Michael Klinger: No runs, but good common sense

Day 4: Northants beat Gloucestershire by 7 wickets.

There were no miracles today as Northants predictably wrapped up victory just before lunch. Glos could add only 19 runs to their overnight score but did then manage to take 3 Northampton wickets which, if nothing else, will make the defeat look less comprehensive in Wisden next year.

Speaking after the match, captain Klinger said that Gloucestershire need to learn from Northants 'mature' brand of cricket. Fair point. He praised the way that Northants bowled in pairs and made sure that they never lost clusters of wickets when batting. As much as these are good points, they are also the sort of points that you shouldn't really need to point out to professional cricketers.

If the result wasn't disappointing enough, injuries prevented both Benny Howell and Liam Norwell from taking the field in Northants second innings. Benny apparently has a bruised hand; Norwell has a groin strain. Both are doubtful for Wednesdays trip to Leicestershire (on a completely different point; isn't it nice that championship games have fixed start days) Back to injuries. Before this season started we noted that the squad was painfully thin. Injuries to Ian Saxelby and Paul Muchall and now Benny and Norwell. Those are the sorts of things you can't afford when you are struggling for a quality first xi. Presumably Ian Cockbain will be on stand by for Benny and young Craig Miles will take Liam Norwell's spot. Norwell's injury is a particular concern given his fragile body over the past couple of seasons.

As much as Michael Klinger might be talking common sense perhaps we can add a few extra things that he didn't actually say, but is probably now starting to think. "Christ mate, I wish we had some bloody mature gritty county trundler who can run in all day and put the ball on the spot". Gloucestershires most experienced bowler is Will Gidman, a man with only two full seasons under his belt. Compare this to Northants who can add the grizzled Andrew Hall and test credentials of Trent Copeland to their young stud, David Willey. Anyone know whether John Lewis is bored of playing in Surrey's 2nd xi?

Next week Gloucestershire travel to Leicestershire. Does county cricket have the equivalent of the relegation six pointer?

Midseason report - Batting

With the neverending tedium of the T20 group stages finally drawing to a close we can now begin to look ahead to the rest of the season as Gloucestershire's youngsters try to build on their surprisingly strong start to the season. Let's not jinx things and mention promotion. We all know that we're just as capable of falling apart as building on early success. With 7 county championship games to play we thought that this was a good opportunity to cast aside the debacle disappointment of the T20 campaign and focus everyone's attention on what came before. First we'll take a look back at the batting.

Batting

Compared to last season this has been a massive improvement, but then again at this point last season we were still awaiting a Gloucestershire player to score a hundred in the county championship. This season 5 different players have hundreds to their names, but none of them have more than one. This pretty much sums up the batting in the first half of the season. Everyone has contributed reasonably well, but no one has dominated. Will Gidman has been the real surprise with 654 runs to his name at an average of 50.30. That's good enough to be the fifth heaviest run scorer in the division. I don't think anyone saw that coming when we signed up our skipper's kid brother from Durham.

The rest of the batting, to be brutally honest, reads exactly as it always does:

 
We've said this before, but why the hell do we think that an average of 30 odd is good enough in division 2 of the county championship? In particular Gidders, O'Mish and Williamson should all hang their heads. These are all guys who have been around international cricket to some extent. Two of these guys have test hundreds. How are they averaging in the mid 30's in division 2? It makes winning consistently so much harder when your top players don't put in big performances to win you games.

Right, that's the moaning out of the way. However, statistics never tell the full story. What the first half of this season has seen is that whenever an innings has been needed someone has produced one. The ability of the boys to scrap with the bat has been very encouraging. The days of capitulating meekly are hopefully behind us.

Dent - 221 runs, avg 31.
Still no hundreds for young Chris Dent, but still more than enough signs of promise to mean that this is not the major issue it could be. Still, if he gets to the end of the season without a hundred then some serious doubts will start to form in the young mans head. The Jessop Tavern View still isn't convinced he's an opener and feels he would be better served coming in down the order. However, the lack of another available opener means he'll likely be stuck there for the rest of the season.

O'Mish - 268 runs, avg 38.
Injury has meant that our converted Irishman has only played 4 games so these stats don't reflect very much. Bizarrely pushed up to fill the problematic openers slot O'Mish actually seems to have settled into this role pretty well considering he is a bit of a dasher. A strong second half of the season from O'Mish will be vital if Glos are to maintain their challenge.

Williamson - 371 runs, avg 33.
Visa problems and shift work in the club gym have meant that our overseas player has only managed 6 games so far. There have been signs of the talent. His hundred against Leicestershire showed the quality that the man has, but Gloucestershire-itis has meant he has not dominated on a consistent basis. He's a young man still learning the game so this is sort of to be expected. Like O'Mish, a strong second half of the season is needed.

Taylor - 600 runs, avg 35.
At the start of the season 'the kids' place was up for grabs, especially with Dent, Younger Gidders, Cockbain and Coughtrie all fighting with him for what looked like only 2 spots in the lineup. Injuries and Williamson's gym shifts gave him his chance and Taylor responded excellently. Only one hundred from seven times passed fifty is the only criticism. A better conversion rate and the kid would have been really flying.

Captain Marvel - 498 runs, avg 38.
His wonderful innings to win the game against Surrey is still fresh in our minds. Nearly 500 runs at 38 is respectable enough, but as we have written before, the man really should be in the upper echelons of batting in this division and not in the middle of the road. Come on skipper. Finish the season with 1200 runs at 50.

Cockbain - 403 runs, avg 28.
Not spectacular statistics, but for a young player who came from nowhere and was pressed into action as an emergency opener, we are very pleasantly surprised. His maiden hundred in the last county championship match against hundred can hopefully be the spring board for the rest of the season. How many chances he will get will be interesting, but competition for places is always very healthy.

Coughtrie - 275 runs, avg 17.
Like Cockbain, Coughtrie came from nowhere and was immediately pressed into opening the innings. The man was clearly not an opener and frequently looked like he couldn't hit the ball off the square, but he showed enough grit and resilience to hang around and this fortitude earned him the chance to show what he can do with the gloves and to hopefully end the tortuous Gloucesterhire career of Jon Batty.

The other Gidders - 654 runs, avg 50.
We've already waxed lyrically about the skippers younger bro. Like Taylor he probably should have more than the one hundred to his name, but from a guy who has batted in the lower middle order his signing has looked like a masterstroke. This is before we even mention his 22 wickets!

Batty - 179 runs, avg 17.
Started the season with the gloves and the opportunity to put behind him an abysmal 2010 season. All he has proved is that 2010 wasn't a blip. He's still got another year on his contract. The worst signing in Gloucestershire history?  

Sperm Donor - 405 runs, avg 31.
What makes the top orders stats so disappointing is the fact that the sperm donor has almost the same number of runs as most of them. Lewis has steadily improved his late order clubbing over the years, but clubbing is all that it is. It says a lot about the standard of bowling in the division that Lewis has 4 fifties to his name. If he is capable of consistent runs the top order should be feasting. However, Lewis late order heroics have made vital contributions this season. Is a maiden first class ton on the mans mind before retiring?


Selected others -
Both Saxelby and Payne have made handy contributions at times, and it is always useful to have tailenders who are not complete rabbits (although we can't help but feel that cricket is worse off with fewer complete rabbits around these days). Ed Young has shown he is more than capable with the bat, as has his spin bowling rival Jack Taylor. All in all, the lower order has done a good job.

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.

It's all about the hips

Day 2: Surrey 225 and 145 - 5 v Gloucestershire 261.

In the vain hope that the Jessop Tavern View can finally claim to have made a shrewd piece of analysis, and without the benefit of hindsight, we are going to quote ourselves from yesterday's blog. " The 225 that Surrey managed to eek out should have been 50 runs less, but it was a good effort. The biggest criticism we can level is the number of boundaries served up by the boys and the resultant indulgent run rate Surrey were able to score at. In what is likely to be a fairly low scoring game, these loose runs, some what given away, could prove costly." We reckon that this will end up being pretty close to the truth tomorrow in a game that Gloucestershire should go on to win.

It seems harsh to blame the bowlers when they have bowled out a team for 225 first time around and have Surrey reduced to 145 for 5 at the second asking. It would be harsh indeed to say that the 4 pace men have not quite been clinical enough. We have already stated that we thought Surrey were gifted 50 runs too many in the first innings. In their second innings we have already gifted them 25 runs in extras and again allowed them to score at over 4 an over. That's 75 extra runs we'll have to chase. Even if 75 runs is a touch over-critical, we can consider that we will have to chase at least 30 odd runs more than we should. That's the difference between chasing 170 or 200. On such margins will this intriguingly poised game be decided.

We reckon that perhaps Gloucester missed a trick by not giving the Sperm donor more of an opportunity to have a tonk further up the order. As soon as both Gidmans were gone, run scoring practically stopped. Coughtrie again showed good application, but with scoring becoming increasingly difficult it seemed a bit of a waste of Lewis' unique brand of batting (at an average of over 30 for the season) to leave him down at number 11. A quickfire 20 or 30 a bit further up the order might have put the Surrey bowlers off their rhythm. As it was, his slapdash 17 was wasted coming in at number 11. 

The third day promises to be a genuinely intriguing day of cricket, and for all the right reasons. As Richard Latham's match report on the official website states, it will all depend on the hips. If his 147th first class fifty becomes his 114th first class century then it's likely that Gloucestershire will be chasing at least 200. On a pitch that has been difficult to bat on throughout, you would favour Surrey in that scenario.

Lets hope that we can get Ramps early and then keep the scoring rate down as we work away at the tail. We have been the better side on both days so far and deserve to come away with a victory.

Dent fights for a credible draw

Day 4: Gloucestershire 255 and 310 - 9 dec V Essex 321.

Gloucestershire continue to show considerable signs of improvement over the horror show of recent years with a gutsy draw against Essex. Don't get us wrong. This doesn't make us a good side. But it certainly beats watching us lose from similar positions to the one we found ourselves in yesterday.

In typical Gloucestershire fashion batsmen got themselves in, played a few shots, and then decided that a score in the 30's would keep them with a contract next season and so decided to get themselves out. Williamson, the kid and the brothers Gidman all got in, and all got out when set. At 156 for 6 just after lunch the scene seemed set for an Essex victory.

Step forward Chris Dent. Making his return from injury and finding himself bizarrely shunted down to number 7 the young left hander got his head down and built sensible partnerships, firstly with Ed Young and then with the wily Sperm donor. The Jessop Tavern View is actually quite pleased with this performance which, whilst hardly great, certainly demonstrates again that this team has some fight in it. Admittedly we were significantly helped by Essex's contractual obligation to Ravi Bopara to let him bowl constantly, and to Ryan ten Doeschate's decision to use his second over as a shop window to sell himself as a handy pitcher in the MLB. The boys on radio Essex were bemoaning the lack of overs given to peg-leg Shah. This said a lot about Essex's lack of bowling talent. It also says a lot about the standard of bowling in division 2 that the Sperm donor is able to average 31, with 3 50's. The Jessop Tavern View once had the privilege of bowling to a young Jon Lewis at the Cheltenham festival during a rain break. Walking around the boundary Lewis obviously fancied getting his eye in against some kids. Not being accustomed to the particular requirements of batting when an entire industrial-sized wheel bin are your wickets, he was cleaned up first ball. My point is that he's not much of a batsman.

So Gloucestershire now head into the T20 break in a respectable 5th in the county championship table. Certainly better than most people expected. Let's all now sit back and enjoy a bit of Murali at the circus.

Ed Young is our man - You read it here first

Day 3: Gloucestershire 504 -9/dec v Leicestershire 315 - 9.

Well it's not like we didn't warn you. 'Ed Young will be the man to keep your eyes on', we confidently predicted at the end of day 2, and so it proved. His 2 overs for 12 runs proved to be the catalyst for the overconfidence that led to Leicestershire's collapse from 195 for 0 to 315 for 9. We're sure that if you didn't know we talked utter bollocks before, you do now.

Yet again this Gloucestershire team continue to fight during every session. After last weeks humiliation against Northants its very encouraging to see the boys strike back in such a positive manner. This game has really been all about the more experienced heads. Where as the youngsters have impressed in earlier games this time it has been the captain and the Sperm donor who have led the way, ably abetted by Kane Williamson who we consider an experienced head despite being only 20.

On a pitch that has offered very little the Gloucestershire seamers decided against the early season tactic of firing down as many 4 balls as possible and decided instead on making scoring as difficult as possible. We've questioned before whether this seam attack has the ability to dry up the runs on lifeless pitches. Here was our answer.

It is to be hoped that the boys are able take the final wicket before Leicestershire can add the 40 runs they require to avoid the follow-on and that the pitch then deteriorates rapidly. Whether Gloucestershire possess a spinner capable of taking wickets once the shine leaves the new ball will be the biggest question. We've said it before and we'll say it again, Ed Young will be the man to keep an eye on. Heck, it's not as if Banerjee is going to spin us to victory.