The Appointments.

Somerset have appointed the 35 year old Richard Gould as their new Chief Executive as of 25 July (although Peter Anderson is leaving at the end of this week it seems).  Brian Rose will become the Director of Cricket with immediate effect - an appointment which he called a "Fantastic Honour".  Rose was in the side that last beat the Australians so it was quite a poigniant moment!

Mr Gould brings with him a bit of razzamataz with his off-field events experience at Ashton Gate and he is keen to see what we can do with the place - if Frosty lets him on the pitch!  There was a real desire to expand the use of the facilities in the off season and this linked into the present feasibility study into the development of a multi-sports complex as part of the Taunton 'Vision' project which is being undertaken.  It was emphasised however that cricket was the priority area in the plans.  He seems a nice open bloke with a good sense of humour and may very well bring a new outlook to the commercial aspects.  He joins Giles and his Deputy Andy Nash and their function is to develop the commercial aspects - how many of you knew that Giles and Andy provide their services without salary - it's not a perception I've picked up through posts.  I've warned him about you lot but he seems a bit more IT literate than the venerable "Gladiator"

Brian Rose has the important job from our point of view and he is there because the nature of the squad will change over the next few years because of changes in the nature of finance.  He stated that his first job was to restore the secure base that we had created in 1999/2000 but not expanded on since.  He wanted to get away from the problems of the last 3 or 4 years and develop the youth policy.  This is because of the introduction of the Performance Related Fee Payment system.

This allocates points according to the 'Englishness' of your setup.  You earn points for your Academy structures, the number of youth internationals you have, A side players and full internationals - men and women.  You gain points for whether your coach is English or a foreign import (put that one away for now then guys and gals).  You gain points for the number of your side that are English qualified (bye bye "Kolpakset").  Between now (it has started) and 2009, a larger and larger proportion of our £1.35m which comes fro the ECB will be allocated on this basis.  The less English the academy, squad and coaching team the less money you get - it will rise to £500,000 of the grant in 4 years time.

We have only two players on contracts that don't end this summmer or next (Ian Blackwell and Andy Caddick).  Therefore the aim is to develop 7 to 9 first team players that are home grown.  This will influence the medium term future of any player over 30 who is not an established English international - (Mike Burns, Keith Parsons, Richard Johnson, Rob Turner) and encourage us to play more younger players earlier and therefore develop them through the Academy system.  It doesn't stop us bringing in other talent but they must be brought in to bolster a home grown side or we will not be able to finance them.

Giles also highlighted that that would also mean developing players in the off season and they are looking into ways of getting sponsored winter experiences for the young guys - if England think their players need it then it stands to reason that ours do too!  Bye Bye to the 'journeyman pro' - if you can't provide then you retire.  I wndfer how that will affect whoever gets a Benefit next year?  Caddick has already had his.  'George' is 2005's and Keith and Rob have received lately.  Will next year be the only other player on the books or another club one?  Is Richard J  the only candidate? He may need it on the basis of his future after 2006. What about Banger? Will he have a place to call home when he is no longer needed by the England setup?

Brian also talked about getting the passion back into Somerset cricket.  "A big crowd like yesterday is worth 30 runs for us..."  and he saw "...no reason why we couldn't win the 20/20 competition".  His role encompasses all areas of cricket development from the first class team to the schools and club sides about the county of both sexes.  That seems to be the only area where the two jobs will merge.  Richard Gould is expected to be the paid resource who provides the help to develop commercial aspects to finance and support the voluntary aspects of much of the county's provision.  Brian is to harness that and get the system working to push a Somerset bred, Somerset first class side providing the quality we expect.

Sounds good to me...and makes sense as well.  It also focusses the search for other players to provide the things we haven't got.  We are starting to know where our weaknesses are so we should be able to divert the limited funds we have to enhancing those bits while looking at home for the players to bring on to fill the need with local produce!

There we go....that was part one.

v Scotland @ Taunton 17 June 2005

Scorecard

So, how do you cap Wednesday?  Well the answer is you don't.  You pick your best side and you put the Scots away as unceremoniously as possible.  You don't mention the Aussies and you concentrate on the task at hand.

Mark Garaway has picked an interesting side for tomorrow's clash but he has little option because he has incurred even more injuries after the momentous game.  Gareth Andrew now has an ankle injury and will not start.  Aaron Laraman did not start mid week and we can only hope he is fit to fully contribute.

"Garaway has named the following team for the match: Graeme Smith (Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, John Francis, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Matt Wood, James Hildreth, Carl Gazzard, Aaron Laraman, Simon Francis, and Nixon McLean, with Wes Durston as 12th man"

Nixon returns and should be effective against the Saltires but he has failed to finish recent games he has started and we can only hope that he hasn't been brought back as the fittest unfit player we have to bolster our flagging attack.  Michael Parsons is not considered and that is a shame because he exhibited a lot of character in such a huge game against Ponting's men.

Carl Gazzard keeps his place, one would asssume because of his very cool batting under enormous pressure.  It is unlikely that the keeping will be that onerous tomorrow. Ian Blackwell also moves ominously up the order...quake in fear you trundlers!!

The batting picks itself and heaven help the men from "up there" if it fires again.  But don't expect it.  We will suffer from "Aussie-lag" and our Scottish bretheren will not be accommodating.  We have to put this one away as clinically as we can to show that we can do it when points matter as well as when it's a high profile, show-biz one.  We are national news now baby and we need to prove it was more than just an absolutely brilliant flash in the pan!

The Game

Smith wins the toss and puts the Scots in on a muggy but overcast day.  It isn't going to rain but the sun is going to be behind clouds for the majority.  The crowd is light - not surprising for a match on a working Friday I suppose.  The side is as predicted.

Simon Francis and the returning Nixon McLean open the bowling and everything looks promising.  In the fourth over, after beating the bat more than once, Frank Senior gets our first new era wicket when he has Watson caught behind for 5.  The going is slow as the Saltire batsmen find it hard to get our boys off the strip and they move to only 14 by the end of the 5th.  They aren't hitting, but neither are we!

But Frank does get it right again in the 7th and Watts goes the same way as his teammate.  Evrything is going to plan at 20 for 2.  Unfortunately the plan starts to unravel just after this as McLean finds it impossible to finish off an over after only one ball and leaves the field, never to return.  Was this guy really fit enough to play this game?  Keith Parsons finishes it but things get worse.  As the ball is whapped out in John Francis' direction, he takes evasive action by crouching down.  As he returns to his feet, Matt Wood who has collected the ball flings it back in and smacks John full in the head and drops him like a stone. On comes the stretcher and off goes Frank Junior to hospital semi-conscious.  13 overs gone and we are down to 9 men (Wes Durston and Mike Parsons are on as subs) they have 38.  It isn't a problem unless we get the batting wrong and give them too much to play with (!).

Smith brings himself on at 15 and they take a bit of a liking to him.  No big stuff but they do score freely off the captain.  The 50 arrives at 17.5.  I now have to comment on the choice of Carl Gazzard.  I understand the reasons why he is there and he is a player who keeps the game going.  His glovework can be impressive but it is still occasionally inconsistent.  Sitting today I counted about 8 to 10 runs I would have been hugely surprised to see us give away if we had another man with the gloves on.  There was also some excellent work but there are still edges that need work before we could look at him as a four day keeper.

Aaron Laraman comes on at the OP for the 18th and his first is very good and we are unlucky not to take the third Scottish wicket in the next over as Wes parries but can't hold on to a close chance off Smith.  But they are still taking a run a ball off the slow man.  However, order is restored with some excellent quick work from Hildreth and Gazzard who run out Gavin Hamilton going for a quick single (not quick enough Gav!) at 75.  But it is ominous.  The Scots are not the rabbits they were at the start of their one day oddessey.  This experience has definitely improved them as a batting side. Hoffman and Beukes expresses this with two sixes into the crowd in the next phase of this contest.  They haven't learned it all yet though, so when Hoffman tries for a third, Wood calmly takes the catch and we have them at 84 for 4.  It is becoming obvious however that a man called Beukes is not going to be as easy to get rid of.

He is joined by Cedric English (now there is a good Scottish name for a man of South African origin)! and they reach 25 overs on 84.  Arul Suppiah is on for Mike Parsons doing 13th man duties and he makes the mistake of getting in Blackwell's way as they both swoop down on a ball.  They bounce off each other (well Arul bounces off Ian) and very soon, Mike Burns becomes the 15th man to be used by Somerset in the field.  Blackwell does not make his first bowling appearance until the 29th over, he is being used later by Smith and there are mumbles about our captain's liking for slow bowlers (he hasn't got a lot else to be fair) and his unwillingness to use the big man until really necessary.  I didn't note when SJ bowled for the first time but it was well before IB got the chance.

The score moves past 100 in the 29th and we don't look to be getting them out but we do look to be keeping them in check at this point.  But that man Beukes goes to 50 (81 balls 2 sixes and 2 fours) as we bring on Hildreth(?)  Now I know we have problems in the seam department, and we think Smith may be keeping Parsons K and Francis S in reserve for the end push but we have plenty left in the tank and only 15 overs to go.  He seems to like to keep the batsmen guessing and never sure what is coming next.  No offence, James has bowled (at U19 he was looked on as an allrounder rather than a specialist batsmen) for the seconds before and his 2 overs for 11 were fair but will we under-utilise others because of this?  Smith continues to use his variation but the Scots start to move the score along and by the 37th they have 150 on the board and 168 by the end of the 38th.

Blackwell then weighs in as he bowls Beukes for an excellent 92 at 175 and out comes Yasir Arafat, the man from Pakistan.  They are still taking a liking to Smith but he does have one dropped soon after Arafat's arrival, another very difficult chance.  The slow men stay on but they are starting to see their run rates rise as Keith Parsons and Simon Francis stand in fielding places.  They have 200 in the 41st before we see Simon return.  There is no press, the home side don't seem to be energised into stopping the Scots scoring.  It seems like they have decided that anything they add from this point on Somerset can get.  It's all a bit worrying, even though they are probably right.  They have added another 19 before Cedric perishes to Francis off the bowling of Blackwell. With seven balls to go, no pressure and help yourself bowling Dougie Lockhart and Arafat get in a muddle and both find themselves at the same end.  Unfortunately, Carl G fumbles the ball and allows one of them to scramble back to the non strikers in time, my keeping worries increase. The six off the penultimate ball and the four to finish the innings are a wake-up call to our batsmen.  Let's get on with this and see it done!!  233 to win.

The bowling was never going to be world class but it was fair.  The real issue was that Keith Parsons was not bowled out he only just finished half his overs for 8 runs!!  Ian Blackwell was left with 3 unfinished but was the major slow wicket taker (2 for 44).  Aaron went for 48 off his 8 and GS the other main bowler used went for 44 without a wicket.  It was all a bit strange and smacked of a measure of complacency about the Scot's ability to post a match winning score.

So the succesful opening pair from Wednesday came out to show the Scots how it was done.  Bagpuss's dog seems keen to get in on the action and nearly hangs itself as it leap's the boundary fence with her holding onto the led at the time!  About the same time, Sanath Jayasuriya says goodbye to his time in the middle at Taunton as he waves a kind of cut shot at a ball from Arafat and is caught by Lockhart 1 for 1 and we may not see the Sri Lankan's like again - rumours are he is leaving this week-end and his 20/20 appearances are not happening.  It didn't work for him here - don't sign a sub continent batsman for the early season seems to be the rule for the future..

Matt Wood succeeds SJ here, and (probably for the rest of the season as well) the two batsmen make heavy weather of some fine tight early bowling from Arafat and Hoffman, 3 after 2 and only 9 after 5 overs.  It's not a worry...as long as it doesn't continue.  Somerset start to accelerate and have doubled the score two overs later as Mr Smith begins to put his shots together and we seem to be on track with 40 runs scored by the 10th.  Nel and Stanger take over from the opening partnership in the next 5 overs but we seem in no danger until Wood becomes the secoond victim to an excellent Watson catch at 67 in the 15th.  The outfielding of the visitors is ver very good, nothing is left to anyone else, if you are near it you go for it, if you are going for it everyone else on the team knows it.

Keith Parsons is the next man in at but he only faces 14 balls as Stanger castles him for 2 and Hildreth is the next 'chosen man'.  The total is starting to look hard 157 off 28 but we have the men on strike who can do it and Blackwell  in the bank still.  I start to wonder whether we let them get about 30 over what they should have because we did not press hard.  At 20 overs we have 84.  Duckworth Lewis is saying it should be 96.  It's all a bit flat and some bloke leaves to "..watch some paint dry".  By halfway we have 92 but an established pair and Smith on 40 - slow but steady is what we need.  100 comes up off Mason (change bowler) and GS reaches 50 (off 57 balls - it seemed slower - with 7 fours).  The Scots bring Arafat back.

There still seems to be no attempt to push the score along.  I speak too soon!  Hilda splits the OP field and hits the boundary.  Behind me I hear "...suicide shot but he got away with it" (?)  Smith does the exact same thing at the other end the next over and the cry of "...SHOT!" rings in my ear from the same direction (?).  The tempo has risen and 150 is up by the 30 over mark.  This is the point when Hildreth does become suicidal.  He runs Smith out, going for a single that was never one, the South African had absolutely no chance and was run out by a quarter mile.  He'll have to wait until he returns to the dressing room however before he dies at the hands of his irate captain!!  Stupidity!!

Ian Blackwell is next in at 158 for 4 in the 33rd.  He takes a sighter and then top edges for four, nearly taking the wicket keeper's head off in the process.  we need 68 off 11 - "68 off 11 that was 6 an over when I was at school..." - the comments are priceless from the rear of the Stragglers.  The Scots are fighting for every run, the bowl accurately and tightly, the in-field lets nothing past and we can't get 5 an over never mind 7!  By the 41st we need 60 and Blacky goes aerial to try and get them, straight into the hands of English on the cemetary boundary.  Gazzard joins JH in the same position as two days earlier.  But these two do move at a different speed and they start taking two's where everyone else hits the ball, admires the shot and then decides to stroll through for the single.  There is an urgency in their between wicket work that smacks of a desire to see a win.  It's 44 off 6 when Gazzard is dropped on the scoreboard boundary to a tumbling effort - he caught it but lost it in the tumble.  Hildreth tries the same but prepares himself for dressing room death as he finds Aarafat's safe pair of hands on 49 and kills us off again.  Not an impressive day for the young man - more like Wednesday please James.

199 for 6 and 4 overs to go.  How many batsmen do we have left?  Aaron Laraman is coming out and we know we have Simon F padded up but what else?  Well we pass 200 and add 7 so it may be academic.  Nope.  That man Arafat appears again and has Gazzard LBW for 18 with only one more added.  In comes Simon Francis and we first see 24 off 2 but then a decent penultimate over with 8 off it before Laraman goes to Hoffman caught Stanger.  It's all over...but wait!  Nixon is striding out, well not exactly striding as Matt Wood is also coming as a runner.  Memories of him taking 27 off a Caddick over for Hampshire flood into my mind and hope is re-kindled.  He takes guard at the start of the last with a mere 16 required.  Arafat totals him first ball, no John Francis and the Scottish Saltires win a thoroughly deserved game against a complacent and occasionally apathetic home side.

Not a lot more to say really.  While Smith was in it was always on the cards but once he had gone there wasn't a lot that could be done against a TEAM of players who suppported each other in every aspect of the game.  Scotland have come almost as far as we have fallen in the tactics of one day cricket.  We rely on the performances of a few individuals to cover up the big gaps in our ability to play a team game while they take their not too hot individual talents and mould them into a unit that is far greater than the sum of its parts.  We could learn a lot from them but we don't learn from experience or we would have seen parallels here with the way Australia under-estimated us and have treated the Scottish with the respect that they deserved.

Some Good News - John was given some tests and is fine.  He was on his way back to the ground near the end of the game - bet he has a headache this morning though!!

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