v Glamorgan (FPT) @ Taunton Sunday May 4 2008

Scorecard

Radio Coverage (This should get you close)

Apple AM (or this if the above fails!)

Alfonso Thomas is on BBC Somerset committing himself to getting into the first team and hitting hard when he gets there.  I'm not sure if we'll see him tomorrow because no-one is showing themselves up in the one day performances this season.

He certainly won't be replacing Charl Willoughby who has been outstanding in 2008 up until now.  They are expecting heavy rain and low cloud in the Taunton area tomorrow morning which MIGHT clear so spinners won't be at a premium one would imagine.

Justin will play so I would expect the front end to change in only one aspect.  John Francis will give way to Zander de Bruyn after the latter's excellent 50 on debut and JF's relative failure.

Trescothick, Kieswetter, Langer, Hildreth, de Bruyn, Blackwell surely must be the front end.

Peter Trego bowled tightly and has yet to be asked to bat so one would imagine he will remain.  Wes looked cool and kept his head on Friday but may lose out to Phillips or Jones because of the spin aspect.  But will one of them lose out to Thomas who may debut tomorrow with the Mighty CW popping into the 11th slot?  So, perm any three from Phillips, Durston, Jones and Thomas unless someone wants to put Munday in there as well but I think that might be going a little too far.

Duckworth/Lewis has been conspicious by its absence up to now...we may not be so lucky on Sunday but we'll be reporting from the ground about 11:30 so I'll see you there if you are and tell you how wrong I am if yer not.  A win here should put us in the next round...so we're bound to make a real mess up of it one would imagine....unless the corner has been turned and this really is a whole new ball game! 

The Game

Well it is't raining at 11:15.  The covers are just off the square and Phil is on the big yellow roller.  Glamorgan are have a bit of a net while we are playing sort of touch rugby/handball type something or other.  About a thousand in a a push.  No team info yet but interesting to see that Matt Wood got 91 for Notts aainst Gloucestershire.  Wonder who will be playing in his place here today (sorry couldn't resist it)?

The side in the programme does include Banks - but this was from Wednesday so it might change;

Trescothick, Kieswetter, Langer, Hildreth, Blackwell, Trego, Durston, Banks, Phillips, Jones and Willoughby.

Wait with bated breath for the changes.  The general opinion is that Zander will play and as Alfonso Thomas is marking his run up out it is probable that he may play a part.  We may therefore rest one of our seam men - Banks may miss out as well for the second week.

And there we go...Alfonso gets his debut and we rest Phillips (slight surprise but he may need it) and Banks does miss out as de Bruyn keeps his place - how did anyone not think he would?  John Francis is 12th man.  They are resting Phillips because Turner has a bit of a groin and therefore they are resting him for the CC1 Hampshire game (does that suggest that Caddick may not start?)

Glamorgan replace Ryan Watkins with Cosker so they are;

Wood, Hemp,Powell, Maynard, Dalrymple, Wright, Wallace,Wharf, Cosker, Gillespie and Harrison wit Watkins as 12th man.

We won the toss and have decided to field once more. Willoughby opens at the OP to Wood.  3 off the first.  Trigger opening from the River End is a bit of a surprise but there's a bit of movement although the first is lucky not to be a wide. But he's on the money from there and they double their first over score.

A storming second over from the lefthander just shows how much in the zone he is. Maiden second and his third has Hemp playing and missing at 3 out of six...awesome bowling.

But it's Wood who nibbles halfway through his next and Glamorgan are 17 for 1 Charl ends with another maiden.

The boys are all wearing black armbands - partly for Harold Stephenson and partly it seems for Andy Hurry's dad who also passed away last week.

After 10 it's 30 for 1.  Willow is going for not a lot and Trigger is hard to hit although he's not forcing them to hit much (fine by me).  He is the first to be changed as Jonah takes over at the River in the 14th and is straight on the money.  We then get to take a look at Alfonso when he comes on for the 15th and puts it a little short at the start and gives the Glam batsmen something to swing at.  He's not a huge bloke and is quite sight but his action is easy and he seems to know what he is doing.  He goes for a few off his first but he's learned a little by his second and he certainly wastes no time getting through the work.

The Welsh go past 50 in the 15th and are at 77 by the 20th - tight spell from Jones up to now. But they replace him with HIDRETH for the 24th and Hemp goes to 50 off his first ball (70 balls with 7 fours) and they go to 99 off the last ball of his first - not sure why they put him on unless it's to change ends. Powell hits the single for the ton. It would have been more but Blackie slides his feet in front of it and keeps the score down in a most inventive way.  It's not an end changing thing because Hilda is on for another one.

Now why JL has faith in him I'm not sure but he does make things happen and while I would have been happier to see de Bruyn on I can't fault it when, after nearly having Poewll stumped and then forcing him to lift one just over Jones he has him caught behind off his fourth ball for 32 and Glamorgan as 108 for 2.

Alfonso's first 5 have gone for 25 and so we have a replacement at the OP for the 27th over with the introduction of spin in the form of Ian Blackwell.  Hilda has obviously served his purpose because he is immediately replaced at the River by Jones.  If there's a partnership in the near future expect James Hildreth to be called in to break it!! Jonah is straight back into it and goes for 3.

And then Blackie strikes as Tom Maynard plays the ball in front but he pads first and is ajudged LBW for 2.  He always looks so easy to play and he always seems to cause batsmen trouble.  Push it through and make it skid Mr B!  With Jonah steaming in from the other end and going past the bat with venom the Welsh are finding it really hard to push the score on. At 30 overs they are looking at a score around the 250 mark (124 for 3).

Willoughby is back on at the River for the 34th and coming around the wicket to Dalrymple which the international allrounder is not all that happy about.  The ball is replaced at 34 overs but very little else changes.  They still are having all kinds of trouble getting Blackie off the cut piece managing 139 by the 35th.  Someone is going to have to start pumping the gas pedal soon. But if we can produce figures like Charl Willoughby's 10 on a regular basis it will make very little difference how hard they accelerate. 10 overs 2 maidens 276 runs and 1 wicket is top class one day bowling by anyone's measure - and he seems to be getting better as the season develops!  Excellent.

Glamorgan finally pass 150 in the 38th as Thomas tries out the conditions from the River End as the replacement for his countryman.  The batsmen really want to connect with one from him and the 150 shot comes from an attempted bouncer which Dalrymple sends to the new stand boundary when it actualy doesn't!  Other than that there's a smidgen of wafting and missing and not a lot else.

The press is on from the Somerset field.  Outfielders are attacking any ball coming their way and giving away only singles.  Thomas is now in tandem with Blackwell and its getting very difficult. By the 40th they've lost Dalrymple as Thomas gets his first from the last ball of the 40th when the batsman skies one and the skipper takes it.  159 for 4 and they need 100 off the last 10 to feel that they haven't undercooked this innings.

Trigger returns at the River for the 44th after an excellent diving scramble from Jones has saved a certain four at the "Bath scoreboard corner" but it is the shape of things as the Dragons start to put bat to ball in an effort to up the rate. But Trigger gets the breakthrough as he C&B's Hemp for 95 with 183 to the Welsh total...mostly from Hemp's bat!  He put in the effort for just under 3 hours (172 mins) AND 119 bals with 11 fours.  250 is looking a distance from here.

Blackie finishes at the end of the 45th and they're still chasing 200.  His final figures of 10/1/36/1 have had a significant influence on that once again.  The "Somerset Press" is presently a joy to behold (not those in the pressbox I might add loverly though they all are).

In the 47th Alfonso gives Wallace a slower fuller ball from the OP and Glamorgan still need 200 but drop to 197 for 6.  There's stumps everywhere!!  198 at the end of the 47th.  250 is vanishing over the horizon as Steffan returns at the River End for a bit of Yorker practice  But the first goes to the boundary and the Province goes over 200.

But it doesn't last long as Jones releases the in-swinging Exocet and the off stump of Wright goes cartwheeling backwards 203 for 7 and our Welshman is on fire as the inswingers keep coming fast ad full.  There's a question about whether Thomas could be a real partner for him at the end of an innings as he puts ball after ball on the batsman's toes but without the luck.  212 for 7 and 10/0/43/2 isn't a bad start in a Taunton wicket - welcome to the club "Alfie"

The last over is not going to go for 35 and the opposition are short I would suggest.  There have been few fireworks and without the workmanlike innings from Hemp there wouldn't be a lot to talk about.  A run a ball gets them into the 220's but only by the single.  We need "Double Nelson" to win and Steff finishes with 10/0/33/1 - that will do him no harm at all.  Good aggressive bowling at the death from both men.  Peter Trego also weighed in with 8/1/45/1 and we must mention Hildreth with his 21 for 1 off 12 balls.

Gettable?  I'd say so but we've lost chasing less.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends....

1 for 0 after 3 but two of those are Gillespie with Harrison at the ther end.  Trescothick and Kieswetter take their usual places for the home side.  the sun is out and the cloud has cleared to high wispy stuff and it's become very May like with much less wind and much more heat.

Once again we have connection problems for the second half but other than Wharf comprehensively bowling Marcus for 15 in the 9th with the total on 30, not a lot has happened.  Alex Wharf did not open the bowling, it was his forst over and the wicket came just after MT had delivered the first legitimate boundary of the innings (Craig hit one earlier but you couldn't honsestly say it went wher he meant it to).

Zander de Bruyn strode out in the number 3 slot and presently we are at 37 for 2 after a second more emphatic boundary but Zander smacks one out towards the boundary only to find Kieswetter still n his crease when he gets 2 thirds of the way up to his end.  He nearly got back as well but is run out for 0.  It was his call, the keeper just didn't move! Daft!

With the runs hard to come by, settling in and getting a base is important.  Unfortunately Craig Kieswetter seems to be ken to make amends and smashes a Wharf ball straight to Tom Maynard at extra cover so rather than doing that he puts us a bit more into the mire at 39 for 3.  Whats more, we now have Ian Blackwell at the crease in an unusual position for him where there is a sparsity of runs and he needs to drop anchor and see some people off!!  Hildreth at the other end...might be interesting - if they can resist the urge.

And it gets better - Hildreth is given out LBW for 2 at 45 with 14.4 gone and Justin Langer arrives to get his team out of the brown stuff at 45 for 4 needing 177 to win off 35.  His first two balls both keep low off Harrison and it does not look good. The weather isn't going to save them either because it is saying that at 15 overs we should have 95!!  With Trego and Durston to come before we get into the tail these two have to buckle down and make a significant inroad into the runs needed or we will run out of possible saviours.

As the bells toll in a doom laden fashion behind the OP, Blackwell tries to kill a steward in the Botham stand one ball after moving past a team 50 in the 17th.  Calm down Ian (because he then tries to do it again to the scoreboard and goes high enough not to put it in a fielders hand)!  We need these two to be here for 30 overs at least.  Dalrymple is brought on to clear the decks , full tosses IB  and finds the ball returning at speed over his head to the OP boundary.  But it isn't good enough because at 74 in the 22nd, Langer gets one right in the centre of the bat and drills it straight to Dean Cosker who juggles it for what seems like hours before hanging on and invitng Wes Durston to come and try his hand at gettting his side from 74 for 5 to a winning score of 222.  It doesn't seem likely from here.  The bells keep on tolling and the cloud starts to roll in.

Then Ian rolls out, walking across his stumps he fails to hit one from Cosker and is LBW for 42.  Good but not enough and we're left hoping for a 120 run partnership between Wes Durston and Peter Trego to save a game we should have walked.  Even if we win this one (and personally I don't think we have a hope) it hasn't been good.  The 100 arrives in the 26th but we are even behind Glamorgan's run rate (although to be fair they only had a decent one up to 30 overs).  An indication was that they had 144 at 30 overs - we are cetainly going to be shy of that.

The size of the job becomes even more apparent when Wes misjudges a Dalrymple ball, gets a leading edge and the bowler gratefully accepts the sitter of a catch.  108 for 7 and Thomas is promoted up the order putting Steffan Jones down to number 10.  This will be the first "FPT" win for Glamorgan against a first class side since 2001 .......IF they can win.  D/L has moved to 175 as we need 99 to win off 17 overs - 123 for 7 at 33.

Alfonso is looking interesting, all little chip shots and unorthodox bits and he pushes the target with Trego to 147 (with a huge six to the EBC from PT to help it along).  But it can't last and Dalrymple has him plumb trying to whip one away at 36.2.  In comes Steffan wth us needing 75 off 13 and a half - still gettable but the wickets are running out faster than we are scoring. Dalrymple ends with 10 overs 3 for 47.

As the rate pushed up Trego had to look to push the score on and at 163 he dropped one into the hands of Wright on the miwicket boundary and it was effectively over and donee with as he left with 30 to his name and 59 required off the last 8 and a bit overs.  The Welsh seemed to believe it was over by the way they mobbed Wright but there was still Willoughby to come and the rain had gone.

But it's not over yet though as Charl hits one straight up in the air, Gillespie takes responsibility for finishing the game and then drops him!! We move inexorably closer to the winning total.  53 needed off 7. Wharf is on at the River and we get the runs needed down to 50 as Willow reads Wharf's slow ball.

Harrison comes on at the OP with 50 off 6 being the target.  Jonah puts one over the pavillion for 6 in defiance and then he puts another one into the "shop front". After stealing the strike after taking 13 off the over we need 33 off 5.  He then puts Wharf into the scoreboard with another mighty blow.  Charl needs to block out now as he faces Wharf but he takes a single.  25 off 4.2 overs. A single puts CW on strike and he blocks.

24 off 4.  A run a ball.  How important was that drop from Gillespie? 2 off the next ball brings up the 200. Steff  swipes and misses but gets a run because he fools the keeper.  Willow just has to block but he strokes the single to get the big hitting Welshman on strike.

And then it ends.  The glorious resistance of Jones and Willoughby which has people in the press box panicking about having to re-write their copy comes to an end as Jonah miscues and Wood takes the catch in front of the 'cowshed' bit which the EBC now sits on.  We lose by 19 runs but we should have been home, dry and with our feet up about half an hour ago.  Great heroics at the end of a poor batting display which undid all the good work done in the first half by the bowlers.

It would have been great to see Steff beat the Welsh but unfortunately his own team- mates had left him with just toomuch to do.  What a story it would have been.

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