling financial pressure has seen us dispense with the services of several county grinders (Anthony Ireland, Will Porterfield) and great nearly men (Steve ‘Tango’ Kirby) amongst others. Looking at our squad for the forthcoming season is a bit like digging out your 6th form yearbook to realise that someone has given you the yearbook from the year below that contains a series of names you have vaguely heard of before, those you haven’t the foggiest about, and the odd face you do recognised from those people who had to stay behind and resit.
But should this be all doom and gloom. There can be barely an English cricket fan who hasn’t bemoaned the over population of county journeymen who clog up the county rosters and prevent youth from being given a chance. As someone who watched Kadeer Ali open the batting for far too many seasons I certainly have. I would much rather watch some kid make mistake after mistake at the top of the order rather than Jon Batty. There wouldn’t be much difference in output.
So is it hoorah for financial difficulties ushering in a new era of Gloucestershire as pioneers of a youthful, vibrant way of running county teams? Well, possibly. The problem is that no one has a clue who these kids are, or at least those people who don’t attend 2nd XI and academy team fixtures don’t have a clue (and those that do attend these matches, my hat is tipped to you) Are these kids actually considered good enough for first class cricket, or have they merely been fast tracked to provide an economical plug to the holes in the squad? I am more than happy for youth to be given its head but my greatest fear is that this policy has been adopted purely based on economics and not based on the actual skill base of these kids from the academy.
The case of Chris Dent from last season showcases all my concerns. The fact that he was thrown in last season I presume indicates that he was considered the cream of the crop. He ended his first season with an average of 25 with no hundreds and only 4 fifties. Admittedly he was batting in a team that failed to produce a 1,000 run season from anyone. Granted he was also a couple of better decisions away from scoring a couple of hundreds and probably going on to average in the mid 30’s. But compare him to James Taylor who at the same age finished his first season averaging 65 and cemented this in his second season. If Chris were the cream of an exceptionally rich crop then you would have hoped he would have made a little bit more of an impact last year.
Scratching around trying to find information from preseason is almost an impossible task. The recently completed friendly against Somerset has hardly been reassuring. Bowled out for 144 in the first innings and struggling to take wickets. Not the most encouraging signs.
But Kane Williamson seems like a good signing. Young, hungry, genuinely talented. Presumably his problems with his visa have been a result of him stating his new job as a ‘Gloucestershire batsman’ and the home office had no record of this being a real job!
Ian Saxelby had shown promise a couple of years ago. David Payne seemed to have a bit about him last year. If the Sperm Donor (Jon Lewis) can eek out one more 50 wickets plus season. If O’Mish can score the runs he did when he first joined the club. If, if, if.
But as Jon Lewis has commented, now is the time to get behind the boys. Let’s save the moaning at least until we get to Cheltenham. At least by that point we might have a bit more of an idea of who half these kids are! And in the meantime, let’s enjoy the ride. If we Gloucestershire fans were really interested in the glory then we’d all be watching the IPL on Friday instead of some obscure webcam highlights of our beloved Shire crumbling again! The Daily Telegraph have stated that if Gloucestershire were a celebrity we would be Silvio Berlusconi, “A charming old stager who seems to have been around for ages, but could be in trouble quite soon if their gamble of investing heavily in youth backfires.” If we really are on the edge of the abyss, at least Silvio has the right idea.
The hard life of a long distance Gloucestershire cricket fan
As another summer threatens to get under way and with England’s shambolic performance in the World Cup burying long ago the memories of the wonderful Ashes victory another season of county cricket stumbles upon us. Much like lunchtime football kick-offs, even the most die hard of county cricket fans surely struggle to pluck up much excitement at a start date of early April. But here we are again for another season of ups and downs and questions as to quite what is the point of the Clydesdale Axa equity Pro 50-40 divisional conference league is.
But isn’t this the fun of being a county cricket fan, particularly if you now live outside the county you support. You find yourself scrambling in the dark for information, reading match reports of no more than 200 words and frantically analysing cricinfo for any sign of a players form turning around. But things are better than they use to be. Us Gloucestershire fans have become familiar to the ever enthusiastic tones of Glos Cricket Radio and last season were even treated to a webcam from the commentary box. I spent an entire day of my life trying to tear myself away of a side on view of the square at Derby wondering quite what had become of my life. The ECB themselves have tried to help the fans out with a ‘highlights’ package put on their website at the end of each days play. The camera is a fixed one and is focused exclusively at the batsman at the crease. It doesn’t follow the ball. You end up feeling like someone secretly looking in via a peep hole (although it could be argued that this is the preferred way to watch the horror show of some of the performances last season!)
As a long distance fan I find myself relying on the excellent Gloucestershire la la la blog and the BBC cricket forum, a disgruntled bunch of misfits who clearly enjoy using the opportunity for personal humour amongst the different groups of friends who take the time to have a moan. Being a county cricket fan is a bits and pieces experience, especially when, like myself, you find yourself living further and further away from being able to see many of the games. When you compare this to the riches that football fans get indulged with in the modern age following a county cricket team for a season is to place yourself 20 years back in time. Before the internet. Before Sky. You scratch together what information you can and form your opinion from here. The only difference is that these opinions can find themselves on places such as this! And this is where we start. This blog is not intended as a particularly detailed assessment of Gloucestershire’s season as it unfolds. It is merely an attempt to detail the experiences of a long distance fan of county cricket and the trials and tribulations that this entails. It's going to be a long season.
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