v Hampshire C&G @ Taunton 20 May 2006

Scorecard

The official site expects the rain to clear early, the reports and present conditions in and around the town suggest a truncated game on a damp pitch.  It's vital we pull off a victory and we have Warne and the Hampshire boys to face to do that.  The greatest spin bowler of all time is not a particular favourite at the County Ground and the feeling has been mutual on other occasions, how many remember Peter Bowler's offer to sort him out at change of innings around the back of the Colin Atkinson a couple of meetings ago?  However, it hasn't stopped him stuffing us almost single handedly in recent visits and we can't afford for that to happen today.

There are a few questions about our team make-up but the return of Ian Blackwell is welcomed universally I would imagine.  The Cardiff game mid-week told us little except that the bowling choices up to now are probably the best we could pick.  The batters got little real time out in the middle against the students and the one extra resource we seem to have found in Neil Edwards will be playing for Cornwall today and probably isn't yet suited to the shorter game anyway.  John Francis is not expected to make a return to the one day side so the upfront batting question is; Will Carl Gazzard pinch hit?

I personally hope not but I think he might with Arul Suppiah coming in at 3. Hildreth, Blackwell and White will contest the 4,5 and 6 posts and Wes Durston may play at 7. As Gareth Andrew did nothing wrong during the week, he will probably stay in the fourth seamer spot if Dan Cullen is not preferred on a wet wicket.  Again, I would rather, personally, see us try Peter Trego purely on a batting consideration but it hasn't happened yet so.......One would expect Caddick, Johnson and Willoughby to make up the bulk of the seam attack as they should all be rested after a half a week away from the action.

It isn't raining 15 miles from the ground at the moment (9:00 am) but it is very very wet and the webcam at Richard Huish may be an hour old but it isn't exactly showing blazing sunshine.  The meteroligosts say we've got rain from the tip of the Peninsular to the edge of the Midlands today.  We can only hope that the micro-climate that sometimes hovers around the County Ground hovers today and we get the chance to turn Mr Warne's final visit here from a celebration into a personal wake!

More to come if there IS more to come later.....

The news is that the rain is persisting down here but people are upbeat about this afternoon. That means I have an appointment with the gym (Whoopeeee!), the Hampshire guys are playing crib in the restaurant and the umpires will be inspecting at 1:15 to make a decision on what is going to happen. The ducks are having fun on the outfield at the moment and all the covers are on the ground. The public seem a little more sceptical about proceedings, the people braving the outside number about 50 at the moment.

In my preview I committed the cardinal sin!! I missed out Keith Parsons . According to the programme he is playing at 5 with White at 4 and Blackwell at 6. Significantly, no James Hildreth and Gareth Andrew is preferred to both Peter Trego and Darren Cullen on a wicket that probably won't be of much use to spinners (hopefully). There have been no announcements of changes, and probably won't be until the weather situation sorts itself out....if in fact it does. More detail about 2:00 if anything changes. Off to sweat!!

The inspection was called off because the weather looked very poor. By 1:40 the game was called off and the hot food was binned, people started moving off, a bus from Porstmouth started the journey home. Frosty reckoned we'd get no play anyway and was expecting nothing until 4:00 at the best. The umpires shook hands with the groundsman and we were all preparing to leave.  Even the scorer had to be called back as he was on his way out of the ground!!

It's a Grand Outdoor Life Phil!!

(photo Alain Lockyer)

Then, at 5 to 2, there comes another announcement that the match hadn't been abandoned and there would be an inspection at 3:15. The Portsmouth bus is called back and at the moment (2:45) the covers are off and they are rolling the pitch. If everything stays OK, the match could start as a 20 over game with a 10 minute changeover at 3:30. We've got sun....it could happen!!

The umpires have decided to look again at 4 because the outfield is very wet. The debate in the pressbox is to do with whether you can call a game back 'on' once you've called it 'off'. There seems to be nothing in the rules that says they can't but it's all a bit daft and no officials from the ECB can be found to verify the position. We've got players on the pitch sort of warming up and possibly a game on - who knows? The umpires won't talk to anyone so we have little idea after 4.

At 4:20, after a small shower, they decide to play an 11 over thrash at 10 to 5. We won the toss and put them in. The side has altered. James Hildreth is in for Arul Suppiah and Peter Trego replaces Richard Johnson. It's not certain yet though, the sun is out but it's still a bit iffy

Carberry and Thornely are at the crease. Willoughby opens at the Pavilion and Hildreth drops a drive third ball from Carberry but we keep them to 3. Caddick from the River. Carberry skies ball number 2 and Trego slaps his hands around it. 4 for 1 and in comes Irvine. At the end of the second they've belted to the grand total of 10! However, Thornely is not hanging about and he smacks Charl for 10 off 2 and they take 14 off the third.

It was play but it wasn't Pretty!!

(photo Alain Lockyer)

They give Cadd the long handle,clearing Blackie in front of the CA on ball 4 but not on ball 5 as a slower delivery is too short and Thornely goes to the safe hands of the skipper. 35 for 2. Mascarenhas is in facing the change bowler Andrew and the rain which has started again. 45 at the end of the 5th and it's Caddick who gets the 3 overs while everyone else gets 2. Trigger is on at the OP and starts with a wide. Down comes the rain and at 5:15 at 56 for 2 with 6.1 overs gone, we go off again. That has to be it surely.

And it is.  I'd left the ground as the rain stopped and then came down again, the game was going to be a 10 over slog but the Hampshire boys never even got on the pitch.  What a farce of a day!  Most people could have told the umpires at about 12:30 that there was little chance of long term play and we could have all gone home.  But if they were trying to get someone at the ECB to tell them what they ought to do, they probably came up against the same problems we had, there didn't seem to be an ECB official available - you'd think they'd have some kind of Duty desk when cricket matches are on wouldn't you just in case there are rule issues.  According to the great Woodcock (speaking from his home), this situation of a game being called off and then on again has never happened before.  I said I'd consult our guru Frome Exile to confirm that fact.  It all came to nothing in the end and we both walk away with one point.  Shane wanted to play, I'm not so sure we were as convinced and the umpires didn't get it quite right.  In the end the main story of the day was what did Peter Trego do to his Toyota Supra on the way to the game that turned it into a kind of L shape with bits hanging off the passenger side?  Good job it wasn't the drivers side Trigger or you probably would have been playing for the Almighty XI in another place.  Think there might be a little bit of work to do on that lovely silver chariot before it sees the road again!!

Ouch!!

(photo Alain Lockyer)

On to Leicestershire...weather forecast isn't good though!!

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