Day 1; Glos 195 for 4 v Hampshire
Having been skittled twice last week the last thing that Gloucestershire wanted was to lose the toss on a cold, damp south coast morning, and walk out to bat on a green top. But that is exactly what happened to Chris Dent and Richard Coughtrie who faced the unenviable task of trying to kick start Gloucestershires season.
Coughtrie at least got off the mark for the season, following his pair against Essex, but the 'House' managed to be out twice in his short innings to leave Gloucestershire reeling at 22 for 2. Experienced pros Gidders and O'Mish seemed to have summed up the situation and decided that their feeble technique against the moving ball meant there was no point in trying to hang around and so they might as well as have a dash. In fairness this now appears to be both of their default settings and a perfect example of players deciding that they will do their run scoring when the sun comes out, thank you very much. Both got in. Both had a dash. Both perished LBW playing across the line. The Jessop Tavern is going to copy and paste these last few sentences somewhere as we can't be arsed to have to type it out for every game.
Thankfully the Gloucestershire youngsters have completely disregarded the example set by their senior pros, as both Chris Dent and Ian Cockbain got their heads down and saved Gloucstershire with gritty run-an-over half centuries. In our preview for this match yesterday, we asked that the boys at least show a bit of fight, and we couldn't have asked for any more than the unbeaten hundred partnership these two produced before the rain came. Long may it continue. The rain that is. Despite a commendable level of application shown today, the Jessop Tavern View still reckons that a wet and miserable summer is Glos' best bet this season.
In an amusing aside, we were glad to see that we aren't the only ones who struggle to think of things to write about when covering division 2 county cricket. Cricinfo reported that Hampshire's new sponsors have done away with the Shane Warne suite, whilst the Shaun Udal suite survives. Interesting stuff.
A pair of long-suffering Gloucestershire County Cricket club fans attempt to put the world (and the Glos administration) to rights. Themes include: Is one England ODI a year a good model for financial success and ground redevelopments, whether a batting average of 35 in Division 2 of the County Championship is acceptable and why Glos continue to be rubbish.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Preview: Hampshire v Gloucestershire
We're only a week into the season and already tomorrow's county championship game with Hampshire has the feel of a real make or break game for the young Gloucestershire squad. The basis of last year's surprising success was the impressive start the team got off to. Early wins help build a confidence in the young guns that never seemed to leave them for the remainder of the season. Worryingly, this season's difficult start, with 3 away fixtures on the trot, could have the very opposite effect of draining any left-over self confidence.
Almost the entire Gloucestershire squad faces the 'difficult second season' syndrome as they make the transition from being unknown quantities last year, to facing up to teams that have a year's worth of footage with which to analyse all the niggling weaknesses, such as Richard Coughtrie's inability to hit the ball off the square! The good players have the ability to adapt and build on their games. The Hamish Marshall players don't.
Last week's drubbing by Essex doesn't bode well. But lets not get down on the boys before we even get to May. What do we want to see over the next 2 and a bit days against Hampshire? Well primarily just a bit of fight. When you're a young player we can forgive shiteness, but at least show a bit of fight. This was by far the most impressive aspect of last season and also by far the most disappointing aspect of the dismantling by Essex.
David Payne returns to the squad and, according to the skipper, is likely to start. It'll be interesting to see if the batting order gets rejigged. We like Richard Coughtrie, but watching such a limited player at the top of the order is more disappointing than yet another pleasant 30 odd from Chris Dent. The Jessop Tavern seems to remember Ian Cockbain also opened at some point last year, yet now seems to be hidden at number 6. Likewise Hamish O'Mish also opened last year before he forgot that the perhaps of the wooden thing in his hands was to hit the ball with it. Whilst we appreciate that O'Mish has only just returned, we see no reason why Cockbain be stuck down at 6. Put Cockbain up top, then move 'the better' Gidders up to 6, with Coughtrie at 7. Christ, this selection stuff is easy!
Hampshire have overseas feline Simon Katich available having passed through quarantine, and England's latest pie thrower Danny Briggs to choose from. They also have a ridiculous website address that has nothing to do with Hampshire cricket and everything to do with their sponsors. Irrelevant, we know. But hell if you were sat here at approaching midnight writing a match preview for second division county championship cricket, then you too would find amusement in such irrelevant triviality!
Almost the entire Gloucestershire squad faces the 'difficult second season' syndrome as they make the transition from being unknown quantities last year, to facing up to teams that have a year's worth of footage with which to analyse all the niggling weaknesses, such as Richard Coughtrie's inability to hit the ball off the square! The good players have the ability to adapt and build on their games. The Hamish Marshall players don't.
Last week's drubbing by Essex doesn't bode well. But lets not get down on the boys before we even get to May. What do we want to see over the next 2 and a bit days against Hampshire? Well primarily just a bit of fight. When you're a young player we can forgive shiteness, but at least show a bit of fight. This was by far the most impressive aspect of last season and also by far the most disappointing aspect of the dismantling by Essex.
David Payne returns to the squad and, according to the skipper, is likely to start. It'll be interesting to see if the batting order gets rejigged. We like Richard Coughtrie, but watching such a limited player at the top of the order is more disappointing than yet another pleasant 30 odd from Chris Dent. The Jessop Tavern seems to remember Ian Cockbain also opened at some point last year, yet now seems to be hidden at number 6. Likewise Hamish O'Mish also opened last year before he forgot that the perhaps of the wooden thing in his hands was to hit the ball with it. Whilst we appreciate that O'Mish has only just returned, we see no reason why Cockbain be stuck down at 6. Put Cockbain up top, then move 'the better' Gidders up to 6, with Coughtrie at 7. Christ, this selection stuff is easy!
Hampshire have overseas feline Simon Katich available having passed through quarantine, and England's latest pie thrower Danny Briggs to choose from. They also have a ridiculous website address that has nothing to do with Hampshire cricket and everything to do with their sponsors. Irrelevant, we know. But hell if you were sat here at approaching midnight writing a match preview for second division county championship cricket, then you too would find amusement in such irrelevant triviality!
Wanted: Promising, young New Zealander
Last week the club website announced the return of Kane Williamson is to return to the Nevil road gym staff....and, we presume, the Gloucestershire middle order. Whilst 800 odd runs from a test class batsman in division 2 was hardly a great return last year, the guy clearly has talent and his youth fits nicely with the rest of the team. We'd rather see a young international star than some journeyman Aussie of Saffer if nothing else.
What we failed to pick up on was the fact that he will clear off half way through to season to enjoy some Caribbean sun with New Zealand. But fear ye not for King John has had a word with his old contacts and young Kane will be replaced by and as yet unnamed future kiwi superstar...who will be decided on by the New Zealand cricket board. Presumably they are sat around a table as we speak, scratching their heads as to where they will find such a person......
What we failed to pick up on was the fact that he will clear off half way through to season to enjoy some Caribbean sun with New Zealand. But fear ye not for King John has had a word with his old contacts and young Kane will be replaced by and as yet unnamed future kiwi superstar...who will be decided on by the New Zealand cricket board. Presumably they are sat around a table as we speak, scratching their heads as to where they will find such a person......
Sunday, 8 April 2012
The start of a long season of toil?
Essex 364 (Godleman 130) beat Gloucestershire 180 and 146 (Napier 5-58) by an innings and 38 runs
An embarrassing defeat inside seven sessions means that Gloucestershire have started the 2012 campaign with a whimper. The Jessop Tavern View has a horrible feeling that this is a an opening sentence we're going to be writing with some frequency this season.
To be honest, there's not much you can say about such a comprehensive defeat. You can quibble about selection and moan about poor individual performances, but the team as a whole must shoulder the blame for what appeared a pretty insipid performance. You would think the boys would be up for the opening game of the season, but it was hard to tell from the way we batted, with the combined innings lasting less than 105 overs in total.
Day 1: Essex 364 all out
Gloucestershire's bowlers toiled valiantly on the first day of the opening championship game of the season, surviving a Billy Godleman hundred to eventually bowl Essex out for 364. From the brief highlights below, the main thing we noticed is that the Glos seamers, especially James Fuller, appear rather keen on testing out the middle of the pitch. This seems a strange policy given that it's the start of April. Adam Wheater certainly enjoyed the short stuff, as his 56 from just 42 balls proved. Godleman scored a good 130, which proved the value of seeing off the new ball and sticking around, before taking advantage of the older ball and tiring bowlers.
Day 2: Gloucestershire 180 and 55 for 5 trail Essex 364 by 129 runs
Not good. Loose shots, no individual score over 50 and a general sense of doom pervades after a woeful effort with the bat.
Day 3: Essex 364 (Godleman 130) beat Gloucestershire 180 and 146 (Napier 5-58) by an innings and 38 run
Enough said. At least Will Gidman and Ian Cockbain showed some stomach for the fight. But let's face it, the damage was already done and Graham Napier was allowed to take only the 6th five wicket haul of his career.
An embarrassing defeat inside seven sessions means that Gloucestershire have started the 2012 campaign with a whimper. The Jessop Tavern View has a horrible feeling that this is a an opening sentence we're going to be writing with some frequency this season.
To be honest, there's not much you can say about such a comprehensive defeat. You can quibble about selection and moan about poor individual performances, but the team as a whole must shoulder the blame for what appeared a pretty insipid performance. You would think the boys would be up for the opening game of the season, but it was hard to tell from the way we batted, with the combined innings lasting less than 105 overs in total.
Day 1: Essex 364 all out
Gloucestershire's bowlers toiled valiantly on the first day of the opening championship game of the season, surviving a Billy Godleman hundred to eventually bowl Essex out for 364. From the brief highlights below, the main thing we noticed is that the Glos seamers, especially James Fuller, appear rather keen on testing out the middle of the pitch. This seems a strange policy given that it's the start of April. Adam Wheater certainly enjoyed the short stuff, as his 56 from just 42 balls proved. Godleman scored a good 130, which proved the value of seeing off the new ball and sticking around, before taking advantage of the older ball and tiring bowlers.
Day 2: Gloucestershire 180 and 55 for 5 trail Essex 364 by 129 runs
Not good. Loose shots, no individual score over 50 and a general sense of doom pervades after a woeful effort with the bat.
Day 3: Essex 364 (Godleman 130) beat Gloucestershire 180 and 146 (Napier 5-58) by an innings and 38 run
Enough said. At least Will Gidman and Ian Cockbain showed some stomach for the fight. But let's face it, the damage was already done and Graham Napier was allowed to take only the 6th five wicket haul of his career.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Glos season preview 2012. Disclaimer: we know nothing
The Jessop Tavern View has this week been pondering what to put in this season's preview. Given that the county has lost several players from last year's 4th-placed squad and the only replacement of note has been perennial 2nd XI championship 'star' Dan Housego, we don't really have that much to say. Neither do the media by the looks of it, as so far we have only rated a paragraph or so in both the Guardian and Telegraph season previews.
County cricket has not been at the forefront of our minds recently, at least until we spotted Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown on our run home from work yesterday. For those of you wondering what county players get up to in pre-season, we can exclusively reveal that he was carrying two takeaway pizzas from Pizza Express and a can of Coke! Presumably a Chris Adams-approved pre-match meal.
Anyway, on to matters at Nevil Road. Can fans of the Shire harbour any hope of promotion this year or are we doomed to yet another season of toil near the base of Division Two? To be honest, we don't have a clue!
Batting:
The departure of 2011's leading run-scorer Chris Taylor in fairly shameful circumstances has left a potentially gaping hole in the Glos middle order. The addition of Dan Housego from Middlesex has left us with one big question, how do you pronounce his name? Is it How-sego or House-go? A tricky dilemma for those of us who have barely seen him play. Commenters please feel free to put us right. We will see if his reputation as 'the best player in the 2nd XI championship' can help replace the Child's 1137 runs.
No sooner have we written this then a glance at Cricinfo confirms the slightly more exciting news that we've re-signed Kane Williamson as overseas for the first half of the season! Let's hope Kane can continue his form from the recent test series against South Africa (where he scored a match-saving hundred in the third test) as opposed to last year's Glos form (831 runs at 36.13). His is still only 21 and according to King John has improved in all forms of the game for New Zealand in the past few months. Goodness knows we could use some improvement in limited overs cricket, so let's hope so.
In other batting news, we're hoping from another solid season from captain Alex Gidman, although 1000 championship runs has to be the bare minimum requirement these days. The same should be said of Chris Dent, who can no longer rely on the tag of 'promising youngster' as justification for not converting attractive 50s into 100s.
Worryingly Hamish Marshall has been named vice-captain. Let's hope he's not doing too much mentoring of Housego and the youngsters, otherwise we could be seeing a lot more quick-fire 30s and 40s from the batsmen, before departing LBW to an ugly swipe. Even more worryingly, Jon Batty is still on the books. Notwithstanding the stacks of catches he took in his first season when we had Gemaal Hussain, Kirb and Lewis on the books, surely his signing has been an unmitigated disaster? Here's hoping we're not relying on him for key runs this season.
All-rounders:
It has also been announced that we have signed the lesser-known Muchall brother, all-rounder Paul, from Durham after a pre-season trial. Here's hoping he can recreate the success of the last all-rounder with limited first class experience signed from Durham.
Speaking of Will Gidman, if he can produced 80% of last season's 1006 runs and 51 wickets then Glos fans will be more than happy. We hope you will be, anyway.
Bowling:
For the first time in around 15 years, the seam attack will not be led by Jon Lewis. His departure for the bowler's paradise at The Oval has left a lack of real experience among the promising seam attack. The emergence last year of the better Gidders, David Payne and Liam Norwell, plus the return to fitness of Ian Saxelby has left us with a raw but promising core of quick bowlers. We're also hoping to see more of tearaway Kiwi quick James Fuller, who tore through a team of Oxford students in a recent pre-season game at The Parks.
The two young spinners, Ed Young and Jack Taylor are both relatively inexperienced, having made their debuts in the last couple of years. Young spent the winter honing histan skills at the Darren Lehmann academy in Perth and hopefully has returned having picked Lehmann's brain on more than just how to put away an enormous volume of alcohol and still be able to play the next day. On a bright note, the departure of Vikram Banerjee has improved the overall quality of our spin options immeasurably.
Predictions:
Here at the Jessop Tavern View we are not noted for our optimism. With an inexperienced squad shorn of two stalwarts of proven quality in Taylor and Lewis we foresee a season of struggle. The best we can hope for is a repeat of 4th or 5th place and a good run in one of the interminable one day competitions. We fear that 6th or 7th may be more realistic though. Here's looking forward to how it goes.
County cricket has not been at the forefront of our minds recently, at least until we spotted Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown on our run home from work yesterday. For those of you wondering what county players get up to in pre-season, we can exclusively reveal that he was carrying two takeaway pizzas from Pizza Express and a can of Coke! Presumably a Chris Adams-approved pre-match meal.
Anyway, on to matters at Nevil Road. Can fans of the Shire harbour any hope of promotion this year or are we doomed to yet another season of toil near the base of Division Two? To be honest, we don't have a clue!
Batting:
The departure of 2011's leading run-scorer Chris Taylor in fairly shameful circumstances has left a potentially gaping hole in the Glos middle order. The addition of Dan Housego from Middlesex has left us with one big question, how do you pronounce his name? Is it How-sego or House-go? A tricky dilemma for those of us who have barely seen him play. Commenters please feel free to put us right. We will see if his reputation as 'the best player in the 2nd XI championship' can help replace the Child's 1137 runs.
No sooner have we written this then a glance at Cricinfo confirms the slightly more exciting news that we've re-signed Kane Williamson as overseas for the first half of the season! Let's hope Kane can continue his form from the recent test series against South Africa (where he scored a match-saving hundred in the third test) as opposed to last year's Glos form (831 runs at 36.13). His is still only 21 and according to King John has improved in all forms of the game for New Zealand in the past few months. Goodness knows we could use some improvement in limited overs cricket, so let's hope so.
In other batting news, we're hoping from another solid season from captain Alex Gidman, although 1000 championship runs has to be the bare minimum requirement these days. The same should be said of Chris Dent, who can no longer rely on the tag of 'promising youngster' as justification for not converting attractive 50s into 100s.
Worryingly Hamish Marshall has been named vice-captain. Let's hope he's not doing too much mentoring of Housego and the youngsters, otherwise we could be seeing a lot more quick-fire 30s and 40s from the batsmen, before departing LBW to an ugly swipe. Even more worryingly, Jon Batty is still on the books. Notwithstanding the stacks of catches he took in his first season when we had Gemaal Hussain, Kirb and Lewis on the books, surely his signing has been an unmitigated disaster? Here's hoping we're not relying on him for key runs this season.
All-rounders:
It has also been announced that we have signed the lesser-known Muchall brother, all-rounder Paul, from Durham after a pre-season trial. Here's hoping he can recreate the success of the last all-rounder with limited first class experience signed from Durham.
Speaking of Will Gidman, if he can produced 80% of last season's 1006 runs and 51 wickets then Glos fans will be more than happy. We hope you will be, anyway.
Bowling:
For the first time in around 15 years, the seam attack will not be led by Jon Lewis. His departure for the bowler's paradise at The Oval has left a lack of real experience among the promising seam attack. The emergence last year of the better Gidders, David Payne and Liam Norwell, plus the return to fitness of Ian Saxelby has left us with a raw but promising core of quick bowlers. We're also hoping to see more of tearaway Kiwi quick James Fuller, who tore through a team of Oxford students in a recent pre-season game at The Parks.
The two young spinners, Ed Young and Jack Taylor are both relatively inexperienced, having made their debuts in the last couple of years. Young spent the winter honing his
Predictions:
Here at the Jessop Tavern View we are not noted for our optimism. With an inexperienced squad shorn of two stalwarts of proven quality in Taylor and Lewis we foresee a season of struggle. The best we can hope for is a repeat of 4th or 5th place and a good run in one of the interminable one day competitions. We fear that 6th or 7th may be more realistic though. Here's looking forward to how it goes.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Elephants in the asylum
Bloody hell it's tough keeping up with Gloucestershire this off-season, with the clubs financial position seemingly more precarious than a pensioner under George Osborne's chancellorship. Last week the club announced that the city council have granted Glos a loan of £400,000 to cover running costs until the planning dispute is resolved (that will be the same city council that rejected our planning proposal). Everybody understand? No. Well, quite. We haven't got a bloody clue. Why do we need this loan? We presume that it's because all our money is tied up in the ground redevelopment, hence the mess made of poor Chris Taylor's contract. This really is a mess, and not exactly helped by the lack of information made available to us long distance fans. If we hadn't been granted this loan then what would have happened? Precarious indeed.
The clubs appeal against the original rejection of the ground redevelopment plan has seen the 7 storey block of flats reduced to a six storey block, but with the same number of properties. Since the original decision was a fairly close vote this small tweak might well do the trick. The club remain convinced that maintaining Nevil Road as an international ground provides the most viable means for the club to prosper, but we are not the only ones questioning this and wondering whether Nevil Road might become a white elephant. (We're not entirely sure about the white elephant analogy, but if you were a Cricinfo writer asked to pen something about Gloucestershire cricket you'd probably be pretty lazy too)
In more positive news, King John has signed a 3 year extension strapping him to the sinking ship until she goes completley under, or 2015. We're not sure which will come first. Whilst Bracewell might not have brought the success of his first spell with the club, he did a good job last year and in such turbulent times having an experienced man signed up for the long term can only bring some sort of stability.
In less positive news, Hamish O'Marshall has been appointed vice-captain. However, to put a positive spin on this, O'Mish is still taking in the last few rays of Kiwi sun before heading back to the Shire to mentor our young players about how all you have to do is have one good year and you'll pretty much have a contract for life.
With the new season now only a matter of weeks away, the Jessop Tavern View will head off to draw up some sort of season preview, but will leave the final positive words to King John,
“I hope everyone associated with Gloucestershire cricket will be prepared to show a degree of patience.
“We have lost a lot of experience from our playing ranks during the winter and must therefore reassess our goals.
“There has to be realism because the average age of the team had plummeted to around 22 and we have a comparatively small squad.
“It’s a time for getting behind these young guys and supporting them so that they have every chance to become the good cricketers they can be.”
We'll ignore the next part of the article that described Dan Housego as 'one of the best 4 batsmen in second XI cricket'. His 36 ball 4 against a bunch of Welsh students yesterday, in a game where even Jon Batty got to 50, probably proves King John's point.
The clubs appeal against the original rejection of the ground redevelopment plan has seen the 7 storey block of flats reduced to a six storey block, but with the same number of properties. Since the original decision was a fairly close vote this small tweak might well do the trick. The club remain convinced that maintaining Nevil Road as an international ground provides the most viable means for the club to prosper, but we are not the only ones questioning this and wondering whether Nevil Road might become a white elephant. (We're not entirely sure about the white elephant analogy, but if you were a Cricinfo writer asked to pen something about Gloucestershire cricket you'd probably be pretty lazy too)
In more positive news, King John has signed a 3 year extension strapping him to the sinking ship until she goes completley under, or 2015. We're not sure which will come first. Whilst Bracewell might not have brought the success of his first spell with the club, he did a good job last year and in such turbulent times having an experienced man signed up for the long term can only bring some sort of stability.
In less positive news, Hamish O'Marshall has been appointed vice-captain. However, to put a positive spin on this, O'Mish is still taking in the last few rays of Kiwi sun before heading back to the Shire to mentor our young players about how all you have to do is have one good year and you'll pretty much have a contract for life.
With the new season now only a matter of weeks away, the Jessop Tavern View will head off to draw up some sort of season preview, but will leave the final positive words to King John,
“I hope everyone associated with Gloucestershire cricket will be prepared to show a degree of patience.
“We have lost a lot of experience from our playing ranks during the winter and must therefore reassess our goals.
“There has to be realism because the average age of the team had plummeted to around 22 and we have a comparatively small squad.
“It’s a time for getting behind these young guys and supporting them so that they have every chance to become the good cricketers they can be.”
We'll ignore the next part of the article that described Dan Housego as 'one of the best 4 batsmen in second XI cricket'. His 36 ball 4 against a bunch of Welsh students yesterday, in a game where even Jon Batty got to 50, probably proves King John's point.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Chris Taylor takes Glos to tribunal... County reply by signing Dan Housego
What is going on over at Nevil Road this off season? From the blunt rejection by Bristol Council of the Shire's ground redevelopment plans, to the news that Chris Taylor is taking the county to an employment tribunal after failing to agree a new contract, it seems that the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
We think it's bloody sad to see Taylor go after 12 years of service, particularly following his return to form with the bat last season. Surely Hamish Marshall is kissing his lucky four leaf clover after it turned out that his renegotiated deal wasn't dependant on the outcome of the planning application. You have to wonder why the club showed more loyalty to theKiwi Irishman, whose form has dipped every season since his debut in 2006 over a loyal servant, coming off a good season and who has managed to land himself a coaching role in the England Lions setup. We're sure Tom Richardson has his reasons. It would be good to hear whether he thinks he made the right decision if Taylor wins at the tribunal.
The one potential bright spot is the signing of Dan Housego from Middlesex. Now, I've just read that sentence again and I realised it sounds insane. On the face of it, he's not great, averaging 31 in 8 appearances in 2011 (some may say this is the perfect average for a Gloucestershire number three). However, he was the top run-scorer in 2nd XI cricket last year (we know) and at 23, he has time on his side. He also began his career with the Glos academy, so the signing is a homecoming of sorts. He's pencilled in to bat at number three and it will be interesting to see how he fills the role occupied by much-hyped gym instructor, Kane Williamson last year. Williamson was a disappointing acquisition in our eyes and his form with the bat flattered to deceive. Sure, he scored a couple of hundreds and looked great in doing so, but he also had numerous failures, which isn't good enough for a batsman of his calibre playing in Division 2, a place where Geoffrey Boycott's grandma and her stick of rhubarb would cash in every time.
In other news, readers of the official site (all three of you) will have enjoyed Ed Young's posts from the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Perth. Let's hope that the experiences gained while sunning himself in Oz while the rest of us freeze our arses off in the UK will stand him in good stead when the new season begins in April. I'm sure most of you are aware that we've re-signed Murali for T20 matches in 2012. For all the impact he had last year, The Jessop Tavern View wonders if Glos might have been better off saving their pennies. They may well need them now the ground redevelopments aren't going ahead.
We think it's bloody sad to see Taylor go after 12 years of service, particularly following his return to form with the bat last season. Surely Hamish Marshall is kissing his lucky four leaf clover after it turned out that his renegotiated deal wasn't dependant on the outcome of the planning application. You have to wonder why the club showed more loyalty to the
The one potential bright spot is the signing of Dan Housego from Middlesex. Now, I've just read that sentence again and I realised it sounds insane. On the face of it, he's not great, averaging 31 in 8 appearances in 2011 (some may say this is the perfect average for a Gloucestershire number three). However, he was the top run-scorer in 2nd XI cricket last year (we know) and at 23, he has time on his side. He also began his career with the Glos academy, so the signing is a homecoming of sorts. He's pencilled in to bat at number three and it will be interesting to see how he fills the role occupied by much-hyped gym instructor, Kane Williamson last year. Williamson was a disappointing acquisition in our eyes and his form with the bat flattered to deceive. Sure, he scored a couple of hundreds and looked great in doing so, but he also had numerous failures, which isn't good enough for a batsman of his calibre playing in Division 2, a place where Geoffrey Boycott's grandma and her stick of rhubarb would cash in every time.
In other news, readers of the official site (all three of you) will have enjoyed Ed Young's posts from the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Perth. Let's hope that the experiences gained while sunning himself in Oz while the rest of us freeze our arses off in the UK will stand him in good stead when the new season begins in April. I'm sure most of you are aware that we've re-signed Murali for T20 matches in 2012. For all the impact he had last year, The Jessop Tavern View wonders if Glos might have been better off saving their pennies. They may well need them now the ground redevelopments aren't going ahead.
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