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 Natwest t20 blast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natwest t20 blast. Show all posts
T20 Blast: Glos beat Essex by 9 wickets.
Essex will beat a hasty retreat from Cheltenham after a weekend of being mauled by a young and hungry Gloucestershire team playing some fantastic cricket.
Batting first Glos got away to a good start with O'Mish delivering 43 runs from 28 balls to set a platform for Maxy and Cockbain to go to work. The impressive thing about these two has not only been the consistency, but the composure and ease they have with their own games. We have witnessed this throughout Maxy's time with the Shire. He has absolutely confidence in his own game to just ease up through the gears and to press the accelerate when needed, and not before.
This influence has very clearly rubbed off on Ian Cockbain. Cockbain is a player who until this season clearly saw himself as a bit of a biffer. A guy who hit a long ball. This season he has been the complete number 3, playing a variety of different styles of innings depending on what the game called for. His evolution has been extremely impressive and the Jessop Tavern is delighted for a player they have long been fans of.
Posting their highest total of the season, 212 for 1, Gloucestershire's bowlers then squeezed the life out of the Essex reply, taking important wickets at the right time, and never allowing the Essex run chase to even get started. Matt Taylor continued his fine form with 2 for 25. Benny the bowler continued his economic wicket taking with 3 for 27, and that was about that.
Gloucestershire are now 4 points top of the group with only one game remaining and are assured of a home quarter final. The Jessop Tavern is already looking into travel to Edgbaston.
Three T20 fixtures since our last post saw Glos claim two wins to briefly go top of the South Group, before a close loss against Kent left the 'shire second with a crucial fixture against the Welsh county to come on Sunday.
July 1st Gloucestershire 168 for 3 (Klinger 101, Overton 3-33) beat Somerset 167 for 7 (Jayawardene 41, Taylor 3-16) by seven wickets Scorecard
Michael Klinger reinforced his credentials as arguably the best three format batsman in county cricket with his 6th career T20 hundred (& 5th for the shire) as Glos completed the 'cider double' over local rivals Somerset.
Maxy's 101 from 71 balls was a typically chanceless innings and helped Glos overhaul Somerset's 167 with ease. Glos bowled really well to restrict a Gayle-less side to an underpar score for the Taunton road, with Benny Howell again impressing with 1-23 from his spell.
Klinger struck 4 sixes and 10 fours and his partnership of 107 with Ian Cockbain was enough to break the back of the chase after O'Mish fell cheaply at the start. A convincing win for the boys against a Somerset side who have been disappointing in T20 this season.
Video highlights:
July 6th Gloucestershire 152 for 4 (Cockbain 73*, Dent 39) beat Surrey 151 for 9 (Sibley 32, Finch 31, Tye 3-16) by six wickets Scorecard
Glos again triumphed comfortably in a game weirdly lacking a Cricinfo write-up, despite being televised live on Sky. This was the 'Shire's 5th T20 win in a row and left them temporarily top of the South group ahead of Glamorgan.
Another fine bowling and fielding effort restricted a dangerous Surrey batting lineup to 151, with Tye taking a Glos-best 3-16 from 4 overs. It was noticeable that Glos managed to prevent the Surrey batsmen from hitting boundaries after the departures of Aaron Finch, Chris Morris and Sibley and it was only a later flourish from the Curran brothers which saw Surrey even pass 150.
The target proved no problem for an in-form Glos batting side, with Ian Cockbain looking especially good as he hit an unbeaten 73 from number three. O'Mish and Klinger (to a great catch by Finch) departed relatively cheaply after getting starts, but the Liverpudlian hit the ball well throughout. His stand of 78 with Chris Dent was sufficient to see us most of the way to another deserved victory.
Video highlights:
Kent 148 for 7 (Denly 51, Howell 3-29) beat Gloucestershire 145 for 8 (Klinger 42, Howell 37) by three runs Scorecard
A disappointing result in a tight game with Kent brought the boys back to earth after consecutive wins. This loss sets up a decisive game with Glamorgan in Cardiff on Sunday, with the winner securing a quarter final place and likely going a long way to winning the South Group with only 2 fixtures remaining after the Glamorgan game.
Kent looked to have been restricted to a moderate total, with only Joe Denly with 51 really getting to grips with a parsimonious Glos bowling attack. However, Glos lost wickets with regularity while chasing and only Klinger and Howell really managed any sense of permanence in scoring 42 and 37 respectively. The middle order played some poor shots to get themselves out (Gourmet-Burger in particular slogging brainlessly with Howell well set) and Howell and the tail were left a stiff task at the end.
Benny will doubtless be annoyed at failing to get us over the line in the final over- he was run out attempting to sneak two (after being caught) off a Mitchell Claydon no ball which saw him removed from the attack. This left Griffiths to bowl a free hit dot ball and then complete the over, leaving Kent the winners by just 3 runs. Frustrating not to win after another excellent job in the field, but qualification still remains in our hands.
French cricketers. There aren't too many of them. That technique of standing square on to the bowler, feet glued together using a tennis racket to flick your little sister's underarm deliveries has never been an ideal breeding ground for high class county cricketers. Benny Howell is the exception.
In the T20 Blast Benny currently sits second in the bowling tables for wickets taken, with only Worcestershire's Joe Leach ahead of him. Benny has 12 wickets with an economy of 7 runs an over. That is really good. Leach in comparison has 14 wickets that cost 9 runs an over. Dale Steyn has 9 wickets that cost 6.5 runs an over. Michael Hogan has the same. Admittedly these last two have played a couple of games less than Benny.
Nor is this a fluke. In 2013 he took 10 wickets. In 2014, 15. In 2015 he struck out 17 batsmen. That is a year on year increase that has reflected his increasing importance to Gloucestershire's one day side. In none of those seasons has he ever gone for more than 7.25 runs an over. He has also scored some useful runs in the lower order.
In last season's 50 Royal London one day cup Benny took 15 wickets at a strike rate of a wicket every 34 balls and an economy rate of just below 5 runs an over.
From being very much a bits-and-pieces cricketer, Benny has become a vital cog in the Gloucestershire attack and a man who has become trusted to always perform at the crucial point. He has managed this whilst trundling in off about 10 paces and rolling down deliveries at a very innocuous pace. A shrewd cricketing brain combined with a fine repertoire of slower balls and cutters has not only saved him from being savaged, but has proved that all types of bowlers can prosper in the T20 format.
Keep up the good work Benny, and feel free to tweet this post!!
T20 Blast: Glos beat Middlesex by 4 wickets Glos beat Kent by 7 wickets
Following quickly of the back of their T20 style championship victory over Worcestershire, Glos moved seamless back into the T20 groove with two fine victories in the South East. Given the structure of the competition, and after an opening match defeat against Sussex, Glos knew they had little room for too much error in their two back-to-back games against Middlesex and Kent.
First up was Middlesex and Brendan McCullum, in the gloom of a Thursday night. McCullum came and went with only one titanic six to satisfy those who had turned up to watch the former Kiwi superstar. England one day skipper Eoin Morgan was also soon on his way as Glos held Middlesex in check by taking early wickets. It was left to Middlesex's real Irishman, Paul Stirling, and Mr 'Test average of 95' Adam Voges to guide Middlesex up to a semi-competitive score of 159 for 9 from their 20 overs. All Gloucestershire bowlers played their part, with Benny the bowler continuing his excellent one day bowling form from last year by taking 2 for 23 in 4 overs. Benny may enjoy taking to Twitter to abuse the Jessop Tavern, but we like Benny and his 60mph dibbly dobblers.
Despite losing Maxy Klinger for a second ball duck, Glos found middle order contributions from Cockbain, Dent and Benny the batsman to leave Gareth Roderick to toy with Middlesex in the final over with a couple of dots before blazing a six to win the game.
Following a night in a motorway Travelodge the boys were off to Kent the following day in more miserable cold weather and fading light.
Kent batted first and never really got into their innings at all. The quality of Andrew Tye shone through as Glos' latest Aussie T20 import took an impressive 3 for 18 from his 4 overs. Benny the bowler again wobbled those balls down for only 6 an over and Tom Smith did likewise to help restrict Kent, whose big hitters Blake, Stevens and Cowdrey failed to fire, as they managed only 11 fours and no sixes in their 20 overs.
The Glos reply was anchored by the veteran O'Mish, who used all his experience to make 56 from just 42 balls, the only fifty of the game and a great effort in gloomy conditions with the ball not coming on. The game did again go to the final over, but Chris Dent hit the second ball for six to seal a second victory in a row.
So a good start and now on to a different format again as the the Royal London Cup kicks off with back to back games on Sunday versus Somerset and then Glamorgan on Monday.
We'll keep it brief, with the exception of the Surrey match below, as Glos didn't ultimately qualify after a bad spell in the middle games cost us valuable ground on the leaders.
However, both halves of the The Jessop Tavern View were present at the Oval for one of our rare live county watching outings back on July 1st, and that game gets its own post.
July 3rd Gloucestershire 178 for 2 (Marshall 93, Klinger 58) beat Somerset 174 for 6 (Ronchi 49) by eight wickets Scorecard
A fine 93 from O'Mish saw the 'shire to a comfortable win in the cider derby. The only disappointment was that the Irishman failed to complete his ton. Klinger update: 58 more = 578 from 9 innings.
Video highlights below
July 12th Kent 170 for 7 (Blake 59*, Northeast 49, Miles 3-27) beat Gloucestershire 166 for 7 (Klinger 75, Claydon 3-27) by three wickets Scorecard
First Cheltenham T20. Alex Blake hits violent 59* as group leaders Kent (rare to hear those words in association with them) qualify after a three wicket win. Glos struggling to make the quarters at this point, Klinger update: 75 more = 653 from 10 innings @ 108.
Video highlights below
July 14th
Gloucestershire 117 for 5 (Jones 40) beat Hampshire 116 (Miles 3-25) by five wickets Scorecard
Second Cheltenham T20. GO Jones rolls back the years on his 39th birthday, after announcing his retirement at the end of the season a few days prior. Glos collapse to 44-4 chasing just 116 after Miles 3-fer, but the Welshman steadies the ship with 40 from 30 balls. QF hopes depends on favourable results in final group game v Glamorgan. Klinger update: Horrible failure as bowled for a duck by Jackson 'Dickie' Bird. 653 from 11.
Post-match video with Benny the Frenchman
July 24th
Gloucestershire 51 for 2 (Dent 28*) beat Glamorgan 45 for 1 by eight wickets Scorecard
Comedy 5 over thrash after epic rain sees easy 'shire win. Essex qualify for quarters at Glamorgan's expense. Glos bowl incredibly well, despite 17 run opening over. A Fuller maiden (!) and Howell 1 run over restrict them to 45. Dent shows rare T20 promise, finishing with a six in an unbeaten 28 in Glos chase of 46.
Shire fail to qualify as most of other fixtures around country rained off. Debate around whether Friday night T20 works continues to rage online. Klinger update: caught for 1, 654 from 12 innings @81, competition's leading run scorer in group stages.
Surrey 155 for 6 (Sangakkara 34, Roy 33,) beat Gloucestershire 154 for 5 (Handscomb 39, Jones 37*, Dunn 2-15) by 4 wickets Scorecard
Being a Gloucestershire supporter is rarely dull, although it is frequently exasperating. See the forthcoming Northants write up from Cheltenham for more on this theme. Last week however was a T20 week, and we were both able to get to the Oval to see the game with some friends.
In scorching 36 degree weather described as 'the hottest day in London for a decade', we saw a curate's egg of of match. The pitch was slow, sticky and took turn in abundance, which belied the Oval's batsmen-friendly reputation. Glos lost star man Klinger early to Matt Dunn, then struggled to get going throughout the 20 overs, despite some steady partnerships and the loss of just 5 wickets.
A couple of typical 'shire moments occurred when both Ian Cockbain and O' Mish perished the ball after striking sixes. Cockbain's was the more brainless shot, as he dragged on a slog, having just dispatched Dunn over long on the previous delivery. Marshall was caught behind off a gripping and turning Ansari delivery, an excellent response to having been pulled over deep midwicket.
The only real partnership of note came when Peter Handscomb put on 62 with Geraint Jones. Both men struggled to get the ball away to the boundary, but they ran hard and helped set a reasonable target above 150.
Things didn't start well for the boys though, as Jason Roy and Tom Curran opened up with a brisk 35 partnership which saw Roy strike several attractive boundaries through his favourite off side, plus a big six. However, once Roy departed stumped (off surprise T20 wicket-taking threat Tom Smith) for 35, wickets fell at regular intervals and Surrey also found boundaries hard to come by.
Sangakkara stuck around to anchor the innings and a good partnership of 53 with Ben Foakes was the second highest of the match. However, both Glos spinners bowled with excellent control and the run rate climbed to 10 an over from the last 4, despite some unnecessary extras from both Gourmet-Burger and Benny Howell in the middle overs. When Smith dismissed Sangakkara for 34, Surrey were in a bit of trouble and Surrey began the last over still needing 9 to win.
Craig Miles began with a wide, then dismissed Zafar Ansari via an excellent Liam Norwell catch at fine leg. The next three deliveries were all tight and things were looking good as Azhar failed to connect with the penultimate ball, leaving an improbable six needed from the final ball. The consensus among us sat in the crowd was that a yorker or wider full length ball was the way to go, especially with Azhar having missed an almighty swish at the penultimate (short) delivery from Miles. After much discussion with Klinger and the brains trust, the youngster ran in and bowled another short one. Sadly the wily 40 year old (twice Miles' age!) was ready and waiting. He swung the ball away over the leg side, over the head of Benny Howell and over the boundary for a improbable match-winning six, sending the home crowd wild. And us home with our heads in our hands.
Somerset 166 for 5 (Myburgh 63, Smith 2-23) beat Gloucestershire 165 for 8 (Klinger 44) by five wickets Scorecard
It says something about Gloucestershire's marketing efforts, that when this half of the Jessop Tavern View called his Dad last Friday, to ask if he was going to use his T20 membership to go and watch the derby game, the response was, 'I forgot it was on'.
This was another important fixture for a 'shire side whose early season momentum seems to be grinding to a halt at the moment. It was even on TV, a rare occurrence for a team usually relegated to the outer reaches of the BBC Sport app and Cricinfo.
Anyway, it didn't go all that well, with Glos struggling to 165 for 8 on what was apparently a tricky pitch to bat on. 37-1 from the Powerplay tells a story of a batting side, Klinger aside, lacking real fire power and the ability to really dominate a bowling attack. Once the big wicket of Klinger (44) was taken, we quickly slumped to 118-6 after Kieran Gourmet-Burger departed in the 16th over.
Some late scrambling from the lower order saw 42 taken from the last 18 deliveries, but 165 was surely under par, even for a Somerset side lacking the big enormous bat of the Caribbean Premier League-bound Chris Gayle. However, the bowlers managed to claw things back after Somerset got away and reached 59-1 after the Powerplay, with Aussie Jim Allenby hitting a rapid 27.
Spinners Tom Smith and Jack Taylor bowled tightly to help increase the run rate from overs 11 through 18, when Johan Myburgh departed for a solid 63. Things then went pear-shaped as Dutch-Aussie Tom Cooper struck two sixes helped get the cidermen over the line. It's always good to have a number of Kolpak and EU signings to be able to fall back on when you're missing the likes of Gayle and the rested Tres.
In a worrying portent of things to come below, James Fuller again proved unreliable when bowling a crucial over at the death, managing to let slip two wides when only 4 runs were needed for victory. Surely experience has proven that he's simply not reliable enough to bowl at the death in limited overs matches?
A disappointing loss and one which left the boys really needing a victory in a tough match versus Sussex the following Friday.
Jack Taylor's thoughts on the match below:
Sussex 188 for 7 (Wright 111*) beat Gloucestershire 185 for 4 (Klinger 61, Marshall 37) by 3 wickets Scorecard
Another Friday nightmare for Glos as (another) disastrous James Fuller bowling performance led to a defeat snatched from the stomach of victory. This was a match in which we did almost everything right until the end. We batted strongly to score an excellent 185, then bowled and fielded well to leave Sussex (basically in the form of Luke Wright) needing 43 from the final two overs.
The wheels then came off in spectacular fashion. Fuller was withdrawn from the attack after having bowled two no ball full tosses and having been struck for 3 sixes and a four by Wright. Craig Miles stepped up to bowl the final ball, which was also deposited for six by a fired-up Wright, who progressed to his hundred with the blow. 34 runs from the over and suddenly Sussex needed just 9 to win, a feat they achieved off Jack Taylor's final over with some ease.
Klinger was obviously distressed with the defeat and his comments in Cricinfo's match report seems to reveal some frustration with Fuller's inability to bowl death overs:
"It was a crushing defeat for us in the circumstances, but all the credit must go to Luke Wright for a fantastic innings. James Fuller had a plan for bowling to him in the penultimate over and simply couldn't execute it."
Freddie Wilde again hit the nail on the head in his synopsis, pointing out that Glos' lack of international experience compared to other counties is likely to continue to cost them matches in this competition
"However, they arguably lost this match, and may lose similar matches in the future, because they lack an international quality, standout player, be that with bat or ball, but especially ball. Of their starting XI, only Hamish Marshall and Geraint Jones have played international cricket, and neither have done so for almost a decade. The likes of James Fuller can't be relied upon to close out matches."
This rings true when you look at our side. Klinger could arguably be said to be of international calibre- albeit untested at that level until now. The rest of the side is either old like Jones and Marshall, young like Miles and Taylor or simply mediocre like Fuller, Noema-Barnett, Howell and others.
Not good enough and the defeat leaves us with a lot of work to do to make the quarter finals, beginning with an away game at fellow T20 strugglers Surrey at the Oval on Weds 1st July. Both halves of The Jessop Tavern View will actually be at this game, so we'll be well-placed to report back on what could be another tale of woe come Thursday morning.
Gloucestershire 199 for 4 (Klinger 126*) beat Essex 165 (Westley 67*, Smith 5-39) by 34 runs Scorecard
Sometimes players make professional cricket look rather easy. Fly in from Australia on Thursday, barely sleep between then and Sunday's game, then open the batting and hit a T20 career-best 126* including 8 sixes! Admittedly Klinger was dropped 3 times (including off consecutive deliveries) and Essex missed a straightforward run-out chance, but this was still a seriously impressive effort from the returning skipper. His 68 ball knock came after being put in after losing the toss. Klinger and O'Mish opened up and the Irishman was typically the aggressor until he holed out for 29. Is there some kind of theme here with him getting out after making a good start...?
Ian Cockbain joined Klinger, who seems to have already had his best T20 form for the season. He made only 24 before departing to Reece Topley. This partnership did see Klinger dropped twice of consecutive Topley deliveries, before Topley had him dropped for a third time in the over after Cockbain's dismissal. Good to see the village cricketing spirit alive and well in the Essex fielding effort.
These let offs clearly inspired Klinger, who then opened up for the remainder of the innings and reserved some ferocious tap for Graham Napier in particular (6 sixes from his final two overs!) He finished on a career-best 126 not out in a total of 199-4.
The Essex innings never really got going after the early loss of the dangerous Jesse Ryder and Mark Pettini in Payne's first over. Westley and Bopara put on 62, before Ravi departed just as the partnership was looking promising. (Again, is there some kind of theme here?).
The ever-dangerous Ryan Ten Doeschate came in and struck 54 and James Fuller was removed from the attack for taking too much punishment two deliveries over waist height in an over. However, there was still a way to go and the door was firmly shut by Tom Smith's hat-trick in the next over. Essex were eventually finished off for 165 for a 34 run win.
Two wins from three to start our T20 campaign is a great improvement from recent years. The addition of Klinger obviously strengthens the batting and it's surely only a matter of time before Peter Hanscomb finds his T20 feet and starts butchering some county trundlers. Encouraging times down at Nevil Road.
t20 Blast: Sussex 167 for 5 beat Glos 161 for 9 by six runs.
An interesting experiment as to how far the t20 Blast competition has fallen from public view was carried out by one member of the Jessop Tavern View over the last 10 days. Does moving house and relocating to the other end of the country enable you to have any idea that a national cricket competition in the games most popular format has begun? The answer, conclusively, was no. With limited time and media access, the t20 blast competition has fallen so far down the pecking order of sporting interest that it has completely managed to bypass someone who has a genuine interest in county cricket.
Some bloke called Pietersen hasn't exactly helped the ECB to launch what should be its flagship domestic product, but even so, a quick check on the Guardian app today demonstrated that whilst a over-by-over update from the IPL was being linked direct from the front page, Gloucestershire's t20 Blast match with Sussex was tucked away in shame. That a game from a domestic Indian competition can override a English t20 match speaks volumes about how far this competition has now fallen. Maybe George Dobell is right when he says the ECB are just trying to kill it off so that franchises have to be created. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Today Glos fought valiantly in defeat to Sussex which, whilst disappointing, still points towards a decent t20 campaign ahead for Glos.
Winning the toss and electing to field Glos did well to restrict Sussex to 167 for 5 with some tight bowling coming from the unlikely sources of not only James Fuller, but also from Tom Smith who took 3 for 24.
In reply Glos lost regular wickets early on to leave themselves constantly fighting an uphill battle. O'Mish top scored with what according to the official Glos website was a 'masterful' 45. The fact that the official website now considers 30s and 40s by O'Mish as 'masterful' says everything we need to say. Sadly the loss of wickets throughout meant that despite a sparkling cameo of 36 from only 20 balls from Jack Taylor the target remained out of reach for Glos.
As if to emphasise the Jessop Tavern's confusion over the launch of the t20 blast, Glos return to 4 day cricket tomorrow with a visit to bottom of the table Kent. Nothing whets the appetite for t20 cricket like some 4 day cricket mixed in with it. Utter nonsense.
