It's been a flaming depressing week ladies and gentlemen.  The weather has been perfect for cricket but the cricket has been less than perfect in return?  I was planning to report on the Derbyshire game as the re-start of the Championship season but I can't say that the performance of the side actually inspired me to put finger to keyboard and the 344 run defeat summed up most of what I could have said.  Here's the scorecard if you want to relive the joys of last week in the CC

V Derbyshire CC2 @ Taunton Friday 14 July 2006

So where do we stand?

The end of last season saw us with a side brimming with confidence - probably beyond the level that their achievements for the whole season warranted.  We had a captain looking forward to a winter with England, we said goodbye to Graeme Smith in a better state because of his presence.  We'd won something against the odds and we had a squad of young promising players who were off to the four corners of the globe to learn to be world beaters.

We weren't a particularly good one day outfit. We had had a decent second half of the season in the Championship but we weren't setting things alight there yet. Our seam attack relied too much on established veterans, some of who were fighting injury worries.  We needed an injection of youthful fire and another injection of experienced new blood to gel the whole package into a confident fighting unit capable of becoming a force in the second tier of cricket before taking the first division by storm and putting Taunton on the map in 2007/2008.

Ian Blackwell was a force in international one day cricket.  We had fired the imagination of the South African captain and he wanted to help us build.  Matt Wood was catching the eye of pundits. John Francis seemed to have moved into Peter Bowler's role without a ripple.  Arul Suppiah was looking like a front five batsman and his bowling was coming on as well.  Wes Durston had broken into the top flight side and looked to be useful with bat and ball.  We expected big things from James Hildreth who had come through the second year without too many problems and could now build a significant future in the South West...and hopefully at Lords?  Carl Gazzard was working on his glovework now that he was the main keeper for the side.  We were expecting big things from Rob Woodman as well, on tour with the U19 international side.  Gareth Andrew, Simon Francis and Michael Parsons were all working with experts to be the next level of our seam attack but the good news was that both Richard Johnson and Andy Caddick announced that they expected to be fit and healthy for the new season.

We needed some seam support for the old guys and to bring the new guys through.  We got it with the announcement of the re-signing of Peter Trego from Middlesex (where else) to push for the pace allrounder spot and Charl Willoughby on a Kolpak from Leicestershire to provide some left arm experience (a surprise to many who knew him from 2005 but more grist to the mill we hoped).  We also needed a number 3 batsmen and were hoping for some kind of deal involving a kind of Ponting/Smith package.  Brian Rose had other ideas.  With one eye on the Blackwell for England camp, he decided to look to bolster our spin attack while adding something to our middle order batting and we were introduced to Dan Cullen - the next big thing in Australian spin bowling - and Cameron White, captain of Victoria and spin allrounder on the fringes of the one day Aussie side.  Not what some supporters really wanted but exciting nevertheless.

To say that April found most of the support in a state of guarded optimism wasn't overstating the case really.  But the engines never really fired from then on.  We saw flashes with Cameron - big thunderbang type flashes but not consistently.  Dan Cullen took a five-fer in his first game but was gone before the conditions really suited his style of bowling - another Sanath scenario of right player, wrong half of the season. 

And the squad boys?

John Francis watched his form disappear into the distance and with it our solid front three plans.  We had a whacking great gap after the openers and no-one able to fill it.  Arul started the season on the injury bench and wasn't there when we needed him.  He came in and did a fair job when he was fit but by then the fragile levels of positive self confidence had gone and we were watching the all too familiar scene of frontline batsmen walking back on decent wickets with very little on the board.  The shifting about wasn't helped by Matt Wood's seeming inability to get a start in any game.  The extra pressure of the  captaincy because of the 'enforced' resting of Ian Blackwell didn't help much.  No faith in Neil Edwards' ability to come in and do a job was compounded by the poor shot selection of James Hildreth just when we needed him to be a stable point in a rocky landscape.

The front five batting line-up imploded on a regular basis despite the best efforts of Woody and Whitey to keep it together.  How relieved we were when our captain was allowed to rejoin us and how frustrated we were when, before he'd really started, he picked up a season destroying injury and said goodbye to competitive cricket until October.  The anchor had gone and the ship was adrift in a sea of trouble.  Matt had always looked on this season as an apprenticeship and he had now lost his mentor.  We needed another one and we turned to Cameron White for leadership and guidance.  A very sensible choice, our strongest batting threat, our most experienced captain but someone not versed in the strangeness of English domestic cricket.  Well he'd just have to learn fast wouldn't he?

What was happening at the other end of the line-up?  Well the good news was that Charl Willoughby was an inspired signing.  Fast, slippy and left handed, he gave opposing batsmen all sorts of trouble on the flat Taunton wicket and held us together as well as anyone could have done away from home.  Both Caddy and Johnno were staying fit and the tall man was doing his job in the old style.  Richard was struggling for pace but it was beyond these three that the real problems were occuring.  Simon Francis had ended the 2005 season in a bit of a mess.  Most of it seemed to be in his head but he had not been in touch in the previous season and needed to find something to bring his bowling back to something we could use.  He didn't find this during the winter and came into 2006 as an almost spent force offering nothing we could utilise.  Rob Woodman went away on tour as probably our most promising young bowling option and came back as a sort of allrounder, neither one thing or the other.  The selectors couldn't make their minds up about Peter Trego and Gareth Andrew.  They chopped and changed them during the first part of the season, playing Trigger in the four dayers and then replacing him with Gareth in the one day C&G matches.  Neither player really got a run and so neither player really hit a groove and we are only now seeing Peter make his mark - unfortunately it is with the bat more than with the ball.

So we had a solid rather than incisive bowling attack with spinners who could restrict but not take bucketloads of wickets and pacemen who struggled to restrict and weren't taking enough.  This was coupled with a batting line-up that could spark into life occasionally but were more likely to fall apart spectacularly on non threatening wickets against poor county attacks that need murdering. 

The batsmen couldn't give us a score to defend and the bowlers struggled to defend the scores they were given.  Our middle order batting kept its noses clean but didn't pull us out of the mire enough times.  We missed Blackwell and used White too often to shore up the front five.  Gazzard was expected to do a job he really never looked like doing up the order and the fact that Caddick has had his best season with the bat for quite a while shows where the resitance happened. Too little and far too late.

The good points? 

Don't get too excited, there are some but it isn't an exhaustive list!

Arul Suppiah was what we hoped he was, a decent front end bat, a superb fielder and a bowler who can surprise and you get the feeling that there is more to come.  

Charl Willoughby has more than earned his money this season already, getting through a huge workload and taking the bulk of our wickets at the right times.

Cameron White took on the responsibility for marshalling a problem side in crisis and has lead from the front whenever possible.  Not the most incisive of bowlers but give him a bat and some bad balls...if only he could have partnered Blackie in a run chase.  Now that would have been a sight to see!

Keith Parsons providing some solidity in that early middle order and doing all the jobs we know he can.  We were going to put him out to pasture 2 seasons ago!!  What were we thinking of?

The C&G never really even flashed.  We didn't stop big batsmen getting settled and we were poor in the run chases.

The Championship has been a bit of a rollercoaster, losing matches by huge margins, beating sides well, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and being easily rolled over on the batting paradise that is Taunton.  We still seem to be batting on a different wicket to our rivals.  They can come in and massacre our attack and then we seem to try and score on a minefield full of traps and problems that we succumb to every time.

The 20/20 started off majestically and we could all say we looked like champions and were well deserved world record holders.  But only the Aussies fired with the bat while inexperience and poor bowling offered a run feast for other sides when they didn't.  We avoided bottom of the heap with a win in our last game but we weren't unlucky, just uninspired.

So where are we?

Bottom, or close to the bottom of most things.  The body language is where it was in the second half of 2004.  We are a losing side, used to losing and it shows.  Our confidence is shattered and our play is uninspired.  Constant hammering can do that to you and it isn't the first time we've seen it - it is almost becoming our natural state.  If I could wave a wand and put this season out of it's misery then I would and proabbly be thanked by every player in the squad!

There are little green shoots of hope.  John Francis is ready to return to the fold...how ready we have a couple of months to see but he will still be fragile so be nice to him.  His brother showed a bit of something in the first innings of the Derbyshire game as well...good to see but too little and too late?  A big last couple of months for him?  (Well 'huge' would be a better word probably).  If Trego could get his bowling tighter he may be worthy of the G Rose II name yet.  His has been the beligerent batting style, he has been the one coming out to do battle against the odds and he pulled Si Francis along as they held us together against Derbyshire this week...warmed the cockles of a few hearts.  More of that please Trigger.

But we are also sadly lacking in places and no turn around in performance is going to plug other gaps as easily.  Neil Edwards must surely go at the end of this season.  The message perceived by supporters is that he is 'surplus to first team requirements'.  There have been opportunities and they haven't been utilised.  We don't know why but it can't be because of positive things surely.  The form of Matt Wood and James Hildreth is key to the development of a fighting batting line-up  With them on form and Arul and John F is fine fettle we have something.  It needs an experienced and well tried and tested Number 3 man...is Justin Langer that man?  If he isn't then I'd sell my sould for a seasojn of Graeme Smith you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone and all that.  A priority signing for next season is that position and it needs to be filled by someone of big stature.  We are fortunate that we have those people wanting to come and do the job...but can we organise their commitments around it?  If Langer retires after the Ashes then it could be a really good thing for Somerset.

And the bowling?  Is Ian B's international career over?  Can we expect him to lead us unbothered by the EWCB next year?  Well it depends how the injury has affected him but if he is back with a vengance I think this layoff will have shown the EWCB just how much they need him if Giles is gone for good.  Get him back in and hope he performs and we may have seen the last of him for a while.  That leaveas a gap in the spin departmenr and Brian still maintains the option of going down the 'top spinner' route for an overseas bowler.  I'm very very worried about that because it leaves our faster attack exposed and we rely on Charl Willoughby to have another stonking season and it still assumes younger guys will plug the gaps...but who?  If Si Francis goes back into the shadows during the end of this season he has to go...we can't support him.  If Mike Parsons can't get back from injury he has to go for the same reason.  Rob Woodman has to be assessed, what is he and where does he fit?  We have had a good look at Gareth Andrew and Peter Trego.  Are they good enough to run an attack?  Personally I think 'no' as the leaders of a line but as third seamers they may have a role and Trigger with the bat has certainly shown promise.

Will the established guys be here for 2007?  Johnno has done wondwers to stay fit but I can't see him taking another season of this fight.  Caddick was built to bowl and has been remarkably injury free during his career - two spells of big stuff but not a lot else.  I hope to see him next year but would expect that to be in a 'backseat' role, taking on less and being used sparingly in what would be his last contracted season.  We therefore need an established strike bowler and it is vital that we get that right.  An attacking spinner would help at home but what about away?  Will we ask Cameron White back?  As much as I'd love to see him bat I dn't think the present position we find ourselves in allows us that luxury.  He doesn't solve our batting or bowling needs but thank God he's here this season.

It isn't going to be pretty for the rest of this season.  We are well and truly in the doldrums and Brian Rose must be wondering what to do next.  The report is showing a considerable number of E grades at the moment, some are moving into the D's and others have plummetted.  This is going to be a long term thing but I don't thik that BR can rely on his youth policy to the extent he hoped to.  We have to look for astute domestic purchases, we have to be pro-active and persuasive (possibly with money) to attract hard working but effective bowlers to Taunton - the graveyard of seam.  We have to help them by making the pitch more responsive but we also have to demand they perform on it.

It isn't a case of 'Could try harder'.  We are beyond the 'could', 'should' and 'ought' words.  It's time for 'must', 'will' and 'can'.  The alternatives for players and club are difficult.  If players "can't" then they have to leave.  if the club "can't" then no ground improvement in the world is going to matter because, eventually, the EWCB will 'rationalise' and the cricketing backwaters with poorly performing teams will be swept aside...bye bye Somerset.  We can't afford to be reasonable or charitable. 

We must be centered and ruthless or we will not survive.

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