O'Mish inspires impressive win against Sussex

The Tavern getting to know the locals

T20 Blast: Glos beat Sussex by 11 runs.

After the previous day's wash-out against Hampshire Glos travelled along the south coast to beautiful Arundel to take on flashy Sussex-by-the-sea.

As 6,000 people discovered that one entrance to a cricket ground isn't the greatest idea, the Jessop Tavern took the time to have a catch-up with Sid the Shark and discuss the game ahead. The pace of Tymal Mills versus the superhuman run scoring of Michael Klinger? Sid gave a giant thumbs up to the idea that Klinger would fancy Mills' extra pace.

Sussex won the toss and soon had the big breakthrough. Ajmal Shazad, came back from the unknown, to trap Maxy Klinger LBW in only the second over. It was Sussex's only success for the next 13 overs as O'Mish and Ian Cockbain put together a magnificent 120 partnership for the second wicket. It was magnificent in lots of ways, primarily for the fact that the pitch appeared to not be the easiest to get started on, and took every batsman a little while to get the boundaries flowing. 

O'Mish was imperious, and his 90 from 55 balls was an exhibition in clean, clinical T20 hitting. Not obviously destructive, but working the ball intelligently and knowing which balls were his to hit. Cockbain intelligently played second fiddle. Giving O'Mish as much strike as possible.

After both were out the Glos innings then stuttered as the boundaries dried up as the new men found it harder to get going. That is until Benny the batsman strode to the wicket. At this point the Shire were in danger of posting a total that would fall short of the 180-190 that looked necessary. Benny is not a man who worries too much about getting his eye in and he launched several towering sixes to make sure that Glos posted a competitive total.

The bowling unit were soon under the cosh as Luke Wright helped himself to some typically lusty leg side blows. Wright looked a million dollars for his 71 from 47 balls, and as wickets continued falling at the other end he very quickly became the key to victory for Sussex. Fortunately Wright has made a career of looking a million dollars in only very short patches and on 71 he again swung agriculturally and found Andrew Tye at cow-corner off Benny the bowler. After Wright departed Sussex never really looked like pulling off the chase.

So Glos now have 3 victories in a row and are joint top of the South group for the T20 Blast (technically second on net average) The most pleasing thing is that they are now fully revived from their one day cup-induced slump. The team looks well balanced. Graeme Van Buuren was brought in to add additional spin options. Matt Taylor and David Payne have become very intelligent one day bowlers. Andrew Tye looks a tidy overseas signing. Benny and Gournet-Burger have brought variety. All of the bowlers look like they know exactly what their role is in the side and these roles are very clearly matching up with their skill-sets. A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff.

There is still a lot of cricket left in this season, but Glos are well placed now to be competitive for the rest of the year.

Video highlights:

Glos' T20 bandwagon stalls, then fires again

Glamorgan 172 for 4 (Ingram 64*, Donald 48*) beat Gloucestershire 168 for 8 (Noema-Barnett 37, Cockbain 37) by six wickets
Scorecard

The Jessop Tavern View wrote a couple of weeks back that Gloucestershire were in danger of becoming a very good side. We were basing this on some handy Championship form, plus 3 good T20 performances (2 away wins and an unlucky home D/L loss) in our first three games.

This was of course before our Royal London One Day Cup defence got underway with three losses in a row. We didn't play well in any of these matches and, in particular, we didn't bat well enough to set or chase challenging targets.

This poor batting again proved to be an issue in last Friday's match against Glamorgan at Bristol. We batted first and managed to turn a poor start (30-3 after losing Klinger, O'Mish and Dent early) into a reasonable 168 for 8, with Gourmet-Burger and Cockbain top scoring with 37 apiece.

The total appeared under par given the short boundaries at the Brightside and this proved to be the case as Colin Ingram took full advantage in striking a match-winning 64. The South African launched several blows over the short leg side boundary off Norwell and Gourmet-Burger, plus consecutive maximums off Dent (one a a switch hit) when he was forced to complete Andrew Tye's over, following two full toss no-balls which led to his removal from the Glos attack.

Aneurin Donald provided able support with an unbeaten 48 as Glamorgan cruised to victory with 7 balls remaining. Losing both of our opening two home games has certainly put pressure on the boys to deliver the against Essex the following Thursday.

Gloucestershire 154 for 2 (Klinger 78, Marshall 42) beat Essex 153 for 8 (Westley 45) by eight wickets 
Scorecard

Gloucestershire had never previously won a T20 game at Chelmsford, but the presence of the Sky cameras last night was a good omen as the boys seem to enjoy the spotlight and the chance to showcase their skills to a wider audience than those who are prepared to scour YouTube for the videos we try to post below.

Last night was no exception as an excellent all-round performance from the boys saw us secure a third away T20 win of the campaign. Michael Klinger again looked in magnificent nick with the bat in making 78 from 49 balls in an opening stand of 126 with O'Mish, Maxy took a particular liking to Essex's band of right arm seamers, striking 4 sixes including two glorious straight drives off Masters and youngster Matt Quinn which had Atherton and Butcher purring in the sky commentary box.

Klinger stands noticeably still at the crease and his wide range of shot allows him to score easily off the majority of bowlers in all formats. He plays very straight and his striking in the arc between cover and wide mid-on is impressively clean. Andrew Tye joined commentary for a stint and expressed amazement that he had yet to play international cricket given his form over a prolonged period of time. The great man has now scored 308 T20 runs versus Essex for once dismissed.

O'Mish provided able support despite much less strike- 42 from 35 was all that was needed given the dominance of the man at the other end. Despite both falling in the space of an over, there wasn't much left to do and Cockbain and Dent steered us to a comprehensive victory.

The Glos bowling and fielding effort was also notable for its excellent use of slower balls and cutters- something the Essex bowlers clearly failed to pick up on as they mainly bowled line and length. Chris Dent swooped from mid off to run out the dangerous Ryan ten Doeschate and Matt Taylor, Benny Howell and Gourmet-Burger all bowled tidily. Andrew Tye was more expensive, but he looked a handful, especially the lovely slower ball which cleaned up the big-hitting Ashar Zaidi at a crucial time.

This was a clinical performance and stand us in good stead for the cider derby down at Bristol later. Let's hope the late finish and later return to Bristol hasn't taken too much out of the boys as we prepare to meet a Gayle-force tonight.

Video highlights below:

Glamorgan

Essex

O'Mish to retire for a life back on the Guinness

Ireland and Gloucestershire's favourite son, Hamish O'Marshall has announced that he will not be returning to Gloucestershire next season and instead he will be pursuing the mysterious "too good to turn down opportunity" that his press release indicated. The Jessop Tavern presumes this is a specialist perming/sheep shearing salon back in his native New Zealand

O'Mish leaves the Shire after 11 years filled with the constant thought of what could have been. Arriving as our overseas player in 2006 his 1200 runs, 5 hundreds and average of 60 promised a man who could dominate division 2 attacks and be the mainstay of the middle order. Instead O'Mish never again quite hit the heights of that first season.

His change to becoming an Irish international meant that he became the Tony Cascarino of the cricket world. Not quite as good a player as he could have been, and not actually Irish. Rather remarkably, O'Mish only passed 1,000 championship runs in a season one more time after that first season (1007 runs in 2013) For a man with Test match hundreds against the Aussies of Warne and McGrath  there will always be a feeling of what he could have been when we think about his time with Gloucestershire.

All that said, he has been a model pro and has continued with a ludicrous haircut right up to the age of 37, and for that we salute a man of rare courage.

Taylor resilience epitomises Gloucestershire spirit

Photo from the Gloucestershire official site

Gloucestershire (10 pts) 337 (Marshall 112, Taylor 52) and 211 for 8 (Taylor 46*) drew with Kent (12pts) 478 for 8 dec (Northeast 189, Latham 90, Stevens 54)
Scorecard

Gloucestershire clearly aren't the most talented team in Division Two. We don't have a great bowling attack and our batting remains flaky at times. However, we're invariably a tight unit in the field, have great spirit in the squad and we routinely battle hard from less than promising situations.

The Kent game began in such a fashion, with a nightmare early start seeing us slip to 14-4 after 17 overs of parsimonious Kent seam bowling. In the past we could easily have subsided to 150 all out from here, but a gritty ton from O'Mish (his second in consecutive matches) rescued the innings and enabled us to recover to 296-9 at the close. The last wicket pair of Payne and Shaw extended this to 337 on the second day, a thoroughly respectable effort in the circumstances.

We also have some really talented younger players who are starting to deliver. Chris Dent has a quiet match after his previous good run of form, but Jack Taylor continued his good form with the bat with two important knocks in this match. After Kent racked up an imposing 478-5 in response to Glos' total, the boys were in a world of trouble on Day 4 as we slumped to 158-8 after Miles was bowled by the wily Darren Stevens. Taylor's response was not to shut up shopm in the hope of seeing us to the close, but to play his shots in trademark fashion. His unbeaten 46 saw us safely past Kent's total to the close. The innings even impressed the watching BBC commentary team who described it thus:

'Gloucestershire really do have a terrific young talent in Jack Taylor. Predominantly an off-spinner, the 24-year-old knows how to hold a bat as well as he launches Darren Stevens for six before hitting Mitch Claydon for three fours in an over.'

Well-deserved praise for Jack, who despite going for nearly 6 an over from his 16 overs with the ball, also  managed a handy fifty in the first innings in partnership with Marshall. While we clearly still lack the ability to bowl decent sides out we are gritty and hard to beat. The bowling attack will surely improve as Miles reaches match fitness and you can imagine a full strength seam attack with Norwell and Payne joining Miles as being capable of causing problems on more favourable surfaces.

Cameron Bancroft's poor form remains a concern however. He's averaging just 16.71 from 7 completed knocks with a high score of 41. The limited amount of footage we've seen on YouTube seems to show a mix of bad luck and poor shot selection. He's obviously new to county cricket and English early season pitches, but plenty of other people are scoring runs around the country and you really need your overseas player to make a difference in Division 2. So far he's not looked up to the job as an opener and the sooner that Klinger arrives the better.

Glamorgan up next at Bristol in the battle of two teams still looking for their first win.

Day 1 highlights

Day 2 highlights

Day 3 highlights

Day 4 highlights

Draw-ja vu all over again

Worcestershire 411 (Clarke 135, Moeen 74, Cox 69) and 210 for 4 (Moeen 136*) drew with Gloucestershire 380 (Marshall 135, Noema-Barnett 84, Dent 59, Shantry 4-89) and 382 for 7 dec (Dent 138*, Taylor 105, Cockbain 67)
Scorecard

After a heavy opening round defeat to Essex, Glos have rebounded nicely with two fairly healthy draws against Derbyshire and Worcestershire than demonstrates that whilst the squad might be light on top class match winners, it doesn't lack for heart.


At the start of the season we called for Chris Dent to make this the season that he starts to stamp his class across Division 2. So far he has 402 runs from 5 innings at an average of 102. Minus Michael Klinger, this is exactly what Glos needed from their most talented batsman. Gloucestershire supporters have glimpsed Dent's considerable talents a few times over the last few years without him ever going on to have a truly dominant year. Dent should be setting his sights on 5 or 6 hundreds and heading towards 1400 runs in the championship.

What else to say about this game? Lots of runs were scored on another flattish deck. O'Mish scored an invaluable hundred when Glos were in trouble in the first innings. Gourmet-Burger belied our frequent criticism to support him in an important partnership, before promptly throwing it away with a slog in the first over on Day 2. Jack Taylor also impressed with the bat in hitting a violent 105 in the third innings. He took a heavy toll on their spinners, especially Moeen. Ali then struck a typically attractive unbeaten hundred of his own on Day 4, including some meaty 'revenge' blows off Taylor.

The game was drawn and we moved on to Canterbury to face Kent. A good start from the boys although we're clearly going to struggle to bowl sides out until Miles returns.

Day 1 highlights:

Day 2 highlights:

Day 3 highlights:

Day 4 highlights

Deja vu all over again as Gloucestershire batting lets down bowling

Essex 385 (Westley 121, Cook 105, Shaw 4-118) and 94 for 0 (Browne 55*) beatGloucestershire 262 (Roderick 88*, Marshall 51, Porter 4-59) and 215 (Taylor 74, Roderick 58) by ten wickets 
Scorecard

A new season and a familiar refrain to regular readers of the blog. Why do Gloucestershire's batsmen consistently fail to produce the goods after making a start, thus putting our (in this match hugely inexperienced) bowling attack under pressure?

Let's cut to the chase. Gloucestershire don't have a very good championship bowling attack these days. After the departure of James Fuller, you would think the best 4 bowlers are Miles, Payne Norwell and Jack Taylor. Miles and Payne were both unfit to play in this match, which left us with debutants Josh Shaw and Tom Hampton (4 f/c wickets between them coming in) alongside Norwell. Former Sussex seamer Chris Liddle didn't make the XI, but you would think he would be in contention most weeks, unless Dawson is thinking of him as most a white ball option.

Benny and Gourmet Burger can fill in with overs of seam, but you wouldn't ideally want to have to play them both, simply to add up to one functioning all rounder. Especially given that Essex have a strong and deep batting lineup with the likes of Graham Napier coming in at 9.

All this is to emphasise the critical importance of the batsmen scoring first innings runs. You could argue that 262 was about par for the first game of the season away to a stronger side. However, if you look at the card lots of people got starts without going on. Roderick anchored the innings with an unbeaten 88. He is exempt from our criticism for sure. Chris Dent lived up to our expectations by looking great in scoring 27, before dragging on chasing a wide half volley. Ian Cockbain also looked in good nick, hitting 5 boundaries in his 24, before being well held by Cook at first slip off Porter.

O'Mish remains a favourite culprit. Despite his advancing years, the Irishman is clearly capable of scoring quantities of runs in D2. He managed a handy 51 in this game, before departing to a trademark loose shot which was snapped up by a diving Jesse Ryder at backward point. Howell departed second ball and Gourmet -Burger rarely looks of championship quality as a batsman- although admittedly it took another great team catch at slip to dismiss him for 5.

This left Jack Taylor and the skipper to try and rebuild. Jack knuckled down and managed a handy 39 before being bowled by Napier, who then dismissed Shaw and Norwell in consecutive balls. Ultimately this left the skipper stranded 12 short of a deserved ton.

We were treated to more of the same in the second innings, having bowled really well to restrict Essex to 385 from 224-2 at one stage. Cameron Bancroft and Cockbain departed caught behind in Porter's first over, bringing Roderick in at 0-2. An inability to construct meaningful partnerships seems a feature of Glos' batting, with only 45 between Roderick and Howell and 65 between the skipper and Taylor worthy of mention. Taylor hit out with freedom after Roderick's dismissal, ending on 74 with 5 sixes as he chased runs alongside 9-10-Jack who contributed 1 between them.

This left Essex the simple task of chasing 93 to win, which they did without fuss or loss of a wicket on the fourth morning. There is no shame in losing away to as strong a side as Essex, especially given that the England skipper scored a hundred for them. We bowled and fielded well (as is usually the case), although Essex definitely out-caught us if you watch the videos below.

We don't want to get too downhearted after one game where the side was missing key performers- at least with the ball. The worry is we simply don't have enough batting depth. You can add in Will Tavare and later, Klinger but what else do we have in reserve? Bancroft will doubtless improve (he was apparently sawn off in the second innings) and you would hope Dent and Cockbain can produce big runs reasonably consistently. But if not, it looks like a long, hard championship season is in prospect.

It's not all bad, mind. Glos welcome Derbyshire to Bristol for our first home game on Sunday. They're not all that good and there's no Martin Guptill to butcher us this year. Sid Payne is back in an otherwise unchanged squad. Fingers crossed for some improvement in front of the home faithful at Nevill Road.

Day 1 highlights

Day 2 highlights

Day 3 highlights

Day 4 highlights

Maxy-mum Klinger takes 'Shire back to Lords

Gloucestershire 267 for 2 (Klinger 137*, Marshall 78*) beat Yorkshire 263 for 9 (Lyth 96, Howell 3-37) by eight wickets 
Scorecard

Gloucestershire secured a first trip to a Lords final since 2004, courtesy of yet another knock of the highest quality from skipper Michael 'surely the next Aussie test player off the rank' Klinger.

When Glos fans think of our greatest overseas one day performers over the years, some great names spring to mind; Zaheer Abbas (whose 5 consecutive scores over 50 Klinger equalled on Sunday), Mike Procter, Craig Spearman, Ian Harvey and Dan Christian. (OK, the last one was a joke).

Michael Klinger might just be the best of the lot. The Aussie hit a magnificent 137* to lead Glos' comfortable chase of Yorkshire's ultimately below par 263-9. Klinger put on an unbeaten 177 with O'Mish, who also looked in good touch throughout and ended unbeaten on 78 as victory was achieved with over 3 overs remaining. He struck 4 sixes, included the game-winning blow over mid off which secured a famous victory.

Yorkshire's innings was built around Adam Lyth's flashy, but technically loose 96- as an aside we can't see him having much long-term success at test level if he continues to flash away outside off stump regardless of bowler, line or match situation. Benny Howell helped Glos' bowlers recover from an awful start, taking 3-37 from 10 overs of wily seam bowling which helped choke Yorkshire of runs and momentum in the crucial middle overs. Despite recovering from a nightmare start, which saw 60 taken off the opening 10 overs, to bowl well overall, the boys fielded poorly throughout, including a comic dropped caught and bowled from Liam Norwell which temporarily reprieved Jonny Bairstow. Luckily Norwell recovered to trap Bairstow LBW in his next over to save his blushes. The fact that Bairstow's 34 was the next highest score of the innings shows how Yorkshire lost their way after a great start and a target of under 300 was always going to be chasable on a good, if slightly two-paced surface at Headingley.

Klinger's scores in this season's Royal London Cup are hugely impressive, 531 runs in 7 innings at 132.75, including 3 centuries in his last 5 innings. When you add this to his stellar Natwest Blast t20 form (another 3 hundreds and 654 runs at 81.75) and the strong Australian domestic season which preceded it, you have some consistently impressive form. An argument can surely be made that Maxy is currently enjoying one of the finest runs of form of all time over the last 18 months of white ball cricket.

You would hope that he will get a chance to represent his country against Bangladesh later this year. His performances for his adopted county here in England have certainly warranted it. In to the final at Lords on September 19th. The Jessop Tavern View will be there cheering the boys on and hope to see some of our readers there, too.

Long and shorter video highlights below:

Glos triumph despite lack of obvious batsmen

Gloucestershire 416 (Marshall 70, Meschede 4-89) and 108 for 3 (Dent 65*) beat Glamorgan 299 (Salter 73, Payne 4-73) and 224 (Ingram 45, Payne 4-50) by seven wickets
Scorecard

The 'shire interrupted their 50 over winning run for a trip down to Swansea to face 3rd placed Glamorgan at their festival ground. This was a tricky fixture, especially as injuries left the boys without much in the way of batting firepower. Ian Cockbain and Klinger both missed out through knocks and O'Mish only played after being summoned from Bristol after Craig Miles pulled up injured on the eve of the match.

This proved a handy move however, as the Irishman struck a useful 70 in Glos' first innings in partnership with all round genius and newly-promoted number 4 batsman Benny Howell (67). Their partnership was the stand out of the entire match and again the only one above 100 on either side. Which doesn't paint Division 2 batting in a favourable light, but there you are.

Glos were in the field after losing the toss and quickly struck early blows through Payne and Norwell, before Jacques Rudolph settled in for a patient 68. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, before an excellent couple of partnerships involving Adam Salter saw Glamorgan rebuild from 186-8. Luckily enough he failed to add to his 73 on the second morning and we polished them off for a below par 299, with Payne impressing with 4-79. A six man bowling attack with Gourmet-Burger at first change and Benny Howell fourth seamer held up well, with both spinners returning economical figures, too.

Dent (11) fell typically early in our response, as did Roderick for 19 although acting skipper Will Tavare did better, posting 47 before falling to off spinner Salter. Then came the Marshall-Howell partnership and the lower order also delivered invaluable runs- taking us to 416 all out from 262-6.

Day 3 saw another excellent team bowling effort, with Glamorgan again failing to build meaningful partnerships on the way to 224 all out. Payne added 4 more to his tally for 8 wickets in the match and even Noema-Barnett chipped in with 3 of his own. Norwell took out the dangerous Chris Cooke, breaking a handy partnership with Ingram and had the last wicket not added 59 then the game could have finished inside 3 days.

As it was, Glos finished things off with ease on the final day, despite a worrying rain delay which saw 15 overs lost before lunch. Chris Dent recovered a semblance of 4 day form with 65 not out and we cruised to victory inside 40 overs, for an impressive third win on the trot and 23 points.

The win has lifted the 'Shire to 4th in the table (albeit level on points with Northants) and was especially impressive given the limited batting resources available. Well done lads, now back to the 50 over stuff before we face Surrey at Nevil Road on the 21st August.

Video highlights of a cracking win below

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

T20 v Surrey: Glos move from the ridiculous to the sublime and back again

Surrey 155 for 6 (Sangakkara 34, Roy 33,) beat Gloucestershire 154 for 5 (Handscomb 39, Jones 37*, Dunn 2-15) by 4 wickets
Scorecard

Being a Gloucestershire supporter is rarely dull, although it is frequently exasperating. See the forthcoming Northants write up from Cheltenham for more on this theme. Last week however was a T20 week, and we were both able to get to the Oval to see the game with some friends.

In scorching 36 degree weather described as 'the hottest day in London for a decade', we saw a curate's egg of of match. The pitch was slow, sticky and took turn in abundance, which belied the Oval's batsmen-friendly reputation. Glos lost star man Klinger early to Matt Dunn, then struggled to get going throughout the 20 overs, despite some steady partnerships and the loss of just 5 wickets.

A couple of typical 'shire moments occurred when both Ian Cockbain and  O' Mish perished the ball after striking sixes. Cockbain's was the more brainless shot, as he dragged on a slog, having just dispatched Dunn over long on the previous delivery. Marshall was caught behind off a gripping and turning Ansari delivery, an excellent response to having been pulled over deep midwicket.

The only real partnership of note came when Peter Handscomb put on 62 with Geraint Jones. Both men struggled to get the ball away to the boundary, but they ran hard and helped set a reasonable target above 150.

Things didn't start well for the boys though, as Jason Roy and Tom Curran opened up with a brisk 35 partnership which saw Roy strike several attractive boundaries through his favourite off side, plus a big six. However, once Roy departed stumped (off surprise T20 wicket-taking threat Tom Smith) for 35, wickets fell at regular intervals and Surrey also found boundaries hard to come by.

Sangakkara stuck around to anchor the innings and a good partnership of 53 with Ben Foakes was the second highest of the match. However, both Glos spinners bowled with excellent control and the run rate climbed to 10 an over from the last 4, despite some unnecessary extras from both Gourmet-Burger and Benny Howell in the middle overs. When Smith dismissed Sangakkara for 34, Surrey were in a bit of trouble and Surrey began the last over still needing 9 to win.

Craig Miles began with a wide, then dismissed Zafar Ansari via an excellent Liam Norwell catch at fine leg. The next three deliveries were all tight and things were looking good as Azhar failed to connect with the penultimate ball, leaving an improbable six needed from the final ball. The consensus among us sat in the crowd was that a yorker or wider full length ball was the way to go, especially with Azhar having missed an almighty swish at the penultimate (short) delivery from Miles. After much discussion with Klinger and the brains trust, the youngster ran in and bowled another short one. Sadly the wily 40 year old (twice Miles' age!) was ready and waiting. He swung the ball away over the leg side, over the head of Benny Howell and over the boundary for a improbable match-winning six, sending the home crowd wild. And us home with our heads in our hands.

Video highlights of the heartbreak below:

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:

You know when you've been Guptill-ed

Day 3: Glos 275 and 253 - 6 v Derbyshire 545 - 9 dec.

The Jessop Tavern View was unable to post yesterday as they were still helping out the Glos ground staff retrieve the various balls that Martin Guptill had deposited into various areas of the Nevil Road area yesterday.

The Jessop Tavern View is confused as to when Martin Guptill became such a complete animal. His double hundred came in double quick time, which off the back of his world cup barbarism only helps whet the appetite for what he might do to Chris Jordan's medium pacers in the test series next month. In fairness, he was helped in no small part by Glos skipper Geraint Jones who proved that it isn't just when he has the gloves on that he can't catch. Glos again shelled catches left right and centre on day 2 to continue their circus juggling act from the first game of the season when they similarly couldn't catch a cold.

On day 3 Gloucestershire threatened to fight back with Will Tavare and Gareth Roderick both offering decent resistance before being unable to convert their starts into substantial innings. For both these batsmen the start to this season has been encouraging, but neither has made a telling contribution. Roderick now has four fifties in as many innings making him Gloucestershire's very own Shane Watson. Let's hope he breaks the shackles and brings home a big ton next time out.

Again the Shire's story of their first two games has been all about losing the crucial moments in games. At 118 for 1 and on a flattening wicket Glos had the opportunity to really start to frustrate Derby. Instead they lost 4 quick wickets to all but seal the deal. Late in the day Hamish O'Mish and the Gourmet Burger then proceeded to take Gloucestershire up to parity in the match and the Jessop Tavern was thinking, 'well, if these two get through to the close and then we can find 150 runs tomorrow morning it might make things a little bit interesting'.

However, no sooner had the thought formed then Gourmet Burger fell to a sneaky legside trap that presumably left Kieran Noema-Barnett feeling similar to when he is lulled into eating a Quorn burger by mistake. Thus O'Mish will now have to spend the night teaching our warren of rabbits which end of the bat to hold.

To be fair to Glos, take out Guptill's barbaric knock and this has been a very even contest. The Jessop Tavern is going to start a petition against anyone who has played international cricket in the last 3 years from being allowed to play in Division 2.

Glos fail to seize the initiative

Day 1: Glos 275 v Derbyshire 24 - 0.

Having lost the toss in bowler friendly conditions Glos would probably have taken 275 from their first innings before play began yesterday.

However, having reached lunch on 104 for 2 and having done the hard work they will now been disappointed that no batsman managed to go on and produce a match defining score. Several of them had chances. Chris Dent swashbuckled a run a ball 22, Chris Tavare looked secure for 48 and Hamish O'Mish ground away for his 41. However, it will be the in-form Gareth Roderick who will be most frustrated. Three successive fifties in three county championship innings this season is an excellent return from your keeper, but batting at 3 Roderick will know that he now needs to start converting these scores into the dreaded Graham Gooch coined 'Daddy Hundred's'. Having reached 76, Roderick tamely gave his wicket away to a weak pull to midwicket and the innings never recovered.

Yet again Gloucestershires tail failed to provide any support. The last 6 wickets contributed only 48 runs. This follows on from the 0 for 4 effort that the tail managed in the first innings against Northants and will be a major cause of concern moving forward. James Fuller is an entertaining dasher, but he isn't a number 8 and Miles, Norwell and Taylor are three genuine number 11s (all be it Miles might have some potential) It is hard to know exactly how this needs to be addressed. Will Gidman would be the obvious answer.

Hopefully the pitch will continue to aid the seamers today and Glos can bowl themselves back into the contest. Given that the bowlers now need to perform, it was curious to see the Shire's best bowler, Craig Miles, not given the new ball and 3 overs late last night to try and strike an early blow in Derbyshire's innings.

Wily Willey goes through shaky lower order to leave Glos in trouble

Day 2: Northants 333 and 68 for 2 v Glos 296.

The return of the county championship every year is always like the return of a lost friend to your life. The comfortable, warm feeling of familiarity has an immediately relaxing impact, only to fairly shortly be replaced by the realisation that nothing much has changed.

For 2015, it appears not so much has changed yet for Gloucstershire under the new coaching regime. Glos get themselves into a good position. Glos allow the opposition off the hook. Glos fight back and get themselves into a good position. Glos collapse. Glos fight back. Glos crumble. It's a well-worn pattern that leads to 7th place in division 2 and the occasional excitement of a quarter final in a one day cup.

We won't get too down on the boys (we'll save that till July) but yesterday was a disappointing day. After a promising start from the top three who all got themselves in, Gloucestershire then lost a clatter of wickets to find themselves struggling on 185 for 5. Captain Jones led the recovery, to get Glos right back in the mix at 296 for 7 only for David Willey to take 3 of the final 4 wickets without a run being sored to leave Gloucestershire trailing by 37 runs. Craig Miles then took two quick wickets to give the Shire a sniff of a chance, only for Alex Wakely to shut the door and leave Northants a comfortable looking lead of 105. The first session on Tuesday will be vital.

On paper Gloucestershire's batting is very definitely the strength of this team, however a slight suspicion remains as to whether there might be a few too many dashers in the current line-up. Will Tavare aside, the rest of the top 7 all look like players happy to swish around for a bit before departing for a slightly unsatisfying 20 or 30. Yes, we are looking at you Hamish O'Marshall!

Hopefully several of them will run into form and negate this observation with a summer of highly entertaining cricket where the sound of leather thudding into boundary boards follows Gloucestershire around the county circuit. And not just when we are bowling.

So, a crucial first session for Glos today. We will make no mention of the fact that we told you that lower order looked shaky yesterday!

Video highlights from Day are below:

On declarations, rain forecasts and overdue first wins of the season

Gloucestershire 252 (Roderick 59, Riley 3-51) and 443 for 6 dec. (Marshall 118, Stevens 5-87) beat Kent 114 (W Gidman 4-14, Fuller 4-32) and 291 (Harmison 125) by 290 runs

The Jessop Tavern View is delighted to report that the boys wrapped up a deserved first LVCC victory of the season before lunch today at Bristol.

We were thinking of making some snide comments about being lucky that the 'delayed' declaration yesterday didn't lead to the match being affected by the forecast rain, as mentioned by quite a few folk on Twitter and the BBC radio commentary team yesterday. Upon giving it more thought, however, we've decided that Captain Klinger was just supremely confident that we would bowl them out in plenty of time, regardless of the potential for rain today.

There's a definitely a case to be made that, having witnessed Kent slump to 2/4 and 17-5 on Day 1, King John and the brains trust was simply well aware that Kent's batting line-up was pretty useless and unlikely to survive for more than a day, having been set such a huge target. On a fairly blameless pitch according to the players, we managed to score almost 450 in our second innings and yet Kent twice failed to top 300 in an innings, despite Ben Harmison's battling century (incidentally, his 3rd championship ton v the 'shire).

All in all, this was a bloody good performance from Glos, and as the skipper pointed out on the official site link above, a victory we had really earned after been denied by the weather against Glamorgan last month. You could also add that we were unlucky to lose to a trademark Graeme Smith 4th innings special v Surrey last week.There are a few negatives to flag up though. The first innings batting was under par, albeit somewhat obscured by the fairly pathetic effort from Kent. We suffered another tough break, as talented keeper-batsman Gareth (Matthew B)roderick re-broke the same finger which kept him out earlier in the year. We will be without him for 6 weeks and will miss both his runs and athletic keeping at a crucial time of the season.

The bowling cupboard is also pretty threadbare, with Payne and the Sax remaining unfit and Craig Miles still a couple of weeks away from a return.

It seems a shame to end on a moan, but a couple of old gripes continue to rile the Jessop Tavern View. The club is still not getting its communications strategy right. We've heard very little on Saxelby's injury status until a brief mention today and have been reduced to haranguing the @gloscricket Twitter feed for information, to little effect.

Also, the video highlights we try to post at the end of each day's play invariably come courtesy of the oppositions Youtube page or the ECB site. Glos seem unwilling to explain why they have yet to cough up to make access available to video footage from our matches. If almost all the other first class counties can do this, surely the least loyal fans can expect is for the county to update their YouTube page or the official site with match highlights which are available on a daily basis.

We are aware we aren't exactly flush with cash compared to the Surreys of this world. Getting your website updated with relevant news and actually interacting with the fans on Twitter and other social sites isn't rocket science, especially when the new Chief Exec comes from a marketing background.

Rant over. Good win. Let's build on it and actually hit some boundaries in Friday's t20 clash with fellow weaklings Middlesex.

Video highlights from the rest of the match:

Day 3

 

Day 4

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

Gloucestershire 252 and 212 - 4 v Kent 114.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shire in superior batting side shocker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video highlights of the match so far below:

Day 1

Day 2

Glos in with a fighting chance after David Payne batting masterclass

Day 3: Gloucestershire 304 and 308 for 9 v Hampshire 422.

Gloucestershire will begin day 4 against Hampshire with a glimmer of hope of victory thanks to a gritty 84 not out from Hamish O'Marshall and some late order biffing by James Fuller and David Payne.

Earlier in the afternoon Glos had slumped to 216 for 8, but a partnership of 92 between Marshall and Payne has at least given Gloucestershire's boundary board bowlers a fighting chance.

Marshall in particular showed real application in his 193 ball vigil as he managed to occupy the crease whilst watching wickets tumble at the other end. The decision to field only 5 batsmen always leaves you vulnerable to collapses and when Gidders departed for a fluent 72 Glos went from 124 for 3 to 216 for 8. Not quite the 5 wickets for 12 runs of the first innings, and in these terms an over 400% increase in the return for 5 wickets. Still, it's hardly the stuff of champions. David Payne proceed to then show exactly when he was in the side with a superb knock of 44 including two reverse swept boundaries from the part time off spin of Michael Carberry. Having heard the news that Sam Robson had made a hundred for Middlesex we presume Carberry is now eyeing up the vacant spinners role as his only chance of ever playing test cricket again.

Earlier in the day Matt Taylor took his first first class 5 wicket haul and finished with excellent figures of 5 for 75. Hopefully the start of more to come from the promising young left armer.

Can Glos win it from here? Well, stranger things have happened but you suspect that this bowling attack doesn't have what it takes. We'll be happy to be proved wrong. But then we'd also be happy if James Fuller manages to go for less than a run a ball. The Jessop Tavern is easily pleased.

Tavare shows the old timers how it's done

Day 1: Glos 292 - 5 v Hampshire

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

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

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

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

Highlights of Tavare's maiden ton:

 

2014 Season Preview: Same same but different?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gloucestershire batsmen queue up to swing from O'Mish's hangman's noose

YB40: Somerset beat Gloucestershire by 12 runs.

It's big. It's mean. It's made of a lot of glass and appears to have the worlds longest balcony that should enable clueless corporate hospitality guests to have an almost constant ability to wander behind the bowlers arm. Oh yes, the new, and imaginatively named, 'Bristol' pavilion opened today. Regardless as to what we think, it does appear fairly impressive. We particularly like the 'Hamish O'Marshall hangman's scaffold' on the right hand side of the roof. Hamish will hopefully be seen frequently swinging from this after playing yet more inappropriate shots when well set.

And so to the cricket.

In the end the result didn't matter. Warwickshire decided to field a team without any bowlers against Northants meaning that David Willey was able to plunder away. This helped Northants to a comprehensive win that pushed their run-rate above anything Gloucestershire could match. When news filtered through that Glamorgan had also won it appeared that the Gods have decreed that the Jessop Tavern View would not be heading to Lords this season.

Nevertheless, Gloucestershire's youngsters gave their more illustrious neighbours a decent game in front of a packed crowd at the county ground. Despite Trescothick and Kieswetter getting Somerset off to a 10 an over flier, Gloucestershire's bowling attack took wickets in clusters to restrict Somerset to what seemed a below par score of 258 for 9. Tom Smith capped a solid bowling effort from the whole unit with a hat trick, split over two overs. David Payne also returned fine figures of 3 for 35 from his allotted 8 overs.

In reply Gloucestershire got off to the best possible start putting on 63 for the opening wicket. Both Klinger and O'Mish appeared to be well set when Marshall danced down the pitch to new overseas mercenary Piyush Chawla and heaved a straight forward catch down the throat of Lewis Gregory. Chris Dent also got himself in, and then out, again caught trying to force the pace on a slightly two paced pitch that never made boundary scoring a straight forward proposition. Captain Klinger perished shortly after to a slightly dubious catch taken by the aforementioned Chawla.

Ian Cockbain and Gidders  then also put Gloucestershire in position to push for glory, but when Cockbain fell for 39 and Gidders for 41 the queue to have a swing on O'Mish's scaffold atop the new pavilion was making use of all the generous room afforded by the overly large balcony. It's difficult to chase any decent total when your top 5 all score more than 30 but less than 41. If one of the top five had gone on, then Glos probably would have won. In the end we were saved the heartbreak of winning the match and then realising we had failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

Gloucestershire now need to make sure that the rest of their season doesn't come off the rails like it did after last year's t20 quarter final defeat. This will begin with Wednesdays championship match against Essex.

Video highlights from the game below: