His tournament?
Twenty20 Oddessey Part 1
His tournament?
By Grockle
July 1 2007
The Twenty20...what do we have to show? Some players see this as their opportunity to improve their profile but the weather suggests it will be hit and miss who plays where and for how long. Is this where Matt Wood gets his chance to suggest he should replace Cameron when he returns to Oz? Will Arul and Wes make a play and can Gareth catch the eye? Lots of games, lots of opportunity.
His tournament?
July 1 2007
The Twenty20...what do we have to show? Some players see this as their opportunity to improve their profile but the weather suggests it will be hit and miss who plays where and for how long. Is this where Matt Wood gets his chance to suggest he should replace Cameron when he returns to Oz? Will Arul and Wes make a play and can Gareth catch the eye? Lots of games, lots of opportunity.
v Warwickshire 20/20 @ Edgbaston Friday 22 June 2007
The opening salvo of the 20/20 battle and our first 11 includes lots of new boys in the middle order;
Langer, Trescothick, White, Hildreth, Keiswetter, Durston, Parsons, Suppiah, Andrew, Turner, Caddick
Andy Caddick is a surprise. He doesn't do well in this short game - not enough time for him really. No Charl Willoughby and Ian Blackwell has lost this platform fofr his bigg hitting because of a knee injury. We rely on one of the top four to play through and we include lots of bowlers who can take pace off - plus the added buzz of Turner.
Warwickshire took the toss and the first chance of batting and it looked like we had them with only Trott (new Englander - congratulations) and Ambrose really putting the runs up.
A score of 161 looked emminently gettable and even more so when Marcus Trescothick returned having put 47 on with his captain. Unfortunately, Langer was also back in the hutch before the 50 came up and we lost White only 3 runs later. Hildreth looked to hold up one end but faced few balls while Craig Keiswetter looked to put the game beyond doubt with 48 off 35 balls. Hildreth went at 80 (he faced only 7 balls as Somerset added over 30) but the momentum didn't keep pace with the requirement. The wicky went at 128 and so did his partner Durston. We then just didn't push it along against some intelligent Midland bowling and we came up 7 runs short at the end of the game.
Disappointing that we couldn't pace the game properly and it all looked a bit niaive I'm afraid.
v Northamptonshire 20/20 @ Taunton Sunday 24 June 2007
Rain affected and D/L decided....and still disappointing. Not because of the D/L decision but because we deserved to be on the losing end after scoring hard.
The side was the same except Trego replaced Keith Parsons, Northants chose to field and although we lost the skipper early (15 runs) Trescothick and White piled the scores on with 41 from the Aussie and 76 to our opener. Hildreth kept the back end moving and Trego added valuable last gasp runs and we reached a score of 200.
All looked well at the turnaround but Afzaal and Klusener were allowed to plunder 87 off 52 ball with Caddy goiing for 32 off one over!! Gareth Andrew also got murdered off his three and when the rain came down they had 92 off 7 overs in 27 minutes and won easily when they couldn't return. Caddick for an early rest? Why no Willoughby? Well done to Northants and we still look for our first points.
v Glamorgan 20/20 @ Cardiff Tuesday 26 June 2007
Will we get the points in Wales? Wood finally makes an appearance at the expense of Suppiah and Jonah comes into the side on his home soil while Gareth Andrew misses out. Charl still isn't availabel so Caddick keeps his place.
Glamorgan won the toss and chose to field so we were first in under blue skies with the prospect of a complete match being played. After the 200 at home we may have expected that the front end had found its feet but except for a run a ball 39 from Wood there was no real acceleration from us. We lost wickets regularly and with resources running out as the number of balls did, we didn't push to raise the rate and finished with a miserable 142 off the 20. At least 20 short, even if Glamorgan had a bad day!
The bowling was tighter and sharper when we took the field but the total was always going to arrive too quickly unless we took regular wickets. Trego and Durston tried to keep that happening with 2 each but after the fall of D.Wright's wicket (5th down) at 96, B.Wright and Wallace took the home side to the two points with 4 balls left. No real scoreboard pressure and no points from the lads from the Southwest and an end to their involvement after the Divisional section of the competition.
v Glamorgan 20/20 @ Taunton Friday 29 June 2007
Caddick rests and Charl Willoughby returns. Gareth gets another chance and Matt Wood moves up to opener as Marcus is sidelined by a 'niggly groin'and John Francis gets a look in for the first time! Glamorgan win another toss and put us in first on a dry but overcast afternoon.
It doesn't start well as Langer gets a two ball duck! Perfect timing for Matt Wood to show us something at home as he is joined by Cameron White and show us something he does as the two men smack 100 off 53 balls with a 28 ball 50 from Mr Wood and a 29 ball one from his Aussie compadre.
A 113 run partnership goes when White leaves with 68 to his name off 35 balls with a whole over of magnificent sixes to many parts! Wonderful batting which continues as Matt shows us what we have been missing. Peter Trego comes in earlier to belt the ball about but Watkins gets him before he can get going. John Francis doesn't get a chance as Wharf bowls him with only 1 to his name but Hildreth stands his ground and supports Wood as he pushes the score towards 200. He goes at 196 and Craig Kieswetter arrives to help Matt take the score over 200. Wood is the final man to go for an excellent 88 off 53 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. Matthew Wood is a man in the frame for a first team place during the rest of this season Neil Mackenzie or no Neil Mackenzie!
203 to win was the Welsh target and Charl shows us how much we've missed him by taking both openers before the score passes 40. From then on, the score was always one that was getting away from the Dragons. With excellent support from Gareth Andrew (4 overs and 1 for 22) and solid bowling from a number of others who are rotated sensibly by the captain as the Welsh furiously try and get the scoreboard moving quicker, we exert the press very effectively.
Wes took two late wickets after Cameron had received a bit of tap and had been removed after only one and Jonah was totally unflustered as he provided an aggressive finish to a victory by 28 runs as the balls ran out for the visitors.
2 points and a solid rather than awe inspiring performance. The real icing on the cake being provided by the really impressive hitting of our former Vice Captain and future first team star Mr Matthew Wood esq.
So we will not be seen in the next round of this competition. The Oddessey is effectively over although we do have 3 to go next week. Hopefully that is where some players have the chance to push a case and we can work without forcing our injured starts to play in order to keep us in the running. The pressure is off and we will be using next week as preparation for the next important game - resumption of the Championship at Taunton against Northants as the leaders...looking forward to that!!
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