v Cardiff UCCE @ Taunton 17 May 2006

Scorecard

A strange place in the fixtures for the university match to be but thank heavens it exists given the inconsistent beginning to this summer.  It allows Brian Rose to have a long think about the situation within the first team and allows some of the fringe players to have a go at making a mark in a squad that could be open to all kinds of possibilities given the poor start for many first team players with the bat.

The side to face Cardiff tomorrow looks very little like the one that lost to Essex on Saturday afternoon;

John Francis will open with Arul Suppiah hoping to get on the scorecard in a considerable way after a nervous start to 2006.  Neil Edwards gets his chance to show his ability at 3 - after a ton in the South African warm up, he has not been able to convince the selectors that he can make one of these top 4 places his.  It may be a make or break chance in this 3 dayer. James Hildreth did fairly well in the Essex game but has been chosen at number 4 to give him more time in the middle so he can solidify the foundations he laid last week.

The great news for most fans is that Ian Blackwell will be captaining the side against the students as part of his stop/start beginning to this year.  It is hoped that he can come through what is a fitness test I suppose, without a scratch and then lead the one day side against Hampshire on Sunday. Wes Durston keeps his place at 6 but Sam Spurway comes in to wear the gloves.  There has been some speculation about Carl Gazzard's position after some sparse innings with the bat and a bit of messy glovework in a couple of games.  A lot of the bowling options are new to both young guys and it is an opportunity for fans to see the other possible wicketkeeper scenario.  Big day for big Sam!!

The bowling attack will be led by Gareth Andrew hoping to show what he can do in the longer game after being preferred to his rival Peter Trego in the one day matches up to now.  Rob Woodman gets his first taste of 2006 first team action and we hope to see that the cobwebs of being an England 'opener' have blown away and the bowling is back on song.  Simon Francis is the third man in the pace group with a lot riding on a good performance.  The grapevine suggests that Frank Senior has been dealing with his own version of the 'yips' and we all hope this is the start of the road back to the better days for him.  Finally, it is reported that Dan Cullen asked to play in this game to get as much ball work on the Taunton wicket as possible.  If true it is a great advert for his commitment to the cause and let's hope he turns the ball and the Cardiff boys inside out!

A young side looking for more than just a win.  The weather may not be kind to them but it will be really interesting to see some of our up and coming players in front of, hopefully, more spectators than they usually experience.  Certain positions are up for grabs.  One or even two of the opening slots could still be a prize for someone, Number 8 is still an area up for grabs and we have been very lucky with injuries up to this point but we need backups.  Lots in this game and that isn't taking into account the quality of the opposition...that may be an even bigger surprise.

 Day 2

After a complete wachout on Day 1, the game started at 11:30 on the second with UCCE  batting after winning the toss.  So an early and important run out for our younger pace attack in variable conditions against a batting line-up few of us had any information about at all.  I wasn't there so I'll need someone to tell me whether they were very good or our pace bowling was somewhere around indifferent.  Even taking into account the fact that some University men are on the fringes of first team squads, the distinct lack of wickets is a worrying sign.  A 181 first wicket partnership against players we see on the fringes of our squad is not something any of us really wanted to see today.  The fact that the average run rate was 4.5 is not really the issue.  The 32 overs only generating 1 wickets is more of a problem.

In fact the wickets only started to fall when the spinners (all more experienced players came on) Arul Suppiah did the early damage getting both James and Clayden after excellent knocks. Cullen and Blackwell weighed in with one each and it was only the last wicket of the day that went to the pace 'workhorse' Gareth Andrew who ended with excellent figures of 18 overs 1 for 64. 

It doesn't seem to have been anything like a seamer's wicket but it is still of grave concern that the first team blokes played the major role and the players looking for starring roles in the 2006 season were effectively relegated to bit parts.  Simon Francis was only required to bowl 7 overs and went for 34 off them and Rob Woodman had even less ball time with 5 overs for 29 - not the two most impressive performances we'll see this year.  I doubt it has put a quandary in the mind of Mr Rose as to who to pick on Sunday.  Debutant wickie Sam Spurway seems to have done well with the gloves, notching up three catches to the spinners but other than that I can't see this game giving any of the present encumbents of the bolwing places sleepless nights.

The boys from Wales went in with 302 to their names for the loss of half their contingent.  One would expect an early declaration tomorrow to give the other half of our side a chance to show something with the bat.  On this pitch one would expect that to be something worth watching...unless the students ARE that good.....in which case, we could do with a few solid opening bats Brian!!  What will tomorrow bring? Well let's hope enough decent weather for the Somerset bats to make a game of it by bringing us a morale boosting run chase.

Day 3 (2)

As the student body declare immediately, we get to see what our prospective opener candidates can do to the Cardiff attack.  I don't personally see Arul Suppiah in an opening position but I'm willing to be convinced because I am beginning to think of him as a top four batsman.  He gets the breaks but poor old John Francis, in here to get some time at the crease and refind the frontend form of last season, doesn't.  One run and no answers is what Frank Junior returns to the Colin Atkinson with 4 for 1 after facing 20 balls and getting off the mark.

That does bring the "Somerset Enigma" to the crease, the batsman without portfolio - Neil Edwards - who must feel like he is playing for his first class career in the West Country.  He looked very very fine in the early 2004 season after a big century innings at the end of the 2003 and when he walked out with Matt Wood to open, I have to admit I had deja vu because they looked so like Trescothick and Lathwell.  But it all stalled and we hardly saw him anywhere last year.  But he's back, although not seemingly in first thought contention for a batting place.  He may feel a little better after today though as we move through a rain affected set of sessions without further problem really.  Edwards followed Suppiah past the half ton at 123 and then retired to allow Ian Blackwell some time in front of the fire before the game was brought to a halt.  A decent 66 for the young man and surely some presence in the team selection talks as we move toward June.

IB got a bit of time at the crease before the game came to and end in a draw making a distinctive 38 off 27 balls with a flurry of quick fire 4's and a cleared boundary.  The it was over.  What did it tell us?  Well I'm afraid it confirmed some concerns about the pace backup.  Rob Woodman may not be ready yet and Simon Francis is in a place he would probably like to get out of quite quickly.  The spin options held up with that man Suppiah out bowling his more talked about compardre Cullen.  The big man from Derbyshire came through unscathed (we hope) and will lead the boys out on Sunday all being well and Edwards must have done enough to be looked at while poor old JF's woes are not yet over - but they will be John.  We've seen you bat and it will come back, hopefully with a vengance.  Thanks to the UCCE boys for sticking around and giving as good as they got with the bat and back we go to the very serious stuff the day after tomorrow - weather permitting.

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