CB40: Lancashire beat Gloucestershire by 4 wickets.
The Jessop Tavern view probably won't be going to Lord's this year after Lancashire scraped a hard fought victory on monday night. On what was frankly a piss poor pitch that looked more like a slab of hard worn concrete Glos managed to set a competitive 184 primarily due to Ian Cockbain flogging 20 from the final over of the innings. However, such a total really required Gidders and the boys to take regular wickets in order to keep Lancashire on the back foot, and sadly a partnership of 82 for the fourth Lancashire wicket did the damage to Gloucestershire's CB40 campaign.
King John decided to roll the selectorial dice and came up with a batting heavy lineup that included seven batsmen, three bowlers and a Jon Batty. In fairness the pitch was crap and turned from the start and thus the seven batsmen also included part time spinners Rob Nicol and Chris Dent who both bowled a full complement of 8 rather tidy overs. However, neither took a wicket, which on a turning wicket proved to be the difference. Gloucestershire also weren't helped by an indifferent performance from Ed Young who really struggled to find either line or length whilst going for over 5 an over. Ed Young had a very solid t20 campaign by being able to fire his darts into the batsman's pads. However, it would appear that when he is asked to do more than this he really doesn't have the control at the moment. Time to give Jack Taylor ago we reckon.
It seemed strange that captain Gidders used only the minimum 5 bowlers and didn't decide to give either himself or Benny a bowl. Considering Ed Young's struggles, and the fact that Nicol and Dent looked about as threatening as the Jessop Tavern's own slow left armers, surely a case could have been made for the skipper wobbling down a few seamers on an uneven track. Ah, hindsight....
The defeat now leaves Glos third in the table on 11 points, a point behind both Lancashire and Middlesex, with the former still having two games in hand. With only two games left for Glos the odds are now steeped against them. The remaining fixtures are home against Lancashire and then away against Leicestershire. It will pretty much be a case of having to win both those games and then pray. Who wanted to go to a Lord's final in mid September anyway!
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.
Showing posts with label CB40. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CB40. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Friday, 27 July 2012
Glos challenge stutters on two fronts
A belated update on Glos' last two matches in the CB40 and LVCC, for those readers who weren't too demoralised by the T20 loss to Sussex this week.
Middlesex 218 for 0 (Rogers 122*, Malan 89*) beat Gloucestershire 214 for 9 (Roland-Jones 3-24) by 10 wickets
We always knew a score of 214 was under par on a flat Cheltenham pitch with famously short boundaries. We didn't realise quite how under par though, until a familiar ginger nemesis, Aussie opener Chris Rogers got started. Rogers began well and never stopped until he had struck an unbeaten 122 from 102 balls, to see Middlesex home with a whopping 9.3 overs remaining. Dawid 'typo' Malan accompanied him with a relatively sedate 89 not out from 81 and that was pretty much all she wrote. Middlesex have now overtaken Netherlands as group leaders and Glos slip to 4th. We thought that was pretty much the end of our chances of making the knockout stages, but having checked the fixture list, there are still a gruelling 4 group games left for Glos. We don't even finish playing them until August 27th! Surely this season's CB40 is the stupidest most ill-thought out one day competition, ever. The final isn't until September 15th. If every there was a guarantee of bad weather for a Lord's final, this is surely it.
Gloucestershire 229 and 209 for 8 (Gidman 62, Henderson 4-80) drew with Leicestershire 162 and 288 (Sarwan 93)
Let's be honest, this was a bit of a choke from the boys. Set 222 to win on Day 4, we looked well set at 176/4 with O'Mish and Housego at the crease. A trademark collapse then scuppered our chances and it was disappointing (but perhaps inevitable) to see the boys shut up shop with 8 wickets down and just 23 needed. A few lusty blows from Fuller would have done the trick, but we seemed shell-shocked from the collapse and looked like we feared losing to bottom of the league Leics. You could argue that we has already let them off the hook earlier in the day, when we let Sarwan and Boyce put on a crucial 83 for the sixth wicket before Boyce suffered a comedy run out following a mix up. A ninth wicket partnership of 48 saw the lead extend beyond 200 and this ultimately proved enough against a Glos side lacking an overseas player to help get us over the line during the chase. So, a shame not to get a Championship win at Cheltenham this year. Our next CC match v Glamorgan takes place at Swansea next week. Historically one of our bogey sides, it will be interesting if we can bounce back from recent disappointments, and a weekend of CB40 matches, to get a much-needed win.
Video highlights from Day 4:
Middlesex 218 for 0 (Rogers 122*, Malan 89*) beat Gloucestershire 214 for 9 (Roland-Jones 3-24) by 10 wickets
We always knew a score of 214 was under par on a flat Cheltenham pitch with famously short boundaries. We didn't realise quite how under par though, until a familiar ginger nemesis, Aussie opener Chris Rogers got started. Rogers began well and never stopped until he had struck an unbeaten 122 from 102 balls, to see Middlesex home with a whopping 9.3 overs remaining. Dawid 'typo' Malan accompanied him with a relatively sedate 89 not out from 81 and that was pretty much all she wrote. Middlesex have now overtaken Netherlands as group leaders and Glos slip to 4th. We thought that was pretty much the end of our chances of making the knockout stages, but having checked the fixture list, there are still a gruelling 4 group games left for Glos. We don't even finish playing them until August 27th! Surely this season's CB40 is the stupidest most ill-thought out one day competition, ever. The final isn't until September 15th. If every there was a guarantee of bad weather for a Lord's final, this is surely it.
Gloucestershire 229 and 209 for 8 (Gidman 62, Henderson 4-80) drew with Leicestershire 162 and 288 (Sarwan 93)
Let's be honest, this was a bit of a choke from the boys. Set 222 to win on Day 4, we looked well set at 176/4 with O'Mish and Housego at the crease. A trademark collapse then scuppered our chances and it was disappointing (but perhaps inevitable) to see the boys shut up shop with 8 wickets down and just 23 needed. A few lusty blows from Fuller would have done the trick, but we seemed shell-shocked from the collapse and looked like we feared losing to bottom of the league Leics. You could argue that we has already let them off the hook earlier in the day, when we let Sarwan and Boyce put on a crucial 83 for the sixth wicket before Boyce suffered a comedy run out following a mix up. A ninth wicket partnership of 48 saw the lead extend beyond 200 and this ultimately proved enough against a Glos side lacking an overseas player to help get us over the line during the chase. So, a shame not to get a Championship win at Cheltenham this year. Our next CC match v Glamorgan takes place at Swansea next week. Historically one of our bogey sides, it will be interesting if we can bounce back from recent disappointments, and a weekend of CB40 matches, to get a much-needed win.
Video highlights from Day 4:
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
What does second in the table really mean?
In county cricket there are several benchmarks to indicate how rubbish you are. Carl Greenidge taking wickets against you, would be one. Jackson Thompson scoring runs against you, would be another. The list is pretty much endless. Somewhere near the top of this list would be allowing Captain Gidman to take 3 for 20 from 8 overs in a CB40 game. Shame on you, Worcestershire.
Yesterday the captain rolled back the years to when he first emerged on the scene as a dashing batsman and handy medium pacer before injury and lethargy took its toll. Gidman got useful support from all the bowlers, and then, despite a little wobble, the batsmen fairly comfortably knocked off the 145 runs needed for victory.
This win takes Glos to the heady heights of second in the CB40 Group A, 2 points behind the Netherlands, but with two games in hand. For the life of us we don't actually know what this means as we haven't got the foggiest about what happens after the group stage concludes. But we presume that this is good.
Judging by the weather forecast, the boys will now get to put their feet up for the next 4 days in preparation for the t20 quarter final against Sussex next week.
*As we felt a little bit guilty about not bothering to look up the CB40 structure, here it is. Rubbish. The top team from each group, along with the best 2nd placed team progress to the semi finals. we can't even be bothered to moan about how completely stupid this format is. For some reason we thought that it had changed for this year. Fat chance. *
Yesterday the captain rolled back the years to when he first emerged on the scene as a dashing batsman and handy medium pacer before injury and lethargy took its toll. Gidman got useful support from all the bowlers, and then, despite a little wobble, the batsmen fairly comfortably knocked off the 145 runs needed for victory.
This win takes Glos to the heady heights of second in the CB40 Group A, 2 points behind the Netherlands, but with two games in hand. For the life of us we don't actually know what this means as we haven't got the foggiest about what happens after the group stage concludes. But we presume that this is good.
Judging by the weather forecast, the boys will now get to put their feet up for the next 4 days in preparation for the t20 quarter final against Sussex next week.
*As we felt a little bit guilty about not bothering to look up the CB40 structure, here it is. Rubbish. The top team from each group, along with the best 2nd placed team progress to the semi finals. we can't even be bothered to moan about how completely stupid this format is. For some reason we thought that it had changed for this year. Fat chance. *
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Why every county could use a Ravi Bopara
Essex 225 for 2 (Bopara 120*) beat Gloucestershire 224 for 5 (Williamson 77) by eight wickets
The Jessop Tavern View is quite envious of Essex. Not the fake tans, white stilettos and souped up Escorts, but the presence in their side of one Ravi Bopara. Let's get one thing straight, Bopara is a good player. He may not be quite at international class, but at county level he's top drawer. He's particularly good at limited overs cricket, scoring an unbeaten 201 from 138 balls back in 2008 against Leicestershire. That's Ali Brown territory. When you couple this talent with the fact that he's constantly champing at the bit to prove to the England selectors that he's worth a recall, you're left with a man who can dismantle county attacks with ease. Essex on really lose him for occasional Lions games, ODIs (if he's selected) and comedy injuries sustained while desperately trying to prove his worth to Andy Flower.
This is exactly what happened to Glos on Monday, as Bopara returned from 3 weeks out to strike an unbeaten 120 from 100 balls as Essex cruised to an 8 wicket victory with more than 3 overs to spare. Glos' total of 224 always looked a little light against a powerful Essex batting line-up, containing the likes of Bopara, Owais Shah, Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier, and this proved the case as a partnership of 185 between Ravi and Tom Westley won the game comfortably. The bowling attack predictably went around the park, with only Jack Taylor going for under 5 an over.
The problem for Glos started with a below par effort with the bat. Will Gidman, not exactly known as a dasher, opened the innings and departed for a 5 ball duck, then we struggled, only reaching the 100 from 27 overs. Luckily Kane Williamson and Ian Cockbain managed to up the temp and put on 85 in 11 overs, before the gym instructor was out for 77. Jack Taylor threw the bat to good effect in scoring 22 from 12 deliveries and Cockbain ended on 52 from 44 balls. Cockbain looks handy in one day cricket and is actually an opening bat by trade. Perhaps we could look to make more of him as the season progresses? With only 4 points from 4 completed matches so far, we are going to need to score more runs to give the boys something to defend, if we are to progress to the semi finals.
On a separate note, whatever happened to Kevin O'Brien? Is he still on the books? Surely his buccaneering style is tailor-made for such matches? Any updates would be more than the official site provide!
The Jessop Tavern View is quite envious of Essex. Not the fake tans, white stilettos and souped up Escorts, but the presence in their side of one Ravi Bopara. Let's get one thing straight, Bopara is a good player. He may not be quite at international class, but at county level he's top drawer. He's particularly good at limited overs cricket, scoring an unbeaten 201 from 138 balls back in 2008 against Leicestershire. That's Ali Brown territory. When you couple this talent with the fact that he's constantly champing at the bit to prove to the England selectors that he's worth a recall, you're left with a man who can dismantle county attacks with ease. Essex on really lose him for occasional Lions games, ODIs (if he's selected) and comedy injuries sustained while desperately trying to prove his worth to Andy Flower.
This is exactly what happened to Glos on Monday, as Bopara returned from 3 weeks out to strike an unbeaten 120 from 100 balls as Essex cruised to an 8 wicket victory with more than 3 overs to spare. Glos' total of 224 always looked a little light against a powerful Essex batting line-up, containing the likes of Bopara, Owais Shah, Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier, and this proved the case as a partnership of 185 between Ravi and Tom Westley won the game comfortably. The bowling attack predictably went around the park, with only Jack Taylor going for under 5 an over.
The problem for Glos started with a below par effort with the bat. Will Gidman, not exactly known as a dasher, opened the innings and departed for a 5 ball duck, then we struggled, only reaching the 100 from 27 overs. Luckily Kane Williamson and Ian Cockbain managed to up the temp and put on 85 in 11 overs, before the gym instructor was out for 77. Jack Taylor threw the bat to good effect in scoring 22 from 12 deliveries and Cockbain ended on 52 from 44 balls. Cockbain looks handy in one day cricket and is actually an opening bat by trade. Perhaps we could look to make more of him as the season progresses? With only 4 points from 4 completed matches so far, we are going to need to score more runs to give the boys something to defend, if we are to progress to the semi finals.
On a separate note, whatever happened to Kevin O'Brien? Is he still on the books? Surely his buccaneering style is tailor-made for such matches? Any updates would be more than the official site provide!
Monday, 7 May 2012
World's worst cricket competition up and running
Yes ladies and gents its that time of year again. Time to embark on yet another rollercoaster of emotions that is the CB40 competition. Oh yes. And if indeed the CB40 were a rollercoaster, it would be one of this shit kiddie dragon ones that applies the brakes every time it goes down a slope. Actually, the Jessop Tavern View would rather be stuck on a never ending kids rollercoaster than watch the CB40, and we have a notoriously weak stomach for rollercoasters.
Yet again the CB40 competition pioneers the 40 over game, a format of the game played nowhere else on the planet. A competition that the Morgan report described as "not working from either a financial, or cricketing perspective". A competition whose structure of only one team qualifying from groups of seven means that after the first weekends round of matches, teams can already be pretty much eliminated from the competition, yet still have 10 fixtures left to play.
Naturally, the Jessop Tavern View reserves the right to withdraw these comments should Glos reach the final.
So this Bank Holiday weekend has seen the boys lose a nailbiter to Holland and, this evening, comfortably beat a disinterested Middlesex side live on TV. Being as this second game marked the first time I have been able to watch the boys live, I continue to be impressed by the character of the team, if not quite the talent. To lose a final ball thriller against Holland at home, and then immediately to travel to London to play another game, Glos showed remarkable backbone to bounce back so impressively. After saying the same for nearly all of last season, as well as for the first month of this, the Jessop Tavern View may finally have to shake its pessimistic nature and accept that this Gloucestershire side no longer rolls over and dies.
Tonight saw impressive performances from Ed Young, our man Benny, and bugger us if Hamish O'Marshall didn't contribute for a second time in a week. Being as this is the first time we have seen Benny bat we are now wondering whether he always wanders across his stumps like he did tonight. A sort of Kim Barnett, but instead of starting a foot outside leg stump, Benny starts on about middle and leg. Anyway, his innings showed a real maturity, and some considerable common sense. Knowing when to hit the accelerator, or when to just keep the scoreboard ticking is clearly something he learnt at Hampshire. Apparently Benny is on a rolling, game by game contract. We say sign him up. The guy is from Bordeaux, so even if he goes a bit crap, he should know a good bottle of red, which is always a useful thing to bring to a dressing room.
According to the Sky pundits, Gloucestershire will be focusing on the one day games this season as we haven't a hope of doing anything in the championship (These are the same pundits who described O'Mish as the engine room of our batting!) Whilst we are not prepared to throw in the towel in the championship just yet, a nice run in a one day competition this year would make for a nice change from a never-ending series of dead rubbers in both the CB40 and T20.
Next up for the boys, however, is Yorkshire in the county championship on Wednesday.
Yet again the CB40 competition pioneers the 40 over game, a format of the game played nowhere else on the planet. A competition that the Morgan report described as "not working from either a financial, or cricketing perspective". A competition whose structure of only one team qualifying from groups of seven means that after the first weekends round of matches, teams can already be pretty much eliminated from the competition, yet still have 10 fixtures left to play.
Naturally, the Jessop Tavern View reserves the right to withdraw these comments should Glos reach the final.
So this Bank Holiday weekend has seen the boys lose a nailbiter to Holland and, this evening, comfortably beat a disinterested Middlesex side live on TV. Being as this second game marked the first time I have been able to watch the boys live, I continue to be impressed by the character of the team, if not quite the talent. To lose a final ball thriller against Holland at home, and then immediately to travel to London to play another game, Glos showed remarkable backbone to bounce back so impressively. After saying the same for nearly all of last season, as well as for the first month of this, the Jessop Tavern View may finally have to shake its pessimistic nature and accept that this Gloucestershire side no longer rolls over and dies.
Tonight saw impressive performances from Ed Young, our man Benny, and bugger us if Hamish O'Marshall didn't contribute for a second time in a week. Being as this is the first time we have seen Benny bat we are now wondering whether he always wanders across his stumps like he did tonight. A sort of Kim Barnett, but instead of starting a foot outside leg stump, Benny starts on about middle and leg. Anyway, his innings showed a real maturity, and some considerable common sense. Knowing when to hit the accelerator, or when to just keep the scoreboard ticking is clearly something he learnt at Hampshire. Apparently Benny is on a rolling, game by game contract. We say sign him up. The guy is from Bordeaux, so even if he goes a bit crap, he should know a good bottle of red, which is always a useful thing to bring to a dressing room.
According to the Sky pundits, Gloucestershire will be focusing on the one day games this season as we haven't a hope of doing anything in the championship (These are the same pundits who described O'Mish as the engine room of our batting!) Whilst we are not prepared to throw in the towel in the championship just yet, a nice run in a one day competition this year would make for a nice change from a never-ending series of dead rubbers in both the CB40 and T20.
Next up for the boys, however, is Yorkshire in the county championship on Wednesday.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Gloucester's youngsters shine again
CB40: Gloucestershire 196 - 6 beat Essex 195 (37.5 overs) by 4 wickets.
Who cares if our CB40 challenge has already been long buried. This was another opportunity for the second string Glos youngsters to show what they have got. And clearly they've got plenty. Perhaps even more remarkably, the Jessop Tavern View was actually at the ground to witness this one!
It seems a perfectly logical approach to use this competition to blood some of the other youngsters. We know that some people would disagree and say we should play our strongest team, but when you are developing a new team it is important to develop the squad by giving some of the fringe players a chance.
Today's bowling attack had an average age of 20. That is frankly ridiculous. Yet did they look out of their depth against an Essex team riding high at the top of group C of the CB40 and including former England stars Ravi the bowler and Peg Leg Shah? Not one bit. In fact, they blew Essex away. Quite how Essex were allowed to put on 80 for the tenth wicket is anyone's guess. We'll put it down to inexperience. Matt Taylor did a decent job opening up. Heck he did an excellent job considering a week ago he was a nobody. James Fuller looked genuinely quite quick as he hurried Essex's top order into rash shots on his way to figures of 4 for 33. Craig Miles bowled with excellent control for his 2 wickets. Ed Young bowled a bit of a mixture to be honest, but got away with it. Kevin O'Brien isn't a bowler. The only criticism we can level at these young bowlers is that they made the Jessop Tavern View feel bloody old.
The experienced trio in the batting then did their best to chuck it away, as both Taylor and Williamson fell cheaply, whilst captain marvel got himself out when looking good. So did Chris Dent. It was left to Ian Cockbain to play his second impressive CB40 innings of the festival and steady the ship alongside a surprisingly mature innings from Kevin the Butcher. Clearly there is not a lot of love for O'Brien amongst the Gloucester faithful, particularly the guys sat around me at the chapel end, but give credit to the man. He reigned himself in and ticked off the runs with Cockbain. Cockbain looked in great form, which means he will surely play in the championship match against Surrey starting tomorrow.
All in all it was a fantastic performance from a very inexperienced side playing infront of a packed College ground. It really does bode well for the future to think that the young bowlers on display today are actual the ones who can't get into the championship side at the moment.
The Jessop Tavern View is full of positive thoughts in preparation for the important match against Surrey tomorrow. Lets hope for back to back Championship victories to set up that promotion push.
Who cares if our CB40 challenge has already been long buried. This was another opportunity for the second string Glos youngsters to show what they have got. And clearly they've got plenty. Perhaps even more remarkably, the Jessop Tavern View was actually at the ground to witness this one!
It seems a perfectly logical approach to use this competition to blood some of the other youngsters. We know that some people would disagree and say we should play our strongest team, but when you are developing a new team it is important to develop the squad by giving some of the fringe players a chance.
Today's bowling attack had an average age of 20. That is frankly ridiculous. Yet did they look out of their depth against an Essex team riding high at the top of group C of the CB40 and including former England stars Ravi the bowler and Peg Leg Shah? Not one bit. In fact, they blew Essex away. Quite how Essex were allowed to put on 80 for the tenth wicket is anyone's guess. We'll put it down to inexperience. Matt Taylor did a decent job opening up. Heck he did an excellent job considering a week ago he was a nobody. James Fuller looked genuinely quite quick as he hurried Essex's top order into rash shots on his way to figures of 4 for 33. Craig Miles bowled with excellent control for his 2 wickets. Ed Young bowled a bit of a mixture to be honest, but got away with it. Kevin O'Brien isn't a bowler. The only criticism we can level at these young bowlers is that they made the Jessop Tavern View feel bloody old.
The experienced trio in the batting then did their best to chuck it away, as both Taylor and Williamson fell cheaply, whilst captain marvel got himself out when looking good. So did Chris Dent. It was left to Ian Cockbain to play his second impressive CB40 innings of the festival and steady the ship alongside a surprisingly mature innings from Kevin the Butcher. Clearly there is not a lot of love for O'Brien amongst the Gloucester faithful, particularly the guys sat around me at the chapel end, but give credit to the man. He reigned himself in and ticked off the runs with Cockbain. Cockbain looked in great form, which means he will surely play in the championship match against Surrey starting tomorrow.
All in all it was a fantastic performance from a very inexperienced side playing infront of a packed College ground. It really does bode well for the future to think that the young bowlers on display today are actual the ones who can't get into the championship side at the moment.
The Jessop Tavern View is full of positive thoughts in preparation for the important match against Surrey tomorrow. Lets hope for back to back Championship victories to set up that promotion push.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Even more positives as Glos complete solid victory over the pointless Unicorns
Gloucestershire 195 - 6 beat Unicorns 171 - 9 by 24 runs.
With the death of Osama Bin Laden, the Jessop Tavern View's usual source of match day information seems to have dried up, with no highlights on offer, nor even the usually stoic Glos la la la uttering a single word on today's victory. Is there a connection between the death of the world's most wanted man and a lack of Gloucestershire match reports? We'll keep you posted. It is, therefore, hard to really pass too much comment on today's performance. But a lack of hard evidence has never stopped us from forming opinions before, so why start now?
Gloucestershire made it two wins from two in a competition that is a complete waste of everybody's time (unless you win it). 40 overs. Only the group winners and a single second place team progress from 3 groups of 7 teams leading to hundreds of dead rubbers. Really, who the hell thinks up these competitions. A small child can see the flaws in it. Anyway, a win is a win.
David Payne looks a wicket taker. Always a good quality in a young bowler. His 3 for 6 at the start of the Unicorns innings effectively settled the contest.
Chris Taylor finally turned his early season good form into a hundred and he has responded well to the possibility of his place coming under threat.
Kane Williamson played an intelligent knock, something that hasn't been seen at Nevil Road since.....?! Coming in at a crunch time after early wickets had fallen he shared a century partnership with 'the kid' Taylor that made sure that Gloucestershire's score managed to get up to a total always likely to be too much against a weak Unicorns side.
Will Gidman continues to look like the better brother and could perhaps fulfill the allround talents that older brother never did.
Ed Young apparently bowled very tidily which will please our friends at Glos la la la who wish to see him or Jack Taylor given a chance ahead of Vikram Banerjee. Presumably both Young and Taylor will be given the one day games in order to prepare them for the toil of championship cricket. Personally we agree with Glos la la la. If you are going with youth, let's go all the way.
The most encouraging thing from this game is that intelligent, heads up cricket seems to have returned to Gloucestershire. After early wickets we seemed to have settled on a score around 200 and then made sure we got there. We then applied early pressure in the field and hey presto, another victory.
Sounds a bit like a formula we've seen before round these parts.
With the death of Osama Bin Laden, the Jessop Tavern View's usual source of match day information seems to have dried up, with no highlights on offer, nor even the usually stoic Glos la la la uttering a single word on today's victory. Is there a connection between the death of the world's most wanted man and a lack of Gloucestershire match reports? We'll keep you posted. It is, therefore, hard to really pass too much comment on today's performance. But a lack of hard evidence has never stopped us from forming opinions before, so why start now?
Gloucestershire made it two wins from two in a competition that is a complete waste of everybody's time (unless you win it). 40 overs. Only the group winners and a single second place team progress from 3 groups of 7 teams leading to hundreds of dead rubbers. Really, who the hell thinks up these competitions. A small child can see the flaws in it. Anyway, a win is a win.
David Payne looks a wicket taker. Always a good quality in a young bowler. His 3 for 6 at the start of the Unicorns innings effectively settled the contest.
Chris Taylor finally turned his early season good form into a hundred and he has responded well to the possibility of his place coming under threat.
Kane Williamson played an intelligent knock, something that hasn't been seen at Nevil Road since.....?! Coming in at a crunch time after early wickets had fallen he shared a century partnership with 'the kid' Taylor that made sure that Gloucestershire's score managed to get up to a total always likely to be too much against a weak Unicorns side.
Will Gidman continues to look like the better brother and could perhaps fulfill the allround talents that older brother never did.
Ed Young apparently bowled very tidily which will please our friends at Glos la la la who wish to see him or Jack Taylor given a chance ahead of Vikram Banerjee. Presumably both Young and Taylor will be given the one day games in order to prepare them for the toil of championship cricket. Personally we agree with Glos la la la. If you are going with youth, let's go all the way.
The most encouraging thing from this game is that intelligent, heads up cricket seems to have returned to Gloucestershire. After early wickets we seemed to have settled on a score around 200 and then made sure we got there. We then applied early pressure in the field and hey presto, another victory.
Sounds a bit like a formula we've seen before round these parts.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Preview: Gloucestershire v Unicorns
Right, the Unicorns. Who exactly are they? Only in county cricket can you find yourself playing against a team where you don't really know how they came into existence. They have no fixed ground. They have a bizarre squad of youngsters and journeymen. They were originally called the 'ECB Recreation XI'. What is the point in them existing?
Ok, I realise that their rationale is to be a 'blend of youth and experience', 'providing young players who aspire to play first class cricket a shop window'. Now try these names for size. Jackson Thompson, Mark Hardinges, Carl Greenidge. I presume all Gloucestershire fans are shuddering at the thought of exactly what knowledge and experience these names can pass on to any youngsters. Here's another terrifying thought. All the players in the Unicorns squad had to audition to play. Can you imagine how bad some of the other auditionees must have been? Crikey. If a team is suppose to be giving youth a chance then surely it should be full of youngsters who haven't quite made it to first class level yet. Not a team full of people who got to first class level and clearly weren't good enough. It's hardly as if county cricket needs another team full of journeymen.
Even better, on the Unicorns website home page their title reads, 'Unicorns looking for players', with a link to an application form. I kid you not. I repeat. Only in county cricket.
Sadly the head-banded-one (son of Gordon) will not be playing for the Unicorns tomorrow, or the rest of the season. He quit the squad when he realised he wasn't going to get paid. Well Carl, good luck finding someone to pay you.
Tomorrow will also see Kane Williamson finally make his debut. Rumour has it that he will bat at 4 or 5 tomorrow and that the gym members were particularly impressed by a Pilates class he ran this afternoon.
So good luck to Kane from the Jessop Tavern View, and here is hoping that we are not sat here tomorrow eating our words via a violent Jackson Thompson assault.
Ok, I realise that their rationale is to be a 'blend of youth and experience', 'providing young players who aspire to play first class cricket a shop window'. Now try these names for size. Jackson Thompson, Mark Hardinges, Carl Greenidge. I presume all Gloucestershire fans are shuddering at the thought of exactly what knowledge and experience these names can pass on to any youngsters. Here's another terrifying thought. All the players in the Unicorns squad had to audition to play. Can you imagine how bad some of the other auditionees must have been? Crikey. If a team is suppose to be giving youth a chance then surely it should be full of youngsters who haven't quite made it to first class level yet. Not a team full of people who got to first class level and clearly weren't good enough. It's hardly as if county cricket needs another team full of journeymen.
Even better, on the Unicorns website home page their title reads, 'Unicorns looking for players', with a link to an application form. I kid you not. I repeat. Only in county cricket.
Sadly the head-banded-one (son of Gordon) will not be playing for the Unicorns tomorrow, or the rest of the season. He quit the squad when he realised he wasn't going to get paid. Well Carl, good luck finding someone to pay you.
Tomorrow will also see Kane Williamson finally make his debut. Rumour has it that he will bat at 4 or 5 tomorrow and that the gym members were particularly impressed by a Pilates class he ran this afternoon.
So good luck to Kane from the Jessop Tavern View, and here is hoping that we are not sat here tomorrow eating our words via a violent Jackson Thompson assault.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Glos v Glamorgan: CB40 match preview
Gloucestershire open their CB40 campaign this afternoon with a home tie against Glamorgan in Bristol. The official site reveals that we were unlucky not to make the semi finals last year, having won 9 out of our 12 group games. There are 12 group games in this competition? Bloody hell, if it goes wrong early, that can make for some meaningless fixtures later in the group stage. We looked at the fixture list and crazily enough, the group stage of this competition doesn't end until August 24th! Could this competition be any more drawn out?
Thanks to the Glamorgan CCC website, we have discovered the remarkable fact that Glamorgan last beat us at Bristol in May 2004. They have however won 7 of 14 one dayers played at Bristol in this competition, so this match looks hard to call, although Glamorgan's one day form in recent seasons has been pretty woeful.
In overseas news, the Kane Williamson saga/fiasco continues. The club had booked Kane a flight to the UK last Friday, but he was unable to take it because his passport (apparently containing his new visa- which has at least been approved) had not returned in time from the processing centre in the Philippines. Now, we don't mean to cast aspersions on the organisational abilities of the club, but having had recent experience with the UK visa processing procedures, you would have imagined they would have planned things better. Williamson finished his World Cup involvement at the start of April, yet he is still not here. I sympathise with the problems faced by New Zealand Cricket following the Christchurch earthquake, but seriously, this smacks of piss poor planning by all parties.
On to team news then. Hamish Marshall managed to overcome his crippling jetlag/hangover and is available for selection, having helped himself to a big hundred against Cardiff MCCU last week. He will replace Chris Dent, who remains out injured. Ed Young has taken advantage of the uni Easter break to rejoin the squad and bowling coach/former England off spinner Richard Dawson is also in the 13 for the match. The other seamers available are speed merchant James Fuller, Lewis, David Payne and Liam Norwell. It will be interesting to see if our inexperienced seamers are able to keep it tight in the limited overs game, having apparently bowled quite a few loose deliveries in the two Championship games so far.
Glamorgan team news is limited to the squad published on the Glamorgan site, which reveals that former Glos 'all-rounder' David Brown is in the 13. Let's hope his form continues in the Gloucestershire vein if he plays. Jim Allenby misses out, having reported soreness after minor surgery in the off season.
C'mon the boys!
Thanks to the Glamorgan CCC website, we have discovered the remarkable fact that Glamorgan last beat us at Bristol in May 2004. They have however won 7 of 14 one dayers played at Bristol in this competition, so this match looks hard to call, although Glamorgan's one day form in recent seasons has been pretty woeful.
In overseas news, the Kane Williamson saga/fiasco continues. The club had booked Kane a flight to the UK last Friday, but he was unable to take it because his passport (apparently containing his new visa- which has at least been approved) had not returned in time from the processing centre in the Philippines. Now, we don't mean to cast aspersions on the organisational abilities of the club, but having had recent experience with the UK visa processing procedures, you would have imagined they would have planned things better. Williamson finished his World Cup involvement at the start of April, yet he is still not here. I sympathise with the problems faced by New Zealand Cricket following the Christchurch earthquake, but seriously, this smacks of piss poor planning by all parties.
On to team news then. Hamish Marshall managed to overcome his crippling jetlag/hangover and is available for selection, having helped himself to a big hundred against Cardiff MCCU last week. He will replace Chris Dent, who remains out injured. Ed Young has taken advantage of the uni Easter break to rejoin the squad and bowling coach/former England off spinner Richard Dawson is also in the 13 for the match. The other seamers available are speed merchant James Fuller, Lewis, David Payne and Liam Norwell. It will be interesting to see if our inexperienced seamers are able to keep it tight in the limited overs game, having apparently bowled quite a few loose deliveries in the two Championship games so far.
Glamorgan team news is limited to the squad published on the Glamorgan site, which reveals that former Glos 'all-rounder' David Brown is in the 13. Let's hope his form continues in the Gloucestershire vein if he plays. Jim Allenby misses out, having reported soreness after minor surgery in the off season.
C'mon the boys!
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