A new hero of the Jessop Tavern steps into the light

Glos, 275 for 8 (Klinger, 134) beat Kent, 264 for 9 (Liddle, 5 for 36) by 11 runs.
Glos gave themselves a fighting chance of at least making it interesting for the fans over the final round of matches in the RLODC with a tense 11 run victory at home to Kent. It was a fairly improbable victory, and one that coach Richard Dawson admitted himself that he didn't know how it had happened.

The victory was all about one man. No, not that man. Michael Klinger scoring one day hundreds for Gloucestershire are exactly the same as Chris Dent scoring pretty little 30s. Not particularly worthy of comment. This victory was about a new hero. A dashing, exciting new prospect, tearing in with his left arm medium plodders. This victory was about a 33 year old man showing its never too late in the day to put in match winning performances when everyone has given up on you. This was a victory about Chris Liddle.

The mighty Liddle. Brought in from Sussex last year as a one day specialist. A man who disappeared. A player we didn't even realise was still on the books until he appeared on the team sheet at the start of the year. An unlikely hero if ever there was one. In fairness, Liddle has been our most consistent one day bowler in the competition. He has 12 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 13 and an economy rate of below 5. That places him second in the wicket taker's table. One behind Durham's James Weighell (yep, we've never heard of him either)

After Klinger's fine innings of 134 was squandered by Glos' inability to push on in the final overs, the game looked done as the impressive Daniel Bell-Drummond looked as if he was coasting to his third hundred of the competition. Kent were sitting pretty on 200 for 2 from 39 overs when Liddle began his second spell. Cometh the hour, cometh the 33 year old journeyman. Liddle removed both Bell-Drummond and Sam Northeast to give the Shire hope, and then proceeded to remove Stevens and Blake to turn a hopeless situation into one that even Glos couldn't find a way to lose.

Liddle's story at Glos is slightly clouded in mystery. We aren't entirely sure what the problems were last year, but maybe he is now finding his feet again. The Jessop Tavern queried at the start of the season whether Gloucestershire should have tried to draft in an experienced campaigner to provide a bit more depth to the bowling, and a bit of experience. We weren't really thinking that Chris Liddle was this man. In fairness he may be 33, but has only played 29 first class and 67 list A games. Maybe Richard Dawson is a canny assessor of talent. Or maybe there was no one else.

Glos now find themselves in mid table in their South Group, 3 points behind third place Sussex, but with a game in hand. Admittedly Hampshire are between Glos and qualification, having played the same number of games, but the Shire have a fighting chance as they prepare for a must-win game against table topping Somerset on Friday. The Royal London Cup has finally captured our imagination prior to a trip to Lords being on the table!

Kent v Gloucestershire - Match preview

Gloucestershire begin their 2017 championship campaign with an awkward away fixture against last seasons second placed team, Kent.

The difference between the two teams can probably be best reflected in the new names that appear in the two squads. Kent name Glos old boy Will Gidman, who returns after his loan spell in 2016, and Middlesex loanee James Harris amongst their bowlers. Gloucestershire on the other hand name 33 year old journeyman Chris Liddle and 20 year old Oliver Currill as their additional bowlers. Glos fans would be forgiven for sharing inquisitive looks at one another. Liddle was brought in as a one day specialist last year, only for him to disappear without a trace. Currill made his first class debut in the pre-season game against Durham Uni.

Gloucestershire will also be without their skipper, Gareth Roderick, who is ill. Colonel Mustard captains the team. Presuming that neither Liddle or Currill are favoured over and above Miles, Norwell, Payne and Taylor, this leaves the batting to pick itself. A top order of Dent, Bancroft, Tavare, Van Buuren, Cockbain with Mustard and Taylor at 7 and 8. Compare that to Kent who have Sam Northeast, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly and Glos definitely look the weaker team on paper.

Still, if the Shire have proved anything over the last few years it is that the sum of their parts frequently adds up to more than it should. We'd also take our seam attack on a nice April green top.

All that remains is to wish the boys luck for tomorrow and for the season ahead. We'll try to hold back the moaning until May. We promise. Benny's Twitter tirade last year hurt. We love you Benny.

No foot movement; gone! 6 cricketers to watch in 2013

We all know that even without our 'Jack' tinted glasses on that Alec Stewart was a complete tool as a player. It wasn't his fault that he got handed England's wicketkeeping gloves during the 1990's, but it was his fault that he ran between the wickets like a girl, twirled his bat like a tosser and had an infuriating tendency to flash pathetically outside off stump with no foot movement, nick the ball, and in the same continuous motion tuck his bat under his arm and trot off to the pavilion. We didn't like him one bit.

However, as a media man he has kind of grown on us. Stewart seems to have developed some bollocks  and a sense of humour and thus his recent pick of 6 kids to watch out for in 2013 sparked the Jessop Tavern View out of its debate over whether Gloucestershire were better than New Zealand's current test side. (Answer: quite possibly, yes)

Stewart's article can be read here.

The selection of Joe Root and Australia's James Pattinson are hardly a surprise, nor was that of Surrey's Stuart Meaker, even if he did look rubbish for England in his limited one day appearances.

The interesting three selections are the ones that round out Stewart's choices, all of whom come from that bubbling cauldron of future excellence, division 2 of the county championship. Stewart has selected Shiv Thakor of Leicestershire, Ben Foakes of Essex, and Daniel Bell-Drummond of Kent. All three of these guys are 19, which means very little has been seen of them and represents Stewart taking a total punt on them, which in fairness is the whole point of naming youngsters to watch. We have vague memories of Shiv Thakor scoring runs against us in the last game of the season, and certainly his average of 51 is by far the most impressive of the three.

What we are interested in is how close do any of the Gloucester youngsters get. Would Stewart's ghost written finely considered piece even have dwelt on people like Chris Dent, or Liam Norwell and Jack Taylor. We presume that the Will Gidmans, Ian Cockbains and Dan Housegos are a little bit too old to be fairly considered. The Jessop Tavern View doubts that dear old Alec did dwell on any of these names, and not only because he probably doesn't know that Gloucestershire still exist as a cricket club (somebody send him a brochure for a flat!) but because quite possibly these kids are really at the standard to be considered genuinely exciting prospects.

This is a thought that has lingered over the Jessop Tavern View for the past two seasons. Lets hope 2013 sees us put firmly in our place by the names aforementioned.