v Devon (Friendly) @ Taunton Sunday 8 April 2007

A one day run out to get the run ups right, the batting triggers in place, the pace of a game sorted in the head and your form in the eyes of those who will pick the side for the real stuff in 10 days time.  Who do we expect to see in maroon (whoops!), sorry, blue and red against Devon this Sunday.

Well, Langer and White won't be on the field although I think the captain may arrive in time to see some of the game perhaps (Whitey isn't in until the 10th but I think JL gets in on the 8th). Banger has been netting and may be given a chance to notch up a confidence booster against the local Minor county rivals - though Cornwall next Wednesday offers a second chance.

John Francis may get a run out to check his form (which looked fine against Worcestershire) in limited overs and Arul might get another chance to get his season off to a start after missing out in the run fest against Worcestershire.  It's also a good chance to let Robin Lett have a go and Wes Durston may also appear.  We also haven't seen the Mighty Matt W yet so expect him to make his 2007 debut. 

From a keepers point of view, I'd like to have a look at Keiswetter but I may very well be seeing Gazzard or Spurway.  Who takes the gloves may be the most definite indication of who is expected to take that role in the Trophy games later in the month than any other positional decision - although it is still early days and the game against Gloucestershire may be a better indicator next Tuesday.

In the bowling, Gareth Andrew should make his first appearance and Steff Jones will probably play the senior role as Phillips won't be risked after the strain on Thursday and I don't expect Caddy to play.  It is also a chance for Rob Woodman to have a run out as well as a chance for a first look at Mark Turner.

There are a lot of options and I'll try and bring an up to date team list sometime around 12:00 tomorrow from the game.  It's a "techno kit run through" for me as well as I am looking to update from the ground as much as possible when I can get to these early games because of a lack of scorecard action although it is good to see the official site reporting on the events at the end of the day.

Again, if you are there tomorrow please have your say on the forum and I'll incorporate whatever I can into the front page stuff.  But expect details of the team etc on here about lunchtime...we'll see how it goes!

I've no idea who won the toss but as I start this Marcus Trescothick is murdering the Devon bowlers with more runs than England will get this afternoon on his own. Presently, MT is 234 in a score of 295 for one ( Matt Wood for 20 in a stand of 132). Think he might be up for a recall in the summer?  He's certainly back in form. He went from 196 to 250 in the time it took me to buy a pint, sit down and set this lot up. The great thing is that he now punishes bad bowling whenever he sees it and for as long as it is served up.  This is what we expected from England against lesser teams in the World Cup.  Make sure you kill them stone dead and play at your peak whenever possible.

Anyway, the side. We are batting but no-one knows whether we chose to or not.. The 12 are;

Wood, Trescothick, Hildreth, Parsons, Blackwell, Durston, Trego, Cazzard, Fraser (?), Jones, Caddick and Edwards.

Trescothick has just been run out for 256 in the 30th over and in comes Blackwell to hopefully help the score along.

On the Devon side we have a couple of names you might know - a Mr Woodman, a Mr Suppiah, a Mr Hancock, and a certain Ian Bishop from the distant past (although Ian turns out to be Devon's 12th man). They've got a bit of a mountain to climb!

Blackwell is out at 388 for 36 in the 39th and the 400 comes up in 40th. 417 by the end of over so it is tootling along nicely. KP and Hilda are up for the 500 and have reached 462 by the 46th. Hilda completes his 100 at 469.

KP is then out at 481 for 39 and in comes Wes Durston. Between them the 2 guys hit double figures off the last over and a half and we finish on 502 for 4.

As England wander to 9 for 0 in the third in the West Indies, Devon come out needing 10 an over facing Caddick and this young seamer Fraser..anyone got anything on him? Devon are 22 for 0 in the 3rd.....so behind the run rate then!

27 for 1 in the 4th as Caddick gets the first and brings Suppiah to the wicket (Devon's Kolpak player). A snick at 42 puts paid to Arul's contribution and gives Caddick his second.

Trigger takes a turn at the OP in the 9th but the Devon batsmen are making a good fist of it passing 70 in the 10th. Jones joins him in the 12th as the Minor boys move towards 100. They pass it with a 6 in the next. Then the red mist falls and up the wicket he comes to Steff, misses most of the ball but gets enough to make it deviate and Gazza takes an excellent diving catch and they are 108 for 3 in the 15th.

The problem is that wickets keep falling and they lose another in the 19th at 128. Each one breaks the momentum and gets them further away from the required rate. It happens again at 135 and Jonah is getting most of them, the next arrives without a change to bowler or score as Jones removes the off stump! The 150 comes in the 24th but Keith Parsons also gets into the game with an LBW decision that reduces Devon to 152 for 7.

The ignomy of a 300 run defeat is passed without further loss in the 35th And they keep up the fight as the number 7 batsmen reaches an excellent fighting 50 in the 37th. Wes comes on in the 38th as the game lumbers to its conclusion. Devon will get nowhere near but we don't seem too bothered although Caddick is back on at the River end to get things moving a little

Having said that, it's very rare that you find a side 175 off the rate with 10 overs to go still needing 270 to win! Marcus scored more on his own in 30 than Devon have managed in 40. But they have blunted the attack and don't look worried any more passing halfway in the 43rd and passing Banger's individual score in the next (I've just noticed that MT hasn't been fielding at all).

Pete Trego is back on and is welcomed back with a Ridley stand 6 as the Devon number 9 moves towards 50 himself but he doesn't get there as he misjudges a Trigger slow ball and pops one up to the midwicket fielder. 263 for 8 in the 45th. Fraser gets the chance to strike. He's quite pacey but the batsmen look fine against the faster stuff and they must be aiming to pass 300 before the end.

Trigger, worryingly, goes for 14 off the first 3 balls of the 46th and is only saved by an excellent boundary catch off the 4th. The number 7 goes for an excellent 91 and the 300 may be too far away. Trigger yorks the last one and its 286 all out. Loss by 217.  A bit of a tail wag from the Devon boys and excellent work by the number 7 and number 9 (sorry I don't have a scorecard so I can't tell you who is who - I think one of them may be Nick Hancock but can't be sure).

An indicator of the shortness of the boundaries and the lifelessness of the pitch is the fact that Marcus went 'massive' and Devon took nearly 300 off our pace attack.  Trego was very popular with the batsmen and so was Wes Durston in his spell.  Ian Blackwell looked more threatening with the slower stuff and passed the bat a number of times in the 20 to 30 over section.  But credit to the Devon side who put up a spirited show with some excellent strokeplay in a losing battle to keep up with the incredibly demanding total.  Good support work for the mighty MT from James Hildreth who came out determined to keep up with the England opener and then was almost as determined to keep the flow of runs going after his dismissal. A prommising start also from Steffan Jones who was going for the batsmen with every ball after he got his eye in and his first wicket.

Nice day, warm, good crowd for a free game and lots of big hitting. It was worrying that Marcus didn't field. It suggests he isn't fully back to himself.  Jonah  also left the field at the end of his spell and didn't return, however it could just mean that they had done their work and it allowed Neil Edwards and John Francis some time on the field.  We will see later on this week in Bristol I suppose.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon