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. *

Dent century and Gidman 5-for put Glos well on top

Day 2 and 3: Glos 314 and 129-5 v Hampshire 199

After Day 1 the Jessop Tavern View called for fight, particularly in light of the opening week's debacle, and we'll be damned if we haven't got exactly what we asked for! We are seriously considering offering forward our services as motivational online speakers for the boys....somehow we don't see the combination of King John, Captain Gidders and vice-skipper O'Mish being "we will fight them on the beaches sort of guys". Maybe we are wrong. Maybe O'Mish puts so much energy into encouraging the boys to fight that he has nothing left when he gets to the middle. Actually, maybe not.

So what has happened so far? Well, Chris Dent went on to complete his first proper first class hundred. Over the years we have learnt never to get over-excited about any promising Gloucestershire players (rumour has it that the Jessop Tavern View thought Carl 'Son of Gordon' Greenidge looked handy when first spotted.....we also thought Mark Hardinges looked fat and useless to counteract this) but Chris Dent's innings showed all the signs of a real maturing of his talents. He clearly has all the shots, but for the first time we saw him really apply himself, and actually convert a start into a potentially match winning hundred.

Will Gidman continues to be given the new ball, which we are yet to be entirely convinced about, but 5 for 48 is a good argument against us. David Payne took his first wicket of the match and Ian Saxelby took a handy 3-46 to leave Hampshire trailing by 115 on first innings. An early collapse left the boys in trouble at 71-5, before the great man contributed a valuable 25 not out to an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 58 with Ian Cockbain, who ended the day unbeaten on 27.

Video highlights of the match from the Hampshire site below:

http://www.ageasbowl.com/royalstv/highlights/

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.