v Leicestershire @ Taunton TSL2 1 May 2005

According to the official site, here are the motley crew to pick from today;

"Somerset have named the following squad for Sunday’s TSL game: Sanath Jayasuriya, John Francis, Mike Burns, Keith Parsons, James Hildreth, Ian Blackwell, Aaron Laraman, Rob Turner, Richard Johnson, Gareth Andrew, Simon Francis and Matt Wood. "

No Caddick, No Nixon and four names to wrestle with. Will Woody come in for the out of sorts Burns or even SJ? If Gareth is being named, do you think he will probably play? Or will Simon Francis join the bowling line-up instead. Surely the in form Aaron Laraman will not be sidelined?

I think it'll be

SJ, Francis J,Burns (sorry Matt), Parsons, Hildreth, Blackwell, Laraman, Turner, Andrew, Johnson Francis S

Now this will be a real tester. The batsmen haven't done a lot and need to desperately. The bowling attack will be predominently new and hopefully hungry but they must take wickets!!

It would be very unfair on Matt Wood to be left out again but I don't think Garraway will risk him and leave out Mike Burns with his one day experiencelooking at the bowling line-up. I'm not sure it should save Burnsy at the moment but it probably will. I'd be equally as happy to see Matt walking out to bat.

Are they resting Caddick and Nixon or replacing them with more promising players? We'll know against Surrey won't we. Let's get behind those on the pitch and hope that our season really does start here this time!!

Starts at 1:00. I may be late with the end of innings report, usually about 4:30. Somerset Sound will carry the game so have an ear to that.

It's starting at 1 but it is very wet (although) it is likely to dry out - if it doesn't rain first!!

Team changes? Andrew and Frank Senior play (along with KP) but Woody misses out once more. We are out in the field in our nice new red and blue kit. Mainly blue with red shoulders. (the 20/20 kit is red with blue shoulders I think). Whoops got that wrong..SOME are out there in the real stuff others are still in last year's 20/20 stuff!  The new one day shirt looks like the one in the picture below which was displayed in the shop window.  They should all be here and being worn by the middle of May.  The 20/20 is the same only red where the blue is and vice versa I think.  The other is the new Championship shirt.

Johnson is opening from the OP to Sadler and Maddy. It's 5 for 0 at the end of the first and Simon Francis opens at the River. And produces a really good first, it's 8 after three.

Both bowlers are tight in the first 5 with only 12 conceded and some very committed fielding. Johnson has a difficult chance in the slips in the 6th when Maddy flashes. But they start to get a hold of it during the 7th and have added 15 by the beginning of the 8th.

Francis is looking good at the River, on the money with the odd surprising bounce and giving Maddy, in particular, a torrid time. He finally gets Sadler instead, caught behind for 16 with 29 on the board...well deserved. In comes Mongia

46 for 1 at 10 and Gareth Andrew on at the OP. In the 12th he gats Mongia "caught" behind, it took an age for Palmer to give and almost as long for Mongia to move but it's 58 for 2. He then absolutely totals Ackerman with his second ball and we welcome Aftab to the strip. Two members of the committee are on the balcony so it's a good time to show what you can do.

Laraman on at the River End and Gareth getting some in the 17th with 2 boundaries from consecutive balls. However Laraman gets the balance back by having Habib pouched by Rob Tat the start of the 18th 74 for 4. In comes the ex-Bristolian Mr Snape.

Then AL gets Maddy (and that's significant from past experience) an excellent catch by KP. In comes Nixon (not ours!). 80 for 5 at the 20th and both our guys have their tails up. Selection wins out at the moment - it seems that this is a selection decision and not a 'resting' policy and all credit to the management for that.

Gareth is going past the bat at one end and so is AL is doing the same at the other end as we move to the halfway point. At 22.3 its 87 so we are looking at something around 170? It's probably gonna be more than that.

Keith Parsons gets his chance in the 25th and they are still 10 short of the ton. We really should keep them under the 200 (yeh I know sorry!). The outfielding is sharp in all aspects and the bowling is still tight at the third stage changes. But the weather hasn't gone away, it' grey and it's cloudy and it could rain. It also means that the bowling conditions haven't changed and they'll get the same as us and we'll face the same as them (if that makes sense)

This is going to have to go on early for all those waiting for 4 because I am afraid I may be saying hello to you internet listeners in another format at the interval becuase I've got to go and talk to those people in the Radio Shack. Apologies for my lilting Northern tones...I did try and do it in a Somerset accent but couldn't keep it up. If anyone has the facility to record it....please don't.

The 100 finally arrives 2 balls into the 27th and they are still not getting away. The Foxes tend to base themselves around the preformance of Maddy and he's gone. They aren't being allowed to push it along and don't have the wickets to risk anything yet. Don't let 'em get away guys

The scoreboard dies is the last throws of their innings, the excitement is just too much for it...either that or it' forgotten how to click over this slowly! But the score isn't belting along as Larry and Parsy keep the press on. Aaron finishes an excellent spell of 9-2-17-2 as Johnson returns for the 33rd. 125 for 5.

And we turn to spin with Blackwell at the River and with 10 to go we are still holding them by the throat. They try to push on and we pounce at 138 for as Snape goes to Johnson caught by KP. In comes Otis Gibson. Sanath comes on and Gibson deposits him to the scoreboard ball 1

At 40 John Francis tips one he should have caught from Nixon and Gibson puts the next one into the car park. They are starting to ratchet it up but still 32 from the 200

It gets better when Nixon falls to AL offSimon Francis at 184 in the 43rd. Gareth back on at the OP and takes out Henderson at 187. With one to go it's 198 for 8 and Gareth takes the last a single off the first and Gibson gets the second. It goes high and drops just too far forward for Johnson, who is trying to run around a mound of sand. Last ball to Gibson at 205 for 8. And it goes over the OP and it's 211 for 8.

I missed about an hour of our reply but there was a bit of ummph (thanks Bagpuss). Losing SJ was a blow but he had done his job and John Francis is our one stable bloke to back him up.

Mike Burns is not in form and he scratched around but once he had gone (he will probably make way for Trescothick tomorrow) in came the perfect player for this game. Keith Parsons will nurdle you a win and although the radio suggested thatJF doesn't accumulate quickly enough, he anchors one end and provides Keith with the environment to push the score along.

With 39 overs down we need 27. It might not be pretty but it is a winning position. The fact that Snape put both batsmen down early (couldn't have happened to a nicer player) and Aftab dropped an absolute sitter in front of the River corner Somerset crowd shows we have nothing to be confident about. We could have been 70 for 4 and in trouble but we need the luck and it will give us the confidence to walk in against Surrey tomorrow believing we can get a result

200 up in style with a big Parsons one ball bounce boundary but we still need 12 off 12. A cut 4 for JF takes the pressure off and they hit a run a ball before KP wins it with a 6 into the river with an over to go.

KP 91 andJF 73 - a 157 partnereship and SOME POINTS. Lucky but ruthless. In the words of Botham..."our season starts here". They're singing Is this the Way to Amarillo"...wonder what the lyrics are.

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