3 day Glos salvage another draw against one of Division 2’s big boys

Gloucestershire 210 (Dent 66, Cartwright 4-33) and 326 for 4 (Bracey 125*, Harris 3-60) drew with Middlesex 455 for 8 dec (Gubbins 99, Malan 76, Morgan 76)
Scorecard

Gloucestershire walked away from another away match against one of division 2’s big hitters with a credible draw after James Bracey’s heroics this time are enough to see the Shire across the line. However, some major question marks must now be raised against this Gloucestershire squad, particularly the batting, for the rest of the season.
Middlesex, champions of division 1 only two seasons ago, were heavily fancied for immediate promotion back to county crickets top table. Thus a draw in this away fixture at the home of cricket must be seen as a decent result for the Shire. The revolutionary tactics of picking only 3 specialist batsmen and then praying for one days play to be washed out by rain has now yielded two solid away draws, firstly at Sussex, and now at Middlesex. Whether such a tactic is viable for the rest of the season is probably a longer terms question. But for short term success in the early part of the season we commend coach Dawson for his outside the box thinking.

Electing to forgo the toss and to bowl first Gloucestershire’s attack really struggled to hit its stride against a team that hadn’t passed 300 in its first innings for 13 matches. That unwanted record was easily swatted away as the England wannabe Nick Gubbins scored an excellent 99 before this was built on by Dawid Malan’s 76. Even Eoin Morgan, in his first 4 day match for 3 years, seemed to know what to do with a red ball as he also added 76 before perishing. Only Dan Worrall looked threatening, finishing with 3 for 73. However, with both Liam Norwell and David Payne injured, and Craig Miles struggling to make an impact in the first part of the season, Gloucestershire will be worried about the strength in depth of the bowling unit.

After the second day was almost entirely lost to rain Gloucestershire knew that they effectively had two days to bat for a draw. This didn’t look likely when they proceeded to be dismissed for only 220, in two sessions, in their first innings. Only Chris Dent offered any resistance with his season high score of 66. Benny Howell grittily fought off a stomach bug to make 47 but it was nowhere near enough to prevent Middlesex enforcing the follow-on. In the evening of day 3, and batting for a second time in the day, both Dent ans Howell appeared to get Glos off to a good start, but both were dismissed before the close leaving the Shire to bat for the whole of day 4 with only 8 wickets left in the hutch.

Enter James Bracey who, for the second time this season, looked head and shoulders Gloucestershire's best player. He found solid support in the form of Gareth Roderick (48) Jack Taylor (41) and Graeme Van Buuren (46 not out) to see the Shire, rather surprisingly, home for a comfortable draw. His 125 not out was his second hundred in four championship games this season. A young man very definitely stepping up to the plate.

It is difficult to know what to make of this Gloucestershire performance. Walking away with a draw was a highly credible result, especially given the situation they faced on day 4. It showed a willingness to get stuck in and fight and, hopefully, it provides a platform for the batsmen to gain a bit of confidence to now push on. Dent finally scored some runs (coming into this game he was averaging 8 for the season!) as did Roderick and Van Buuren. Jack Taylor also had a couple of cameos and Benny continues to look like a viable top order batsman. It is conceivable that this unit can develop and grow together to produce the runs necessary this season.

However, the feeling remains that this is a batting unit that has foundations built on sand. Benny is a converted one-day specialist, and a bowling allrounder one-day specialist at that. Roderick is a keeper, all be it in the modern keeper-batsman form, but how many keepers are good enough to bat at 3? Taylor is a bowling allrounder, and highly effective late order biffer, who is trying to convert himself into a top order batsman who scores runs consistently. That leaves only Dent, Bracey and Van Buuren as specialist batsmen. Of these 3, Dent has 152 runs in 4 matches and Van Buuren has 108 runs in the same number of games. Bracey has been a star, and his 327 runs at an average of 54.50 places him 4th in the division 2 run scorers charts.

How can the Shire rebalance this? Well, the mystery selection of Noema-Barrett continues to flummox us. In this game he scored 6 runs and bowled 7 overs, this despite the opposition racking up 455 for 8 declared. Surely if we need to find 7 overs of gentle seam up from someone then Benny can provide this? Remove Noema-Barrett, install another specialist batsman (Will Tavare?) and then allow Jack Taylor to slide into his more natural position at 7. Maybe there is some cunning plan with the Gourmet Burger that we are yet to be made aware of, but bloody hell it must be very cunning!

Batting averages after 4 matches:Dent 152 runs @ 19
Howell 214 runs @ 30.57
Roderick 179 runs @ 22.37
Bracey 327 runs @ 54.50
Van Buuren 108 runs @ 15.42
J Taylor 122 runs @ 15.25

It is only the first month of the season, and these will surely pick-up, but Van Buuren and Jack Taylor must be glancing slightly nervously over their shoulders.

The bowling also looks as though it is really lacking Norwell’s cutting edge. Craig Miles seems to be  struggling for form and rhythm. Higgins, Worrall and Matt Taylor have 18, 16 and 15 wickets respectively. Throw in a Liam Norwell and this unit looks far healthier. Next up for the Shire, the start of the one day cup.

Super Cockbain and Benny salvage the Shire's one day campaign

Glamorgan 277-7 (Liddle 2-51, Howell 2-54) beat Glos 232 -8 (Klinger 78, Van Buuren 51, J Taylor 51) by 18 runs on D/L

Glos 257 - 5 (Cockbain 108*, Howell 86*) beat Middlesex 256 - 9 (Norwell 5-36) by 5 wickets.

This season the Royal London One Day Cup has very sensibly been allocated a 3 week block in which to play through the entire group stage. Players will have the opportunity to concentrate on one set of skills and fans will have a chance to engage in the competition without constantly switching back and forth to championship and T20 matches.

It's hardly the work of scheduling genius, but given this is the ECB we are talking about we shouldn't be surprised that such a move has taken over 50 years to be put in place. (If one day cricket has ever been allocated 'blocks of time' in the championship schedule then we are happy to be corrected here - potentially the RLODC now resembles the old Benson & Hedges? But we are pretty sure that old tournament still used to fit in around 4 day cricket).

The structure of the one day cup has had the flaw for a number of years that a couple of early defeats essentially end your interest in the competition before it is even up and running. With only 3 teams from each 9 team group progressing the need to get off to a winning start is imperative.

On Sunday afternoon Glos sat poised on the precipice. Ian Cockbain was joined at the crease in the 22 over by Benny Howell and both men stared up at the scoreboard, passed the rows of empty seats, and took deep breaths. 65 for 5. Klinger, gone. The explosive Jack Taylor, gone. In Thursday's opening match loss to Glamorgan Cockbain had made a 5 ball duck. Benny faced only 8 balls for his 4 runs. Neither man had played a championship match. Both new that another loss would pretty much spell the end of the Shire's involvement in the competition. It was a time for heroes. And in the spirit of true heroes of the Jessop Tavern, they delivered.

Our love of Cockbain has already been discussed. It defies logic. His hundred yesterday was his first white ball hundred. He's supposedly a white ball specialist. No logic. Our love for Benny is more born out of fear. His open tirade against us on Twitter a few years ago still hurts. Since then he has become the country's most-feared T20 bowler. We like to think we played a small part in this rise. We love him for this. And the fact he is French. Not enough French cricketers.

Looking back over the first two games the situation probably should be even better for Glos. Despite losing early wickets in pursuit of Glamorgan's 277, captain Klinger and Van Buuren rebuilt and then were casually accelerating towards their total when the rain and bad light came. By the time they resumed and D/L had got involved the game had changed. Both Klinger and Van Buuren fell straight after the resumption and this essentially ended Gloucestershire's chances, despite some lusty hitting from Jack Taylor at the death. Had the rain not intervened the game may have had a different complexion.

Heading to division 1's title winning team, and the home of cricket, wasn't the most straight forward assignment for a must-win match. Liam Norwell did his best, tearing in from the Pavilion end for 10 straight overs to take 5 for 36 and reduce Middlesex to 97 for 5. Although the home side recovered to 256, it was a total Klinger and Co would definitely have fancied. However, at 65 for 5 the game looked up but for the Jessop Tavern's heroes.

Cockbain in particular really has developed into a very fine, mature, one day cricketer with an astute one day brain. He very much mirrors a lot of what Michael Klinger does so well. He can play multiple types of innings and backs himself that if he bats for time he will have scored at the appropriate rate. This was noticeable in the T20 Blast last year where he finished as the third highest run scorer, and with an average above 50. He can be a blaster, but his game has many more parts than that now.

Glos will next travel to Essex and Hampshire later this week as their one day campaign picks up pace. This Glos team again looks well set up for one day success, although a few less top order slumps will be needed moving forward. Klinger continues where he has been for the last few years. A class apart at this level. If Cockbain and Dent can contribute in the middle order, then Benny and Jack Taylor's explosiveness should provide a match winning lower order twist.

The bowling is nicely balanced, although it would be nice to see Matt Taylor find his feet again. 0-74 was not a strong argument for him to being the man to oust Chris Liddle. Speaking of which, his 2 for 51 against Glamorgan was respectful enough, although he sat out the Middlesex win with a 'tweaked' muscle. Gloucestershire refused to comment on which 'muscle' it was.

Video highlights from the Middlesex game below:

Glos launch defence of Royal London One Day Cup with 3 defeats

Glos lost to Somerset/Glamorgan/Middlesex by ever increasing margins.

Oh Glos. What are you doing to us. For the first time in about 5 years the Jessop Tavern was full of praise mid-season. Almost gushing were we in our praise of some of the cricket we had seen in the last month. Full of optimism we were for the month ahead of one day cricket. Then Sunday happened. Live TV. Somerset. Jamie Overton and Tim Groenewald. 65 for the last wicket.

Yet it all looked so good. Despite glorious sunshine the Jessop Tavern lingered indoors, risking icy stares from the girlfriend for wasting an entire Sunday. But it was worth it. Chris Dent showed his class on national TV before the young Gloucestershire bowlers strangled the life out of Somerset's response. The classic Gloucester squeeze meant that 166 for 3 soon became 198 for 9 and needing a further 63 to win, and with numbers 10 and 11 at the crease, the Jessop Tavern started to pack up the disposable barbecue for an evening in the park. An hour later and those sausages didn't taste half as good.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Somerset's last wicket win was the fact that it was numbers 10 and 11 inflicting the pain. Usually these sort of last wicket wins are conducted by a guy well set and then a number 11 holding up an end with nervous play and misses, and streaky boundaries between his legs to third man. So for 10 and 11 to do the biffing was truly galling. Combine that with the fact that Groenewald and Overton simply stood still and hit in the arc between mid-on and mid-off as the Gloucester attack kept putting it in the slot time and time again made it even more incredible!

We won't even mention Gareth Roderick's schoolboy missed run out. letting the ball through your legs can happen to the best of us, and not a single person who has played a bit of Sunday cricket wouldn't have smiled at the sight of a professional doing something that is so familiar to them. Instead the Jessop Tavern will simply offer up its congratulations to Somerset. We could criticise the bowlers for not mixing things up more. But against 10 and 11 we always criticise bowlers who try to be too clever. Bowl straight and eventually the tailenders will make a mistake. With 63 runs to play with it was a fairly decent strategy. It just wasn't to be.

The following night Glos never really seemed to get going against Glamorgan, as if they were still struggling to shake off the effects of the night before. Understandable really. Batting first Glamorgan managed just below 300 and despite some late innings bashing from Benny the batsman it wasn't enough to get Gloucestershire anywhere near Glamorgan's total.

A couple of nights later and even the sanctuary of the Brightside Ground wasn't enough to rejuvenate Glos. A below par score score of 254 with only Roderick and O'Mish making contributions was never really enough against a strong Middlesex batting lineup. Even with the rain forcing a revised total Middlesex cruised home with plenty left in the tank. Craig Miles proved expensive for a third game in a row and Paul Stirling's hundred in only 87 balls was the difference between the sides.

Gloucestershire chose to drop Jack Taylor for this match, preferring instead to have the extra bowling option of Gourmet-Burger. Moving forward this will continue to be a question for Glos. Can they find a way to include Taylor's match turning batting despite the lack of his bowling? It will be interesting to see how Glos handle this.

After the match, coach Dawson made the salient point that last season Glos always found contributions from 7 or 8 players. The campaign this year has only had 2 or 3 players put their hands up in each match. Hard to argue with such wise words. We also haven't had a bloke opening the batting who scored a hundred everytime he walked to the wicket. It was quite handy that last year.

Video highlights below:

Somerset v Glos

Glos v Middlesex

Gloucestershire 2016: In danger of becoming a very good side?

T20 Blast: 
Glos beat Middlesex by 4 wickets
Glos beat Kent by 7 wickets

Following quickly of the back of their T20 style championship victory over Worcestershire, Glos moved seamless back into the T20 groove with two fine victories in the South East. Given the structure of the competition, and after an opening match defeat against Sussex, Glos knew they had little room for too much error in their two back-to-back games against Middlesex and Kent.

First up was Middlesex and Brendan McCullum, in the gloom of a Thursday night. McCullum came and went with only one titanic six to satisfy those who had turned up to watch the former Kiwi superstar. England one day skipper Eoin Morgan was also soon on his way as Glos held Middlesex in check by taking early wickets. It was left to Middlesex's real Irishman, Paul Stirling, and Mr 'Test average of 95' Adam Voges to guide Middlesex up to a semi-competitive score of 159 for 9 from their 20 overs. All Gloucestershire bowlers played their part, with Benny the bowler continuing his excellent one day bowling form from last year by taking 2 for 23 in 4 overs. Benny may enjoy taking to Twitter to abuse the Jessop Tavern, but we like Benny and his 60mph dibbly dobblers.

Despite losing Maxy Klinger for a second ball duck, Glos found middle order contributions from Cockbain, Dent and Benny the batsman to leave Gareth Roderick to toy with Middlesex in the final over with a couple of dots before blazing a six to win the game.

Following a night in a motorway Travelodge the boys were off to Kent the following day in more miserable cold weather and fading light.

Kent batted first and never really got into their innings at all. The quality of Andrew Tye shone through as Glos' latest Aussie T20 import took an impressive 3 for 18 from his 4 overs. Benny the bowler again wobbled those balls down for only 6 an over and Tom Smith did likewise to help restrict Kent, whose big hitters Blake, Stevens and Cowdrey failed to fire, as they managed only 11 fours and no sixes in their 20 overs.

The Glos reply was anchored by the veteran O'Mish, who used all his experience to make 56 from just 42 balls, the only fifty of the game and a great effort in gloomy conditions with the ball not coming on. The game did again go to the final over, but Chris Dent hit the second ball for six to seal a second victory in a row.

So a good start and now on to a different format again as the the Royal London Cup kicks off with back to back games on Sunday versus Somerset and then Glamorgan on Monday.

Middlesex highlights below:

O'Mish post-match interview v Kent:

What's going on? Glos in dominant T20 win shocker

Gloucestershire 179 for 3 (Cockbain 91*, Marshall 56) beat Middlesex 175 for 3 (Compton 78) by seven wickets

Twenty20 cricket has not been Gloucestershire's strong suit in recent years. Underpowered batting, easily targeted seamers and expensive spinners have not been enough to back up our excellent fielding side.

The pattern looked set to continue when Glos were set 176 to win after allowing Nick Compton, of all people, to strike a T20 career high of 78. It's rarely a good sign when a man who was dropped from the test team a couple of years back for being too slow and stodgy suddenly opens up and gives you some 20 over tap. At least he makes amusing YouTube videos, which makes him striking you all over the park that much easier to bear.

Still, we bowled and fielded well and the highest score aside from Compo was just 39 from Paul Stirling.

The Glos chase got off to a good start, with O'Mish happy to be back to a form of the game which suits him best. What that means in layman's terms is that he can simply turn off the brain and swing that bat to his heart's content. This is something he's rather good at and helped him put on 98 in 9.3 overs with skipper Ian 'Kurt' Cockbain after Chris Dent departed early.

Cockbain has been named T20 captain this season and it's great to see him actually play a match, let alone strike a match-winning 91 not out from just 49 balls. Cockbain is a bit of a favourite here at the Tavern, we think he's good enough to play 4 day stuff as well, but a first class average of just 30 hasn't really helped make that case. By all accounts though, he's been in good nick for the 2nd XI and here he showed his T20 prowess with 9 fours and 5 sixes in his knock.

By the time Marshall departed for 56 the match was almost done, despite a failure for Peter Handscomb, and Cockbain sealed the deal with his 5th six.

A great win to start off the campaign. Having checked out last season's performance, we're reminded that Glos were scuppered in our efforts to reach the knockout phases by a somewhat harsh 2pt penalty, imposed by the ECB for a sub-standard pitch at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival. This year we have with a clean slate and a good win under our belts already. This may be the perfect chance to push on and at least make the quarters of a competition where we surely have as good a chance of success as any.

So there you have it, three wins in a row in all competitions and the Tavern has lurched into extreme optimism mode. Long may the rise of the Shire continue!

Ian Cockbain's post-match interview below:

Mid-season lethargy

The Jessop Tavern View has been busy. Busy grafting at the day job, working for the man and putting our noses to the grindstone for the past 3 weeks. Hence the lack of posts. We make no apologies for devoting ourselves to paying the bills and putting food on the table for ourselves....

Hang on a minute, we have just noticed that the previous post date is Wednesday, June 11th. The day before the World cup began. Could this possibly explain the radio silence over the last few weeks? We're going to hold our hands up and admit it- yes we've been distracted by FIFA's quadrennial football-fest. Couple this with simultaneously becoming disillusioned by Gloucestershire's lacklustre form in both forms of the game at the moment and there's our excuse covered.

So, what's been happening in our absence? Let's start with the good stuff.

Gloucestershire 112 (Dunn 4-37) and 506 for 6 (Cockbain 151*, Klinger 120) drew with Surrey 626 for 6 dec. (Burns 199, Solanki 143, Roy 121*)

Despite our prediction of defeat after Day 3 of this game, a great rearguard action saw us hang on for a miraculous draw. Ian Cockbain's career-best 151*, compiled over almost 9 painstaking hours and Tom Smith's unlikely 80 meant we lost only 1 wicket on the final day.

Essex 163 for 2 (Bopara 66*, Westley 55*) beat Gloucestershire 162 for 6 (Marshall 74, Masters 2-17) by eight wickets 
Hampshire 180 for 6 (Adams 69*) beat Gloucestershire 178 for 8 (Howell 50, Smith 3-26) by two runs

We then lost back to back t20 matches in different fashion. First, we were stuffed by a Ravi Bopara-inspired Essex. Then we were very unlucky not to chase down 181 for victory against Hampshire. We suffered a trademark batting collapse after Maxi and Gidders (A.) got us off to a flyer, but some late fireworks from Benny the Frenchman took us close, but no cigar.

Gloucestershire 391 (Marshall 109, Tavare 77, Cockbain 51, Hogan 4-57) and 165 for 5 (Gidman 47*) drew with Glamorgan 615 for 7 (Wright 123, Rudolph 139, Smith 57*, Allenby 57, Cooke 52)

Back to the Championship and another draw snatched from the jaws of defeat, this time courtesy of a gritty Will Tavare knock of 41, which ate up over 3 hours in a style his uncle Chris would doubtless have approved of. Skipper Klinger missed the match with a broken toe and stand-in skipper O'Mish struck his second ton of the year in our first innings. The game also featured yet another injury to a keeper, with Cam Herring's finger this time causing the issue, necessitating a debut for 17 year old Patrick Grieshaber from the Glos Academy.

Back to the t20, for another two matches against Middlesex (no result, rain) and Kent (thrilling final ball win). The most notable feature of these two games was the encouraging debut of loan keeper Adam Rouse, whose unbeaten 35 from 16 balls, including 3 fours in the last over, guided us to a tight victory against Kent.

Essex 541 (Bopara 147, Ryder 133, Westley 71, Browne 65, Taylor 4-125) and 10 for 0 beat Gloucestershire 224 (Topley 5-53, Masters 4-67) and 325 (Gidman 53, Rouse 49, Ryder 3-43) by 10 wickets

The less said about this next game, the better. Quick summary, bat first, under perform. Concede a stack of runs, again to Bopara and also Jesse Ryder. Again fight hard in second dig, but inevitably get bowled out and they knock off the 10 needed for a crushing win.

Gloucestershire 138 for 7 (Cockbain 52) beat Sussex 125 (Taylor 3-12) by 13 runs

Finally, another t20 win versus Sussex, this time televised and thus one of the first times we've watched Glos live this season. Another good knock by Ian Cockbain (arguably one of our players of the season so far) saw us post 138 after the match was reduced to 15 overs per side. We bowled and fielded well in poor light to bowl out Sussex for 125 and keep our hopes of a QF place alive. Sadly, the 2 point penalty we incurred for last season's dodgy pitch seems like it could possibly cost us that place unless our remaining 4 matches in the group stage go to plan.

Right, that's it for now. It's time to focus on football for another week today's LVCC match v Hampshire at the Rose Bowl for the next few days, before a crucial t20 derby v Somerset on Fridfay, then the Cheltenham festival starts next week. Feeling fatigued yet?

Glos 'blast' to victory against Middlesex

Gloucestershire 113 for 5 beat Middlesex 111 for 8 (Norwell 3-27, Fuller 3-29) by five wickets

The Jessop Tavern View can always be counted on to talk up any Glos victory. As such, we're delighted to report that Glos eased to a five wicket victory in our home t20 Blast opener on Friday. However, having watched Middlesex put in two terrible performances in a televised double-header at Lords last Saturday, we have to say that the win wasn't unexpected.

Last week, we bemoaned the lack of batting firepower in the Glos side. Our concerns remain, despite this comfortable win. Maxi Klinger again fell cheaply and badly needs a score to kick start his season. Losing 5 wickets in chasing just 112 for victory indicates a fairly mediocre standard of cricket being played by both sides.

Perhaps the more exciting news of the past few days is the loan signing of Geraint 'Irongloves' Jones as cover for the fragile digits of Gareth Roderick. This is an intriguing, if stopgap measure, designed to relieve some of the pressure on youngster Cam Herring while Roderick is unavailable for the next 6 weeks.

Jones has lost his place as Kent's keeper to youngster Sam Billings, after 13 seasons wearing the gloves. He's clearly past his best, but hopefully not in a Jon Batty kind of way and he surely can't do too much harm in 4 weeks. King John has indicated that he will be asked to mentor Herring,who is already a very good keeper from what we've seen, but less assured with the bat at this early stage of his career.

Jones is straight into the squad for today's LVCC match at Derby, which has thus far been delayed by rain and begins a 12 day stretch of matches on the road, including Derbyshire and Leicestershire in the championship and 220 Blasts v Kent and Sussex. Jones will be unable to feature against his parent club Kent, which might prove a good opportunity to assess whether he has passed on anything positive to young Herring. We're hoping he sticks to offering batting advice, rather than explaining how he managed to do this last season.

Match highlights:

YB40 update

Yes, we've been lazy and haven't posted much recently, but in our defence, it's the summer and there hasn't been much positive one day news to report recently. Thursday night's defeat versus Middlesex has left us 4th in our group, meaning that today's game v Glamorgan has taken on 'all or nothing' status.

However, The Jessop Tavern View has worked long and hard to develop a reputation for pessimism when it comes to all things Gloucestershire. Even if we do snatch a win against the group-leading Dragons, the prospect of needing another win in our final group game versus a powerful Somerset side does rather fill us with dread.

The Middlesex game was a particular disappointment, as Glos failed to chase a modest 206 which owed everything to Dawid 'David' Malan's unbeaten hundred. Glos again failed offer much beyond skipper Klinger's 46 and a 19 run loss was pretty average having done the hard work in restricting a dangerous batting lineup including Eoin Morgan, Stirling and Joe Denly along with the in form Malan. Hamish Marshall has had a poor one day season (averaging 21 from 10 matches, no big surprise) and perished for a first ball duck to Steve Finn. No one else scored more than 40 and a small target proved beyond us.

The previous game was a bit more encouraging, as yet another quality knock of 89* from the skipper saw us easily overcome Leicestershire's 163 all out. Klinger has managed 250 more runs than the next best batsman, Chris Dent, so far this season and we have relied on him heavily at the top of he order.

He proved his class in the Somerset match with an unbeaten 131 out of 263, but the total was proven inadequate by a violent hundred from Kieswetter, along with rapid-fire knocks from Tres and Trego, as the cidermen chased down our score with 39 balls remaining.

For those masochists among you with time to spare, video highlights of the Middlesex and Somerset defeats are below:

 

Glos challenge stutters on two fronts

A belated update on Glos' last two matches in the CB40 and LVCC, for those readers who weren't too demoralised by the T20 loss to Sussex this week.


Middlesex 218 for 0 (Rogers 122*, Malan 89*) beat Gloucestershire 214 for 9 (Roland-Jones 3-24) by 10 wickets


We always knew a score of 214 was under par on a flat Cheltenham pitch with famously short boundaries. We didn't realise quite how under par though, until a familiar ginger nemesis, Aussie opener Chris Rogers got started. Rogers began well and never stopped until he had struck an unbeaten 122 from 102 balls, to see Middlesex home with a whopping 9.3 overs remaining. Dawid 'typo' Malan accompanied him with a relatively sedate 89 not out from 81 and that was pretty much all she wrote. Middlesex have now overtaken Netherlands as group leaders and Glos slip to 4th. We thought that was pretty much the end of our chances of making the knockout stages, but having checked the fixture list, there are still a gruelling 4 group games left for Glos. We don't even finish playing them until August 27th! Surely this season's CB40 is the stupidest most ill-thought out one day competition, ever. The final isn't until September 15th. If every there was a guarantee of bad weather for a Lord's final, this is surely it.

Gloucestershire 229 and 209 for 8 (Gidman 62, Henderson 4-80) drew with Leicestershire 162 and 288 (Sarwan 93)


Let's be honest, this was a bit of a choke from the boys. Set 222 to win on Day 4, we looked well set at 176/4 with O'Mish and Housego at the crease. A trademark collapse then scuppered our chances and it was disappointing (but perhaps inevitable) to see the boys shut up shop with 8 wickets down and just 23 needed. A few lusty blows from Fuller would have done the trick, but we seemed shell-shocked from the collapse and looked like we feared losing to bottom of the league Leics. You could argue that we has already let them off the hook earlier in the day, when we let Sarwan and Boyce put on a crucial 83 for the sixth wicket before Boyce suffered a comedy run out following a mix up. A ninth wicket partnership of 48 saw the lead extend beyond 200 and this ultimately proved enough against a Glos side lacking an overseas player to help get us over the line during the chase. So, a shame not to get a Championship win at Cheltenham this year. Our next CC match v Glamorgan takes place at Swansea next week. Historically one of our bogey sides, it will be interesting if we can bounce back from recent disappointments, and a weekend of CB40 matches, to get a much-needed win.

Video highlights from Day 4:

World's worst cricket competition up and running

Yes ladies and gents its that time of year again. Time to embark on yet another rollercoaster of emotions that is the CB40 competition. Oh yes. And if indeed the CB40 were a rollercoaster, it would be one of this shit kiddie dragon ones that applies the brakes every time it goes down a slope. Actually, the Jessop Tavern View would rather be stuck on a never ending kids rollercoaster than watch the CB40, and we have a notoriously weak stomach for rollercoasters.

Yet again the CB40 competition pioneers the 40 over game, a format of the game played nowhere else on the planet. A competition that the Morgan report described as "not working from either a financial, or cricketing perspective". A competition whose structure of only one team qualifying from groups of seven means that after the first weekends round of matches, teams can already be pretty much eliminated from the competition, yet still have 10 fixtures left to play.

Naturally, the Jessop Tavern View reserves the right to withdraw these comments should Glos reach the final.

So this Bank Holiday weekend has seen the boys lose a nailbiter to Holland and, this evening, comfortably beat a disinterested Middlesex side live on TV. Being as this second game marked the first time I have been able to watch the boys live, I continue to be impressed by the character of the team, if not quite the talent. To lose a final ball thriller against Holland at home, and then immediately to travel to London to play another game, Glos showed remarkable backbone to bounce back so impressively. After saying the same for nearly all of last season, as well as for the first month of this, the Jessop Tavern View may finally have to shake its pessimistic nature and accept that this Gloucestershire side no longer rolls over and dies.

Tonight saw impressive performances from Ed Young, our man Benny, and bugger us if Hamish O'Marshall didn't contribute for a second time in a week. Being as this is the first time we have seen Benny bat we are now wondering whether he always wanders across his stumps like he did tonight. A sort of Kim Barnett, but instead of starting a foot outside leg stump, Benny starts on about middle and leg. Anyway, his innings showed a real maturity, and some considerable common sense. Knowing when to hit the accelerator, or when to just keep the scoreboard ticking is clearly something he learnt at Hampshire. Apparently Benny is on a rolling, game by game contract. We say sign him up. The guy is from Bordeaux, so even if he goes a bit crap, he should know a good bottle of red, which is always a useful thing to bring to a dressing room.

According to the Sky pundits, Gloucestershire will be focusing on the one day games this season as we haven't a hope of doing anything in the championship (These are the same pundits who described O'Mish as the engine room of our batting!) Whilst we are not prepared to throw in the towel in the championship just yet, a nice run in a one day competition this year would make for a nice change from a never-ending series of dead rubbers in both the CB40 and T20.

Next up for the boys, however, is Yorkshire in the county championship on Wednesday.

Bring on the declaration

Day 2: Gloucestershire 402 - 7 v Middlesex.

Only 10 overs of play were possible today which could possibly be to Gloucestershire's advantage. It certainly means we can't lose from here, although if this were last year's team then defeat would still be very much on the cards.

With maximum batting points secured we are surely set up for an overnight declaration and then hope that the rain and humidity helps the ball to move all over the place. With 400 on the board it's not inconceivable that the boys could roll Middlesex over twice if the pitch does become nice and juicy.

Christ, what has happened to us. We are finally starting to have a positive outlook on what the boys are capable of us. Time for a lie down.

The Butcher of Bangalore is back!

Gloucestershire 254 for 3 beat Middlesex 149 for 8 by 105 runs

Fans of Glos, rejoice! Kevin O'Brien, missing, presumed mediocre, since signing for the Shire is back with a vengeance! In a meaningless T20 match, played at Uxbridge, a slogger-friendly Middlesex outground, the big man struck a violent 119 off just 52 balls.

O'Brien and Hamish Marshall surpassed the record T20 opening stand by putting on a ludicrous 192 for the first wicket. Marshall was slow by comparison, with hia hundred coming up from 53 balls. Both men were dropped, O'Brien twice and Marshall once and they made an inexperienced Middlesex attack pay, striking 15 sixes between them. The other batsmen had little time to bat after this onslaught, but managed to take us to 254 for 3, a passable CB40 score, from the 20 overs.

Middlesex never looked likely to be in contention after being on the receiving end of such a shellacking and they promptly slumped to 15-3. Not ideal when you need over 250! They eventually managed 149 for 8, giving the shire the record margin of 105 runs. Insane. What a win. Or T20 season is back on track. Etc.

The Jessop Tavern View is know for our cynicism about all things Glos, however. In the grand scheme of things, this result means sweet FA. Glos were bottom of the South Group and we have now swapped places with the equally hapless Middlesex. This effort from O'Brien would appear to be exactly what we signed him for, i.e. the occasional cameo to catch the eye and make people think he is better than he is. A few more bums on seats for our next home T20 to help fund those essential (and expensive) ground redevelopments. Which in turn will help secure our future (read one England ODI/T20 international per year).

We don't want to knock Big Kev too much. After all, he's a big man with a bigger bat and he might find out where we live. It was a good knock and he's an entertainer when he gets going. We're glad Glos won and we're glad we're off the bottom of the table. What might be better would be if the big fella could contribute to our push for Championship promotion. Sadly, this doesn't seem to be part of King John's masterplan, as he again failed to appear in the squad for the CC match which began yesterday.

Anyway, some highlights below for those of you who want to enjoy the Butcher's savagery..

Cockbain takes his chance with maiden hundred

Day 1: Gloucestershire 368 - 7 v Middlesex.

In this crunch game in division 2 between the sides placed second and third in the table it was Gloucestershire who finally wrestled control of this game as day 1 came to a close. Ian Cockbain made good the early season promise he has shown by going on to complete his maiden hundred just before the close of play. It was an intelligent innings, encompassing nearly two hundred balls, that came when Gloucestershire looked like throwing away the advantage handed to them by winning the toss on the batsman friendly Uxbridge track.

Middlesex will probably feel that they were slightly hard done by, especially as Cockbain was dropped on 8 by England captain Strauss (although it was difficult diving chance...and one conveniently not mentioned on the ECB highlights!) At 183 for 5 the game was very much in the balance. As has happened consistently this season, Gloucestershire responded excellently to the pressure of the key situation, and the partnership of 112 between Cockbain and Gidman saved the boys from a sub-par score. We've said this many times this season, but it's exactly the sort of situation that Gloucestershire sides of the last 10 years have been unable to fight their way out of. If this had been last years vintage then we'd be sat here talking about being bowled out for 250. It's full credit to the youngsters who have come into the team this year that we are able to talk about this new found battle hardened Gloucestershire.

The only slight disappointment from the day is that no one else managed to convert their good starts into hundreds. O'Mish, Dent, Taylor and Gidman all got in, looked good, and then got out. It was left to Cockbain, only playing because of a quad muscle injury to captain marvel, to show the more experienced players how to push on and make a telling contribution. He now has one more first class hundred than Chris Dent, which will hopefully be the kick up the backside Dent needs to make the conversion from pretty fifty to match winning hundreds.

It was good to see that Gloucestershire had also learnt their lesson from the last match against Surrey and gave the Sperm donor a chance slightly further up the order. His quickfire 25 really swung the momentum Gloucestershires way. If we get half an hour of 'the donor' this morning then Glos will post a very competitive score.