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?

Gloucestershire start well...but it could have been much better

Day 1: Surrey 225 v Gloucestershire 171 -4

I guess it is a sign of real progress that as a Gloucestershire fan I am now viewing performances with more of a microscope. Where as before we would have just been delighted to have not been either put to the sword or skittled for 80 odd, we are now in the strange position of feeling that today we missed the opportunity to really ram home the advantage.

We have already praised the selection for this match, with both Coughtrie and Young replacing the hapless Batty and the frankly useless Banerjee. Its also so nice to have a player like Will Gidman available to provide real balance. With the better Gidders playing as the fourth seamer and batting at six there is a really nice feel to a young middle order that runs, Gidman W, Coughtrie, Young.

After winning the toss full credit must go to the seamers for taking full advantage of helpful conditions. Admittedly 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.

In reply Gloucestershire's batsmen did their usual trick. Everyone, save Dent, and more about him later, got themselves in, and then got themselves out. Considering we had by far the best conditions of the day to bat in during the afternoon, this is slightly disappointing. O'Mish batted patiently, got himself nicely set, then got out. Williamson, played fluently, then got out during a testing spell from the impressive Dernbach. (1 for 20 off 12, including O'Mish dropped in the slips) The Kid continued this season's good form, and seems to have been unlucky to have received a shooter having just passed fifty. If Gloucestershire are to press home their advantage then it will need someone to go on and make a sizable contribution tomorrow. Can captain Gidders be this man? The Jessop Tavern View doesn't reckon the skipper has it in him and we are predicting a slender first innings leader of around 50.

Our final point for today concerns young Chris Dent. We have already seen enough from Dent to know that there was a reason why he was the first of the youngsters to be elevated to the first team last year. Despite having not reached his maiden first class hundred you feel that it is genuinely only a matter of time, and that when he makes his first one, several more will follow in quick succession. It's just that he doesn't seem comfortable at the top of the order. We have neither the time or the inclination to back this up statistically, but we reckon that most of Dent's better knocks have come when he has batted lower down. I guess at least we seem to have settled on a position for him and he will be glad to have ended the constant yo-yoing up and down the order. The other problem is of course who else should open in his place, and where in the middle order would he fit in? In truth it seems that the opening slot is the only one available to him. We just hope it doesn't stunt the development of a genuinely talented looking kid.

Finally, if anyone from BBC Radio London is reading this. Less of the polo chat tomorrow boys. Or, if you insist on talking about polo, at least make it humorous.

Who cares about KP, Glos finally win a Twenty20 game!

Gloucestershire 168 for 6 (Cockbain 78, Dernbach 3-27) beat Surrey 122 (Pietersen 30, Payne 3-20) by 10 runs

The Jessop Tavern View would like to apologise to its fans for the recent lack of posts. Glos' terrible start to the T20 campaign, coupled with a work trip abroad rather dampened our enthusiasm for writing about the Shire.

Anyway, now we are back and we were delighted to see that the boys managed to win a game. Even if it was against perennial under-achievers Surrey. All that investment in Murali looks to be paying off. 1 win out of 5 so far is surely the kind of return Chief Executive Tom Richardson was looking for when he persuaded the great man to rock up at Nevil Road for a couple of years of 4 over spells.

The good thing about games versus Surrey, is that due to their inconsistency, there always the chance of a victory. Not only that; they are somewhat more tech-savvy than the Shire. Thus we get to provide you with video highlights of the match to accompany our prescient analysis. You can find this at the bottom of the post.

Glos lost the toss and were sent in to bat by Grabber Hamilton-Brown. A typically average powerplay saw the boys teetering at 31-3, with O'Mish, O'Brien and Williamson already dismissed. Amazingly, the boys managed to steady the ship and recovered to 85, before Gidders the elder was caught slogging for 28. Even more amazingly, we then cut loose, with Ian Cockbain displaying hitherto unknown powers of aggression to strike 5 sixes in a violent 78 from just 45 balls. He was well-supported by Tiny Taylor (32*) as Glos reached an excellent 168-6.


Despite Archdeacon Meadow featuring some tiny boundaries (even the Jessop Tavern View has struck a couple there, as well as an unfortunate golden duck), we made immediate inroads into their powerful but inconsistent batting lineup.Williamson opened the bowling and dismissed RH-B in the first over as well as having KP brilliantly caught on the boundary by a diving Cockbain. Will this be the cue for 'King' John Bracewell topick him for some T20?

David Payne chipped in with 3-20, including Davies, who gave him so much tap in the opening game and the dangerous Tom Maynard. Richard Coughtrie impressed with the gloves, stumping two batsmen and again keeping tidily. Surely Jon Batty's Glos career is virtually over at this point? Oh yeah, Murali bowled tidily and took 2-28. You kind of expect that kind of performance as a minimum from your marquee overseas signing though.

A thumping win then and one the boys will hope to repeat on Wednesday night v Kent at their Beckenham out ground. The Jessop Tavern View has played there as well and it's a bit of a road. Let's hope for some fireworks from the boys to get the T20 campaign back on track before the break for Championship action at the weekend.

Davies dominant as outclassed Glos take a kicking

Gloucestershire 155/8; Surrey 156/2 

Surrey won by 8 wickets (with 19 balls remaining)

Gloucestershire's Twenty 20 campaign got off to a disappointing start as they were well beaten by a powerful Surrey side at the Oval. The Jessop Tavern View was there to witness the Glos debut of Murali and was hoping for a good performance from the boys. Sadly this was not to be the case, as having been put in to bat, the Shire struggled to a below par 155-8. They then saw a superb 92 from England keeper-batsman Steve Davies take Surrey to a comfortable victory with 19 balls still to be bowled.

This was the first opportunity for the Jessop Tavern View to see many of Glos' youngsters and new signings play live. Kevin O'Brien strode out to open with the skipper and struck a big six down the ground on the way to 24, before being caught at the second attempt by Zander de Bruyn on the square leg boundary. A disaapointing shot to a poor ball from 'Viscount' Linley. Gidman himself looked ill at ease against the pace of Dirk Nannes and both he and Taylor both departed to the T20 specialist. Kane Williamson again looked classy for his 32, but was run out in a comedy mix up with Will Gidman. I had to take this from a description by my friend, as the incident occured while I was stuck in a tremendous queue at the bar.

This smacked of poor planning from Surrey and I wasn't the only one stuck in line complaining about the lack of available bars. Perhaps they were not expecting so many of us to turn up, but you would think they would want us to buy more drinks instead of wasting 25 minutes in the bloody queue and then deciding not to go back for another drink later on. Rant over.

Will Gidman and Ed Young launched a fightback, putting on 45 to take Glos up to what we thought was a defendable total. Overall it was still an average batting performance, with momentum regularly being lost through wickets and an inability to get after Nannes and Linley.

The Surrey innings got off to a flying start, with Grabber Hamilton-Brown and Davies taking 68 off the 6 powerplay overs. The Gloucestershire seamers were meat and drink to two players who aren't big fans of running. Lewis and Payne both sprayed the ball around and were punished. I don't see the point of playing Payne, a wicket-taker, but also young and erratic, in T20 matches, especially those played on flat tracks like the Oval. Another spinner would have been a better option. Murali was also disappointing, bowling too short in his first two overs, which disappeared for 25, included a big six over long on from Davies.

We should give credit to the Surrey batsmen. They batted aggressively and never allowed the Shire's bowlers to settle. Steve Davies was especially impressive. He struck the ball with great authority and placement in his 92 not out. In short, he looked a top class player. We would have him as England's ODI keeper and opening bat over Kieswetter.

Glos will need to play a lot better against Essex at Chelmsford tonight, otherwise this year's campaign could be off to a nightmare start.