The Preamble

Mike Burns didn't make the last one day game because of an injury picked up in the one before that. Will Jamie Cox captain the side again after the victory in Scotland? Will the unlucky Ian Blackwell be back to show the England selectors what they missed out on in the Windies? Rumours are that he will and that puts Keith Dutch's position in jeopardy. It is doubtful that they will allow Marcus Trescothick to play but we've been wrong before and that would be very interesting...would Francis J step down? One would expect so. The injury to Richard Johnson is another area of uncertainty although it would be doubtful that even if he were fit, he would be back in after the performances of Simon Francis in recent games. One of the three would be 'rested' of Johnno is fit.

All this makes the positions of Keith Parsons, Carl Gazzard and Aarron Laraman uncertain. We could be offering Yorkshire a much stronger one day outfit on paper but with little time together as a team of eleven.

And what will the Tykes bring for our delectation? Mr White's boys will include familiar enemies in different clothing....Ian Harvey is not a name I remember with affection. I wonder if Mikey Vaughan will get a run out? Matt Hoggard will one would expect. Darren Lehmann is going home...but before this game? Phil Jacques (his replacement) will not be here in time according to the papers but I do not want us to be 'Larry's swansong before he goes to join the Ozfest in Zim etc...

We should be too strong...we've had immense battles in the past but the weather may stop it all if tomorrow is anything like today. We'll bring you the news as it happens and we will all hope that the momentum continues to build and that some things that haven't yet clicked make Sunday's news even better!

v Yorkshire Pheonix 9 May 2004 - Taunton

No Johnson, Burns and Laraman but Blackwell is back. Dutchy stays and Wood gets a run out. Cox captains, we won the toss and put them in. Pretty impressive batting line-up for them with both Lehmann and Harvey present (along with the home-growns such as McGrath, White and Wood) Wood and White open against Caddick (maiden first over) and Simon Francis (four ball from first delivery). It is going to be a tough one...7 for 0 after 2....and 33 off 4 suggests a long, long day.

As the bowling continues to NOT impress. Nixon takes over at the Old Pavilion for the 8th with 41 on the board. It's not looking hopeful. 51 arrives at the end of the over. Caddick gets White, then Nixon says goodbye to his replacement Silverwood at 79. It looks a bit better but there's only 11 overs gone.

Francis changes ends to replace a lacklustre Caddick but the onslaught continues - it's 98 at 15 and we revert to spin with Blackwell. The 100 arrives and the Francis experiment doesn't seem to have worked because Parsons bowls number 17 - nothing looks particularly dangerous. 

The resident moan merchants are having a really enjoyable afternoon! The main subjects cover 'Why isn't Bowler on half pay?', 'Which idiot gave Caddick a four year contract?', 'What is the point of paying Laraman and Johnson if they spend half the season on the treatment table' and finally how many over 300 Yorkshire will get against our 'club bowliing'. Oh the joys of Taunton now that cricket is here'... KP and IB seem to have pulled it back a bit and the Tykes have reached 118 in 20 but it is a base for allrounders, who can destroy you in 60 balls and we seem to be in defensive mode with less than half the balls bowled.

Wood reaches 50 but the pace has slowed. He then throws his wicket away caught on the boundary...and in comes the 'tailender' Lehmann at 132 for 3 (thanks to Parsons K). He might be short and round but he looks like he was born with a bat in his hand. Unfortunately, Blackwell was born with a ball in his and he's caught behind for 2 - 134 for 4. 138 at halfway...is 300 still on?

Well we seem to think it's a possiblity from the way we seem to be bowling.  Although the batsmen are settled and the wicket doesn't look threatening, we aren't doing a lot in terms of variation to make them think hard about their job.  Well not until Dutch gets a chance at the River and has Lumb LBW for 36.  The problem is that that brings Mr Harvey, the ex-Bristolian Aussie to the crease, complete with new D.Cork style hairdo!  He keeps things ticking over with McGrath until they decide on a suicidal run and that man Dutch wishes him farewell run out with a score of 207 on the board.

The trouble is that we don't squeeze them, McGrath puts on another 55 with Bresnan before he goes..and it's the number 8 that's making most of the runs...where is the killing punch?  It isn't coming from Andy C who seems to be at half to two thirds pace (1 for 50) or Nixon who doesn't keep them guessing and finally goes for 1 for 71.  We are down two bowlers but, to be honest, it isn't Johnson we are missing but Laraman!  Yorkshire put the pressure on and finish on 284 for 9 with a little flurry of two wickets for Francis and a run out.

The weather's warm and it is a score we have got near this year...but against different opposition.  As has happened in the past, the wicket we walk out to bat on seems to bear no resemblance to the one we bowled on.  It becomes a slow scoring batsman's nightmare from the moment Cox and Gazzard start.  Bresnan seems inspired by the side of our dull attack.  Gazzard puts a couple of impressive shots together before he flat bats to mid-wicket and we are on the back foot at 15 for 1.  John Francis isn't present because he got a ball in the face very early in our innings and so Rob Turner is next out...and then next out again, caught behind off Bresnan at double the score - 30 for 2.  In comes Matt Wood....and out goes Matt Wood first ball, bowled Bresnan.

Keith Parsons is left to do it again...sort out an innings!  But at least his captain for the day seems to have his head screwed on and is batting sensibly.  Unfortunately, KP can do little and is LBW 13 minutes later having added only 1.  It is slower than watching paint dry and there is no life to the reply.  We seem to have accepted that the score was too far away and we are defensive in almost everything we do.

Our last hope of pulling this one out of the fire is then striding to the wicket looking slim and confident.  Ian Blackwell could win this for us with an in-form Jamie Cox at the other end.  Buzz tends to bat at the speed of the man at the other end and therefore is a perfect foil for a rampant Blackie.  But Blackwell starts sensibly and is a more mature destroyer now!  Get your eye in first and then hammer it.  His stability is not helped by Cox asking for a runner in the form of Carl Gazzard...what the hell is happening to our fit squad of players....we've been here before!!

It also isn't helped by Blackwell being LBW to Silverwood after a partnership of 48!!  By the 14th over this game is dead and Somerset are playing to survive the innings.  Yorkshire in comparison are zippy in the field and very professional in their approach.  They have obviously done their homework, worked out a game plan and stuck to it.  If we had a game plan it was to save face while losing the game as far as most people could see.  There seemed to be no belief that we could win this from  the time when Yorkshire reached 200.

The rest of our innings?  Dutch lasted 9 minutes for 13, Cox got his well deserved 50 and showed spirit in a 36 run partnership with Caddick before Cadd was bowled by Lehmann(!!) Coxey didn't add to the score then (136 for 7) before he was out some 15 minutes later and Simon Francis was stumped for 2.  His brother didn't bat at all...another worry.

Review

So?  What to say?  We weren't good enough.  The game plan was poor, our execution of it was even poorer.  We were suffering from a loss of our in-form one day batsman (Burns) and our in-form one day bowler (Laraman).  We did not adapt and our frontline bowlers looked ordinary against a strong batting line-up.  With the weather the way it was, a lot of people asked why Jammie decided to field..it tended to suggest we were afraid of what they might get, or do to our depleted side.

We looked ordinary in the field.  Phil Tottle was talking about the club's plan for this season being to make a spectator not be able to tell who was winning the game no matter when they came into the ground.  We all knew from about over number 10 of this game that Somerset expected to lose!  We were quiet once again,no 'geeing up', little comment at all really - the bad old days had returned!

We seem to have an injury crisis once again, we can only hope they are niggles.  Burns, Edwards, Johnson, Laraman, Francis (J), Blackwell and Cox all seem to be nursing something.  Caddick still doesn't give the impression of being match fit.

It is a mini-crisis because we have started the season much better than before.  Our one day game was exposed today and we need to work on it to shake this setback off.  Our Championship form will be tested on Wednesday and we need to do better than this if confidence in a different Somerset for 2004 is to be maintained.  A lot of things were wrong today...they all need putting right quickly this time or they will fester and destroy us as they have before.  We need to get back in the hunt and for that we need to play like we want it very very badly.

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