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2014 CC1 THREAD
Discussion started by Loyal of Lhasa. , 07 April, 2014 14:54
2014 CC1 THREAD
Loyal of Lhasa. 07 April, 2014 14:54
Even though not much has happened yet, I think it is appropriate to open a new thread.

One thing I can predict with utter certainty, namely that Somerset will be joint bottom of Div One at the end of round one. Can we possibly recover from such a disastrous start?

Don't you expect 'Averageside' to be on at the end of the first four days to say much the same LoL?

I'll turn this into the 2014 CC thread. If someone starts a thread for each round, I'll merge it into this one at the end of the last day of play in that group and it can become the running thread on the Championship.



LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2014 10:43 by Grockle.

Re: CC Round One
cricketjerry-mouse 07 April, 2014 15:03
Jos Buttler not in the Lancashire side against Notts at Trent Bridge today. Place taken by England Under-19 wicket-keeper Alex Davies.

Jimmy Anderson is playing and took five wickets.

Re: CC Round One
Grockle 07 April, 2014 15:11
Well he's had a 'long winter' so I'm sure they have been told to rest him. One of the other problems of internationals. Even when you get them back you can't always use them and gone are the concepts of fairness or equality of use in games as far as the ECB seem concerned.

New player, new county. Why would he want to get on the pitch with his new playing colleagues? Silly idea. His 'real' playing colleagues are also resting - well some of them.



(Sm72)

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Roger ivanhoe 07 April, 2014 15:22
I noticed that Mat Prior was not keeping wicket for Sussex although playing in their squad v Middlesex.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 07 April, 2014 15:25
LoL - whilst it is probably at least 99% likely that we will be joint-bottom of Div One after the first round of games, it is not quite 100% certain because it's always vaguely possible that one of the teams that is playing could lose more points in deductions than they gain in bonus points!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2014 15:49 by AGod.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Mike TA1 07 April, 2014 15:32
Did I read a negative and a positive?

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 07 April, 2014 16:34
Jos's new colleagues appear to be folding like a cheap suit at Trent Bridge.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Loyal of Lhasa. 07 April, 2014 16:48
One wonders what possible point there can be in Buttler not playing in the first CC game of the season. He has hardly spent an onerous winter playing first-class cricket and needs all the exposure he can get both at batting and keeping in live competition.



LoL

Sixty-six Seasons a Somerset Supporter

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 07 April, 2014 16:51
Quite so.

Foolishness with bells on!!!!

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
geordie moonraker 07 April, 2014 17:55
Prior has a minor injury which prevents him keeping wicket but not batting or fielding.Apropos Jos, it is another reason why counties are less than enthusiastic about engaging England players.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
cricketjerry-mouse 07 April, 2014 18:27
As I read it, Jos now has just two opportunities to play for Lancashire - against Warwickshire at home and Northants away - before the new England coach has to name his first international squad to play Scotland at Aberdeen on May 9.

Anyone who has been to a county match at Old Trafford will know that the diehards there don`t suffer fools gladly. I wonder what they think about it all.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2014 18:30 by cricketjerry-mouse.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Ronniesabre 07 April, 2014 18:37
Jos has a hamstring injury which is another reason why he isnt playing. That and the fact Lancs dont play in round 2 of the CC will give him the appropriate to rest and mend the injury.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
stevecav 07 April, 2014 19:48
Good evening guys and Happy New Season to one and all.

This is my first post since the end of last season and I had to battle very hard with myself to stay away through the 'long winter' because I would have loved to read what you all thought. Just didn't have the time to get sucked in.

But now we're back with the much more important stuff, beloved SCCC, I can't stay away any longer.

I for one am very positive about the new season and I think we might prove the pundits wrong...

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 07 April, 2014 20:07
I think our bowling may surprise a few (in a good way), SteveCav.. Whilst there's no Caddy or Mushy type priven crackerjack in the ranks we arguably have more credible and/or promising pace bowling arrows in our quiver than at any point since I started following Somerset (since 1984). Certainly, I think we'll have better competition for bowling places than for some considerable time.

Obviously there are some uncertainties viz how quickly will the Overtone progress and how well will Alf/Kirby keep going. I think Meschede and Gregory emerged towards the end of last season and those two may be our key bowlers this season if they can maintain fitness and form.

And the batting can scarcely be less effective than it was last season.

So if we can bowl in the manner that we did at the end of last season and bat like a half-way decent unit (rather than the shambles of last year) then I believe that a significantly improved showing should be in the offing.

As with every county, the volume and timing of injuries and international calls will be critical as no county has very much depth these days, IMO.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Norwich SCCC 07 April, 2014 20:08
I too can come out of hibernation now that the season has started.

I think it is a wide open CC and feel we may benefit without the pressure of expectation.

Roll on Sunday!

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
cricketjerry-mouse 08 April, 2014 00:03
I think you will find, ronniesabre, that it is the Lancashire captain Glen Chapple who has the hamstring injury. Jos is being `rested` after a conversation between Lancashire coach Peter Moores and Ashley Giles.

It would have been fascinating (although illegal of course) to have been able to hack that `phone call, with both Moores and Giles now in contention to be the next England coach, and Giles the man who counselled Jos to leave Somerset to get more time behind the stumps.

Say Lancashire field for two of the four days of each of their two remaining championship fixtures before the England squad is announced for the match with Scotland on May 9. Weather permitting, Jos would have just 384 overs of keeping practice ahead of the next international (should he be picked - I see the London media are already pressing for Steve Davies to take his place).

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 06:31
To be perfectly honest, Steve Davies is a better wicket-keeper than Jos. But England selectors have long since lost interest in the relative merits of keepers with the gloves.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Grockle 08 April, 2014 07:08
Not sure that's true at Test level though I suppose Chris Read may argue that point as the best keeper in England by a metric mile for a decade and little international experience because of one mistake with a West Indian delivery.

It does however make me worry for Jos if form gets rid of his 'flavour of the month' tag. There is only one keeper and once you get tagged with that particular label you find yourself in a pigeon hole that you struggle to get out of.

Old Trafford can be a wet and windy place to pass your professional career



(Sm72)

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 07:33
And even though Prior became a good keeper at Test level his initial selection was another indication that glove-man ability was a secondary consideration compared to batting ability.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Grockle 08 April, 2014 09:11
And surely the fact that he worked as hard as he did at the skill shows that it isn't in the long run?



(Sm72)

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Frome Exile 08 April, 2014 09:12
I think that James Foster could quite justifiably contest your "best keeper by a metric mile" assertion. I'd place him as a better 'keeper and a vetter bat than Read or Prior personally. Although of course rhat just reinforces your main point about selectorial myopia!
winking smiley

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Grockle 08 April, 2014 09:20
Well you would FE. I wouldn't in the glove department.

And that should have been the selectorial discussion which didn't happen for either of them unfortunately. Maybe Read's 'decade' was a little further back but he is one of a very few keeper's in the England 'excellent' class for me



(Sm72)

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
Frome Exile 08 April, 2014 09:39
Foster is the best in the country standing up to the stumps against all but the quickest of the quick.
Read may have the edge keeping to spin.

EDIT: IMHO, of course. winking smiley



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2014 09:42 by Frome Exile.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 10:35
My answer to your question, Grockle, is that so long as Prior kept scoring lots of runs, I do not believe that England would have dropped him as keeper, even if he had not improved dramatically.

The initial selection, IMO, showed what the priorities were. I don't think that Prior working hard showed that the selectors' priorities changed. I think it was more a case of a pro being a pro.

I think the selectors' minimum requirement for the keeper role, including in Test matches, is somebody that is a good batsman and not a liability with the gloves. If they can be encouraged to work as hard as Prior did to become something better than merely "not a liability," then I think so much the better in selectorial eyes.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 10:36
And further evidence is, surely, that Prior was not really dropped in Australia because of his wicket-keeping - but because he wasn't coming up with the run scoring that the selectors see as the prime requirement...

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
cricketjerry-mouse 08 April, 2014 11:49
In terms of University matches, Somerset (who I see have lost both openers early on) are fortunate to have drawn easily the strongest of the MCCU teams in Leeds/Bradford.

Both opening bowlers have already made their mark - Zafir Patel with Delhi in the IPL and Ivan Thomas for Kent towards the end of last season.

Opening batter Nick Gubbins stroked a cultured 50-plus for Middlesex in the pre-seasopn friendly at Taunton last month, and captain William Vandespar, who skippered Eton College and is also on Middlesex`s books, was named Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2012 - an award previously won by Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.

On a local note, their first-change bowler Harry Rouse has come up through all the Somerset age groups from 13 onwards and played for Somerset Seconds last summer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2014 11:55 by cricketjerry-mouse.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
stevecav 08 April, 2014 12:34
Here we go again. 80 for 4 .... a bright and breezy 30 off 27 not what we want from Hildreth...too early to panic I know but really...

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 12:54
He made plenty against Gloucs but, still, you'd obviously rather he got even more time at the crease.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
SheptonPaul 08 April, 2014 12:54
Really!...don't panic yet please...it's a warm-up game in the freezing cold against a bunch of students. Let them practice - by all means panic if this happens in July, but not early April.

Re: 2014 CC1 THREAD
AGod 08 April, 2014 12:58
A good chance for Gregory, Meschede and Craig Overton to spend some (hopefully extended) time at the crease, coming in in a situation where the score is not clever.

Gregory and Meschede both made runs the other week, but that was coming in with big runs already on the board so runs in this situation would, I think, be extra good for their respective confidence levels with the bat.

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