English County Season 2013

a ton for Tonic in the 2nd dig for the Chavs v Some uni kids...

heard Bob on the radio this am...he described Essex net sessions where the practice pitches are covered by big annexes...because it is snowiing outside

in his droll way he noted there had been no sunshine and the pitches were as soft as the belly of NSW cricket..


















he did not use the dubber analogy

A proper in depth and insightful analysis of the county championship and each of its teams-here

and also verry droll...felt a bit sorry for Bas

the comment on the Pears says says it all.."The new hotel should be ready by late summer, but the team’s rebuilding will take a while longer."

Hope they didn't pay him to write that preview.

Might as well have been written by acclaimed cricket observer Dingle berry.

He also wrote the accompanying, terrifying article "Woakes can finish England's jigsaw", which would suggest he doesn't watch much cricket these days.

Unless he means Woakes can literally finish their jigsaw - that they've somehow got a collective 1000-piecer of Durham castle on the go and he's holding the final segment.

That must be what he means. Must be.

Dello wrote:He also wrote the accompanying, terrifying article "Woakes can finish England's jigsaw", which would suggest he doesn't watch much cricket these days.

Unless he means Woakes can literally finish their jigsaw - that they've somehow got a collective 1000-piecer of Durham castle on the go and he's holding the final segment.

That must be what he means. Must be.

The first line in that says that he was second in the batting averages, that's proven his credentials as a bowler like nothing else.

so I Ron was not missing piece?

The missing cod piece?

He was missing pieces. Two. He replaced them with a couple of Maltesers

horace wrote:and also verry droll...felt a bit sorry for Bas

the comment on the Pears says says it all.."The new hotel should be ready by late summer, but the team’s rebuilding will take a while longer."

I'd say the article was bang on actually.

sounds like the Pears are the Oz of County Cricket

Well, their greatest period of success was a fair bit longer ago than Australia's... New Road tends to be underwater a bit more frequently than the MCG as well!

It's been under water for a total of 35 days this winter - the worst for 12 years. It's just as well that it will be well into May before we play a home game due to building work.

I doubt if we will ever quite replicate the success we had back in the day - the county game is a lot different now with more and more resources being concentrated on the "chosen few."

Basil wrote:It's been under water for a total of 35 days this winter - the worst for 12 years. It's just as well that it will be well into May before we play a home game due to building work.

I doubt if we will ever quite replicate the success we had back in the day - the county game is a lot different now with more and more resources being concentrated on the "chosen few."

so NSW is starting a CC team?

Basil wrote:It's been under water for a total of 35 days this winter - the worst for 12 years. It's just as well that it will be well into May before we play a home game due to building work.

I doubt if we will ever quite replicate the success we had back in the day - the county game is a lot different now with more and more resources being concentrated on the "chosen few."

The Test ground teams do have a significant advantage these days, but there's still opportunities for the "smaller" counties to have their day as with Sussex's spell as top dogs last decade, and Somerset's current status as consistent contenders (and consistent runners-up!)

While the bigger counties are increasingly picking off the young talent (like with Notts and our feeder club Leics ) there's still an opportunity for any one of the 18 teams to discover a good generation of players and have a spell of success. International calls and the difficulty in tying down top overseas players long term also keep things a bit random.

Uhhh... everyone is your feeder club. Let me see - Jason Brown, Graeme Swann, Riki Wessels, Graeme White, Ben Phillips... I'm sure there're more that I haven't thought of.

beamer wrote:

Basil wrote:It's been under water for a total of 35 days this winter - the worst for 12 years. It's just as well that it will be well into May before we play a home game due to building work.

I doubt if we will ever quite replicate the success we had back in the day - the county game is a lot different now with more and more resources being concentrated on the "chosen few."

The Test ground teams do have a significant advantage these days, but there's still opportunities for the "smaller" counties to have their day as with Sussex's spell as top dogs last decade, and Somerset's current status as consistent contenders (and consistent runners-up!)

While the bigger counties are increasingly picking off the young talent (like with Notts and our feeder club Leics ) there's still an opportunity for any one of the 18 teams to discover a good generation of players and have a spell of success. International calls and the difficulty in tying down top overseas players long term also keep things a bit random.

The hardest trick is not developing young players, but hanging on to the good ones once they've begun to make a name for themselves.

If they're really good though they will become England regulars and you won't see much of them in county colours anyway.

I think a good county side is made up of England "nearly men" and one day/T20-only internationals (who are still decent FC county players but unlikely to play a Test), along with a few well-chosen Kolpak types and astute genuine overseas signings. I always think of Surrey's "10 England players and Saqlain Mushtaq" side they had, all with highest level experience in one format or another but none of them actually disappearing for Test calls at the time. Somerset have got remarkable mileage out of Tresco since he quit the international game, backed up by the likes of Hildreth, Trego, Suppiah etc. who are "not quite" internationals, Beddy who only plays white ball stuff for England, etc. And Sussex in the era when Moores was around had a lot of call-ups but only Prior proved good enough to stick around for England.

MIDDLESCUM

Last year: 3rd; T20: group; CB40: group
Captain: Neil Dexter (Chris Rogers in Championship)
Coach: Richard Scott
Ins and outs: The big signing was fast bowler James Harris from Glamorgan.
Verdict: Not a T20 team. Championship hopefuls if they had a spinner.

>>>

who would be more upset ... Smerk or Merlo?

horace wrote:

Basil wrote:It's been under water for a total of 35 days this winter - the worst for 12 years. It's just as well that it will be well into May before we play a home game due to building work.

I doubt if we will ever quite replicate the success we had back in the day - the county game is a lot different now with more and more resources being concentrated on the "chosen few."

so NSW is starting a CC team?

They could move into Sophia Gardens and replace OSW.

Adil Rashid burning his bridges: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/legspinner-adil-rashid-yorkshire-are-ruining-me-8565082.html

Sort of. The interview was in January, but only published yesterday. Since then, Yorkshire claim all is hunky dory and that Rashid is now as happy as Larry.

Last time I saw him bowl he looked appalling. Ian Salisbury stuff.

Giddy with excitement!

A bit of an inauspicious start to the season by Yorks.

Glamorgan ...5 Wozzies in the team ....and batting like it

North, Goodwin, Allenby, Hogan and?

Patterson opening ahead of Brooks and Plunkett