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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:04:07:12:53:17 by chunkyinargyll.

I assume one entry per participant?

Correct assumption

Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele

OK then. Here goes-

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Simpson
Berg
Rayner
Crook
Murtagh
Collymore

12th man Tobias Skelton Roland-Jones.

Ofcourse ScottyNewman fans hands are somewhat tied, as I assume he has to include his hero in the line up!

Why a Northants player?

Strauss.
Robson.
Rogers.
Malan.
Dexter.
Morgan.
Simpson.
Berg.
Murtagh.
Finn.
Colleymore.

12th Man Rayner.

Well I lost every other comp this winter, so why change the record?

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Morgan
Simpson
Berg
Murtagh
TR Jones
Collymore

12th man Crook.

Why a Northants player Vic? Coz Kev can't find a pic of Crooky in a Middlesex top maybe? Come on Kev get a grip.

Glad i dont have this job every game!Wrote down names,scribbled them out,added others,its not easy.

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Simmo
Berg
Rayner
Murtagh
TRJ
Collymore

12th man Crook

But,if Strauss,Morgan or Finn are free from England duty............Newman finds bit of pre-season form it could all change!

More chance of Jonathan Winsky being in our starting line up than Eoin Morgan.

Darn, just lost my bet,I had you down for 30 mins to an hour before chewing on that bait Chunky!!

Could be the tie breaker though.

I intend to enter this nearer to the start of the season, although I am aware that this could impede my chances of winning. I plan not to take much notice of other people's entries in case it influences my entry. Therefore, I wouldn't know if anyone says either myself or Eoin Morgan will play at Taunton!

The amount of comments on this article is impressive considering it has only been up for just over an hour.

On the assumption none of our England players available I have to agree with others.

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Simpson
Berg
Rayner
Murtagh
Roland-Jones
Collymore
12th Man Crook



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:02:24:09:30:26 by lower pavilion.

OK here goes.....
Denly,
Robson,
Rogers,
Malan,
Dexter,
Simpson,
Berg,
Rayner,
Crook,
Murtagh,
Collymore

12th man TRJ

The final Test in Sri Lanka will still be in progress when we start at Taunton, so no England players available.

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Dexter
Malan
Simpson
Berg
Rayner
Murtagh
TRJ
Colleymore

12th man: Crook

Seems like a fair amount of consensus!

I went for Crook ahead of TRJ but I do think that is a close call. Don't forget- one of the tie breaks is batting order. If we all more or less agree on the team maybe the next poster should be brave enough to bat TRJ at 3, 4, or 5.

If Zummerzet bat first, and we lose a wicket before close of play on day 1, then TRJ may come in as nightwatchman!

Somerset bowled out in under a day at Taunton? That woulkd be some achievement.

I'm thinking about this, might throw in a wild card to be different.

Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Simpson
Berg
Rayner
Roland-Jones
Murtagh
Collymore

Sorry to be boring but that is how I see it. Crook 12th man.

Of course, it never works out as obviously as it seems.

My entry would have been identical to Dingy's. I will now wait for pre-season developments before submitting mine.

It seems a case of whether Robson or Denly will be no. 1 or 2 and TRJ or Crook at 9. Sadly, it maybe an injury that will open up more options.

Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele

Right, I'm going to assume that all players are available, but give 2nd choices for England players as you never know who might be dropped for Sri Lanka (Morgan in particular is at risk...).

Strauss (Newman*)
Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Morgan (Berg)
Simmo
Rayner
Murtagh
Finn (TRJ**)
Collymore

*Newman only because he will, not because he should! But if it is Newman for Strauss, Newman will be at 3, Denly promoted to opener.
**TRJ to bat at 8 if Finn unavailable.

Doing this has made me realise that having four openers might be a bit of an issue when Straussy's around....I still think we need another top class all-rounder!

More of an issue Luke might be that you have left the County Captain out of your side, you have not had a premonition about a rubbish bag and an icy step have you?

Cant imagine that anyone would consider Gareth Berg as anything other than one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Missed that Vic, I was still in shock that Luke had dropped the skipper when I posted.

Berg is on the teamsheet, given that Morgan won't be playing...

As for Dex being left out - yeah I do think that with absolutely everyone available, he should be dropped. He's only captain because Straussy is the England skipper....who would you drop? Would probably have to be Denly I suppose....can't see that happening.

Also, Dex's form last year was really dodgy, and if he hadnt been skipper then he would have been dropped.

In reality, I suppose Dex will probably play instead of Rayner to begin with? I'm not sure Newman will be dropped (as the replacement for Strauss) even though last season's form suggests he should be....

The ACTUAL first team will probably be:

Newman (due to AS England duty)
Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter (due to EM England duty)
Simpson
Berg
Murtagh
TRJ (due to SF England duty)
Collymore

12th Man : Rayner

If Strauss and Morgan were both available somehow (not going to happen), there's just no way you can get Dexter into that team....he would HAVE to be dropped, no matter how good a skipper he is....he has to justify his place in purely cricketing terms.

Is there any possibility of any more signings this winter? I still think we could do with another all-rounder or a mystery spinner.....

Batting (incl w/k):
Denly
Robson
Strauss
Rogers
Malan
Simpson
Newman
Morgan

All-Rounders:
Berg
Dexter

Bowlers:
Rayner
Murtagh
TRJ
Finn
Collymore
Williams

Given that Malan can bowl some decent leg-spin and Rayner is more of a slow-bowler than a spinner (sorry, Oli), I'd say we're looking a bit short in the all-rounders area, particularly as Dexter's bowling, whilst reliable, is not exactly threatening....and his batting last year was a major problem - apart from one big century and I think one 80-odd, he barely got double figures!

Luke- You have forgotten Steven Crook. He is a better bowler than some will give him credit for. I was surprised when Sky commentators said he was up to 90mph, so I would expect him to feature in at least half our cc matches. also Tom smith- the only way to find out about someone is to play them. He could well feature in second half of season.

It's true all selectors of all teams tend to pick 6 batters rather than leave someone out, so I would agree when Strauss available, everyone moving down one, with Dex at 6, is a possibility, with him and Malan reasonable part time bowlers.

Don't forget Stirling - remember that David Warner was only supposed to be a T20 player a few months ago.

Like I have said, I have not taken much notice of the teams others have selected, so I can't comment on who is likely or unlikely to win and I am reluctant to inform my competitors of the dates of England's matches.

However, what I will say is that I see it as unlikely that we will make any signings for our County Championship campaign between now and the match at Taunton and that Neil Dexter won the Ignis Brooks Macdonald* Player of the Year Award plus Players’ Player of the Year Award and the MTWD Player of the Year Award the season before last, meaning I don't believe he became a bad player overnight. Personally, I have great hope that he can rediscover the form he showed in 2009 and 2010, although if he doesn't then I hope the club aren't afraid to take action if doing so was to be in the interests of the team.

* I originally wrote the name of our sponsors as at the time of the award, but I realised that the club would rather I fade and strike through their name and insert our new sponsors.

Jeezuz Harry H Christ JW they got to you too!!

I'd really love to know Luke just what Dex did to you either in this life or a past one as you really seem to have it in for him. More so than JW loves Simmo it would seem.

Your also unaware it seems that Denly is a pretty tidy bowler and some of Dex's bowling was top class last season.

Right here is my stab, I have jiggled the batting order a bit just to be different.

Rogers
Robson
Denly
Malan
Dexter
Simpson
Berg
Crook
Rayner
Dial M
Colly

12th man Smith.

Banking on a continuing drought, a dustbowl at Taunton and nobody pulling a muscle reading the newspaper, I rather boringly, go for:

Robson
Denly
Rogers
Dexter
Malan
Berg
Simpson
Crook
Rayner
Murtagh
Collymore

Simpson was in the toilet when the 4th wicket fell....

I must admit I didnt know that Denly bowled. That does change things a bit. But Dexter does NOT merit his place from last year's form. I agree, if he regains his form then things might change, but we have to go on "current" form. Who knows, Malan/Robson/Berg or someone might lose form and let him back in, but at the moment his batting is not good enough and his bowling, whilst better last year, is still not exactly brilliant, and I'd rather see Malan used as a spinner so that we can get more consistent batting into the team. Obviously things can change.

As for Crook - yes I agree he's good but I dont think he's ahead of any of Finn, Murts, Berg or Collymore, not to mention Roland-Jones who I thought was impressive last year....if he could develop his batting further so he was a genuine all-rounder then this could change things for him....

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Dexter
Malan
Berg
Simpson
Rayner
Roland Jones
Murtagh
Collymore

Don't think so, especially with him being linked for a loan move

Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Berg
Simpson
Rayner
Crook
Murtagh
Colleymore
12th man: TRJ

I was bored of work, so started thinking quite hard about this today and I've come up with what I think is our best XI statistically, and it threw up some surprises, particularly in the bowling department.

The final space in the team would go to Newman (Middx av in the CC: 33.17) statistically, so let's call that Denly because we all know Newman has lost form and looks likely to go to Kent on loan. Morgan (Middx av in the CC: 31.84) would also be close behind, but statistically would definitely NOT make the first XI, and oddly enough, neither would Steven Finn, unless you wanted to drop a batsman and play four specialist bowlers, which seems unlikely when you have Berg, Dexter and Malan who can all bowl quite well enough. With that in mind, I'd probably go with:

Strauss
Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Simpson
Berg
To-Ro-Jo
Murtagh
Collymore

12th Man: Morgan

In reality, I would imagine that it would be TRJ as 12th man with Finn in the team at no.10, despite the fact that Roland-Jones actually has the best bowling average of any bowler who has played for us in this century by some distance. Our current bowling attack is very impressive when compared to some previous ones:

(Qualification: 25 wickets. Listed down to Berg, who comes in 16th in the list)

Roland-Jones 22.6 (58 wickets) CURRENT
Clark 25.2 (25 wickets)
Kartik 25.7 (100 wickets)
Murtagh 26.1 (279 wickets) CURRENT - and just had the best season of his Middx career by a mile....
Collymore 26.3 (49 wickets) CURRENT
Fraser 26.4 (657 wickets)
Richardson 27.0 (139 wickets)
Johnson 27.7 (265 wickets)
Collins 27.8 (36 wickets)
Tufnell 28.3 (795 wickets)
Finn 28.3 (156 wickets) CURRENT
Styris 28.6 (49 wickets)
Hewitt 29.6 (159 wickets)
Crook 31.2 (26 wickets) CURRENT
Dutch 31.3 (26 wickets)
Berg 31.4 (78 wickets) CURRENT

As Berg is by far the best batsman out of that list, you can't really leave him out, so purely on statistics, it has to be Finn who misses out, doesn't it, strange though that sounds? Im sure by instinct we would all leave TRJ out if all others were available, myself included, but that bowling average is so far ahead of everyone else.....

What you have to take into account Luke is there are lies,damn lies and statistics.

Drop Hi Fi for TRJ? your 'avin a giraffe!!

No, I'm not necessarily saying that at all - Finn is clearly a great bowler. But it's worth thinking about. I didn't realise how awesome TRJ has been for us - that average is special...and it's a significant, if still quite small, number of wickets....

Luke- I understand where you are coming from, but the stats aren't completely the be all and end all. I notice you don't have a spinner in the team. Wheras an average below 30 is good for a seamer (and below 26 very good) for a spinner these days it seems an average below 35 is good. That doesn't mean you would never pick a spinner though. often in the first innings they are used to slow down the run rate, but don't take many wickets, whilst coming into their own in the second innings.

Also it can depend where you play your home games. Seamers at Bristol always do well, and Gloucester batmen tend to struggle, wheras in recent times, bowling at Taunton can be hard work, and batting easier. I know Scott Newman still has a good overall career average, but alot of that was at batsman friendly Oval, with some big individual hundreds cancelling out the barren periods, but overall not as consistant as he, or we, would like.

I really have no idea but here's an entry (pretty similar to most of the above...):

Key assumption: the England call-ups are, well, called up!

Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter
Morgan (I've heard he's not going to Sri Lanka?)
Simpson
Berg
Rayner
Murtagh
TRJ
Collymore

12th: London

Pantherlike- It's true Morgan is not going to SL, but the IPL starts at the same time.

Go to the IPL.

Go directly to the IPL.

Do not pass St Johns Wood.

Do not pick up your Middlesex kit,

etc, etc!

Bad for your health Chunky.

In reply to chunky re: spinners. I am well aware of the fact that spinners do tend to have higher averages for good reason (i.e. they concede runs quicker if they're attacking and get fewer wickets if they're defending), and I did take this into account when coming up with that XI. My thinking was that on an early season pitch, spinners are less potent, and particularly Rayner who is more of a slow bowler than a spinner, I felt, would be better off left for later in the season. Also, Malan can bowl decent leg-spin, so it's not fair to say that team doesn't have a spinner, even if Malan is very much a batsman who bowls rather than an all-rounder.

6ft and a lot Luke,you tell Ollie he's a slow bowler rather than a spinner,braver man than me Sir.

See your point in some ways though.

Haha. I rate Ollie - calling him a slow bowler is not an insult, they can be very damaging on the right pitches....

Dang, completely forgot about the I P of bleedin' L.......

Oh well, London gets the call up with Sam on the drinks....mind you Sam should be a certain starter now - go Middx!!

How can you even think about dropping Robbo after the season he had last year?!

With England/IPL players not around. The strongest/likliest XI is pretty much as the majority on here have suggested.

My unoriginal pick:

Robson
Denly
Rogers
Malan
Dexter*
Simpson+
Berg
Rayner
TRJ
Murts
Colly

12th man Crook
13th man Paul Stirling

Hope to get down for Saturday.

Well ML, it's cos I orignally picked a team, with one (Moggy) who wasn't going to be there so had to draw from the 12. Sam should be a starter of course I want him to, but just trying to pick the side in the spirit of the comp and to have a slight edge on everyone else!

My team is

1. Joe Denly
2. Sam Robson
3. Chris Rogers
4. Dawid Malan
5. Neil Dexter
6. John Simpson
7. Gareth Berg
8. Ollie Rayner
9. Tim Murtagh
10. Toby Roland-Jones
11. Corey Collymore
12th man. Steven Crook

With the addition of Andrew Strauss and Steven Finn when available, I believe this will be the nucleus of the team which will finish third.

Come on the Middle!

Re: Our Starting X1 for 1st Game Competition Posted by: middle_luke (IP Logged)
Date: 10/03/2012 16:34



(Qualification: 25 wickets. Listed down to Berg, who comes in 16th in the list)

Roland-Jones 22.6 (58 wickets) CURRENT
Clark 25.2 (25 wickets)
Kartik 25.7 (100 wickets)
Murtagh 26.1 (279 wickets) CURRENT - and just had the best season of his Middx career by a mile....
Collymore 26.3 (49 wickets) CURRENT
Fraser 26.4 (657 wickets)
Richardson 27.0 (139 wickets)
Johnson 27.7 (265 wickets)
Collins 27.8 (36 wickets)
Tufnell 28.3 (795 wickets)
Finn 28.3 (156 wickets) CURRENT
Styris 28.6 (49 wickets)
Hewitt 29.6 (159 wickets)
Crook 31.2 (26 wickets) CURRENT
Dutch 31.3 (26 wickets)
Berg 31.4 (78 wickets) CURRENT

As Berg is by far the best batsman out of that list, you can't really leave him out, so purely on statistics, it has to be Finn who misses out, doesn't it, strange though that sounds? Im sure by instinct we would all leave TRJ out if all others were available, myself included, but that bowling average is so far ahead of everyone else.....

With all due respects and fine player that he is...I doubt that Gareth Berg would consider his batting record to be superior to that of Scott Styris.

Played 29 NZ Tests HS 170 5 centuries and a respectable 36+ average.

More of a one day player for NZ. He played 180 matches 4341 runs @ av 32.88 4 tons and 27 fifties. Not bad for a bloke at 4/5 frequently in with the slog on.

Not too long ago I can remember Scotty singlehandedly almost, beating England in a Lord's ODI (I think).

This in no way denigrates Gareth...

Sorry, I should have clarified, I was referring to the current players only there. I don't think Berg's batting is that far behind Styris' though, to be honest....

At county level probably true but Scott played an awful lot of international cricket.

So comparison's are difficult.

He (Scott) also helped us out during the gloom off 2006. A rain sodden summer, relegation and the captain resigned mid season.

He stepped in as interim captain and put his head on the block meeting the critics.

A v.difficult year for the Middle on and off the field.

So Scott Styris gets my vote as an 'Honorary Man of the Middle' for services rendered on and off the pitch.

A bloke I suspect who never reached his allround potential due to numerous hamstring injuries.

Reviewing your list ML. Apart from Styris I pretty much agree.

Clark and Kartik occasionally shone.

Re: Our Starting X1 for 1st Game Competition Posted by: middle_luke (IP Logged)
Date: 28/02/2012 20:12


I must admit I didnt know that Denly bowled.

Fairly usefully in the T20/40/40 stuff it has to be said ML.

So long as he stays fit!! Why is it every season we seem to go into it with a main player injured ? Dexy's bin bags,Denly's "sports injury" ?

Seaxe - as I clarified earlier, I wasn't actually referring to past players, just the current players on that list. Its hard to argue that GB is above SS, but he's not far behind, and more to the point, we seem to all be agreed that he's the best on that list of the current players - which is the point I was making and the reason why he cannot be dropped!!!

Thought never crossed my mind ML. We are in 100% agreement on GB.

SS in his pomp a vg all rounder, though I expect if asked, SS might say his batting his stronger suit.

GB is a tasty allrounder now. A few years back SS was also.

Here's mine.

Denly
Robson
Rogers
Dexter
Malan
Simpson
Berg
Crook
TRJ
Murtagh
Colleymore

12th man Rayner

I need to go for something different. I reckon there's a chance they will be a realisation that wicket won't take spin, in an emergency can call upon Denly and AC's part time slow bowling. With little to chose between Crook and TRJ above will be line up. Need to give myself a chance of awarding myself a miniscule prize.

Jonathan- I think you should nominate your team by Monday evening at the latest. As far as I'm concerned, the moment Middle announce the squad of 12 or 13 for Taunton then it will be too late. They may well do this as early as Tuesday, so I'd get your team in sharpish!

For clarification I did state the closing date is 4th April midnight and will stick with this. JW's disadvantage is the longer he leaves it the less options available to have a unique team. ( Next season I will review rules to this comp.)

Only time well tell if JW's waiting game will pay off.

I admit when I put the competition up, would have put TRJ ahead of Crook. Now likely Crook will play so have gone for the 4 seamer option. Tactically, I have left it late to give myself a good chance of a miniscule prize from me.

Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele

I hope Joe Denly passes his fitness test. If he isn't in the squad then JW comes in and mops up!

And, if as predicted Denly is fit I can't see much scope for a unique side.

Not sure why people were leaving S Crook out. Look at his performances last season and he regularly takes wickets. To win you need 20 wickets more often than not.
5 seam bowlers will be too many considering Dex can do a job. Have now seen a brief bit of 2 games and have to say Malan looks quality. Think he will score 1500 runs this season.

I predict our XII for this match will be:

1. Joe Denly
2. Sam Robson
3. Chris Rogers
4. Dawid Malan
5. Neil Dexter
6. John Simpson
7. Gareth Berg
8. Ollie Rayner
9. Steven Crook
10. Tim Murtagh
11. Corey Collymore
12th man: Adam London

I apologise if my team exactly resembles anyone else's line-up. If so, it means that great minds think alike and that I cannot be the outright winner.

My team is like our first innings batting order for the match v Durham MCCU, with Denly replacing London and the player making way for Collymore being Toby Roland-Jones, as Crook appeared to win the head-to-head battle against Roly. The reason why I think London will be 12th man is because we may want to travel with cover for Denly, and because London looks a better fielder than Roly. However, I have faith Roly will get lots of chances to prove his abilities this season.

I was thinking of saying Robbo will face the first ball, as most people have predicted that Denly will do so, but it seems that habitually Denly faces the first ball with Robbo rarely doing so, so I expect that will happen when they open together for Middlesex.

Ah- you've finally committed! Surprised you have picked Joe Denly, since the only way you could win the minascule prize would have been to leave him out and hope he fails his fitness test. I was sure you were going to leave him out in favour of Adam London.

After waiting weeks, apart from 12th man, you agree with me. As AL is a good fielder I guess there is a very good chance he will be the official 12th man.

Infact you have been quite clever JW.

Under the rules it's 1) correct team. If that doesn't work 2) correct batting order, and if that is the same the final tie-break is 3) 12th man. Only Pantherlike also has London as 12th man, but then he had to spoil it by picking Morgan. Mind you, if Denly doesn't play then no one wins!!

Stop 'avin a pop at peeps who picked Morgan Chunky.

Personally I think JW's entry should be subject to a drug enquiry, if Joe D plays with just half a 40/40 game under his belt after injury I will be surprised.

Diamond- All I meant was Pantherlike had spoilt his chance of winning! The same would have applied if he had picked Stirlo, Ireland, or Williams, for instance.

Thankfully it will be the selectors who pick the starting X1 and they did a pretty good job last year, so get behind them, give them your support and accept that they know best. Supporters favour some players over others while selectors do a job to the best of their ability.
Whatever the X1 picked, let's hope they come home with the bacon.

I'm going for the same team as JW, but London to come in for Denly and Tobias Skelton in for Crook (just because I think he's more reliable, we don't want Trescothick taking 16 an over off Crook).

Sorry it's a bit late but here goes:-

1 DENLY
2 ROBSON
3 ROGERS
4 MALAN
5 DEXTER (Captain)
6 SIMPSON (Wkt. Kpr.)
7 BERG
8 RAYNER
9 CROOK
10 MURTAGH
11 COLLYMORE
12 LONDON



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:04:04:23:36:39 by TOP TIER PAVILION.

The Chunster is right I fear....forgot to look before I lept...

Nevermind. Moggy? Could've picked Gatts in the end!

Go Middx in Taunton - great to see Adam in the squad.

Kev asked me to judge and announce the winner. I will hang on until the first ball is bowled but I was told it was how it was announced on the various cricket feeds rather than what actually happens. The various sites I have looked at all have Robson at 1, and Denly 2, and Murtagh at 9, and TRJ 10, so whilst several people got the team right, no one got the batting order exactly right,

Result shortly!

Well Sam Robson DID face the first ball, so that proved a useful tie break. Noone had Murts at 9, and TRJ 10.

So I am going to declare Seaxe Man the winner, as he was the only one to predict the correct 11 AND who would face the first delivery.

Quote:

Jonathan Winsky
the player making way for Collymore being Toby Roland-Jones, as Crook appeared to win the head-to-head battle against Roly [in the match v Durham MCCU]

Hopefully the club's decision to select Toby Roland-Jones rather than Steven Crook will be justified.

Quote:

Jonathan Winsky
I was thinking of saying Robbo will face the first ball, as most people have predicted that Denly will do so, but it seems that habitually Denly faces the first ball with Robbo rarely doing so, so I expect that will happen when they open together for Middlesex

As seems to be the case in many aspects of my life at the moment, the amount of time I spend researching things appears not to be paying off considering Sam Robson actually faced the first ball. I have spent most of the last couple of days studying for an exam in a fortnight's time, yet I still don't think I have mastered the subject. As a result of all the studying, I have lost my passion for cricket and don't feel as excited as I would like to be about Somerset v Middlesex.

At least I think I got 10 of the 11 right plus the 12th man, with seven in batting order.

Quote:

chunkyinargyll
it was how it was announced on the various cricket feeds rather than what actually happens

As the result of this competition is being based on the various cricket feeds, I am glad we didn't have to predict Gloucestershire's XI for their match v Essex, as their XI on the scorecards on BBC and Sporting Life show some of the bowlers high up the order and some of the batsmen low down, which is certainly not what the actual order will be.

Johnathan I hope you appreciate that there is no 100% full proof method of judging this competition and only a bit of fun anyway. Shame for you, there is not a Google advanced team tool.

The reason why I felt it best to go by the starting line-up rather actual batting line -up was in case of a night watchman or an injury half way through game which could have changed matters dramatically. Internet feeds are generally accurate, but if they were any contentious issues I would have referred to the actual scorecard at Taunton.

Congratulations to Seaxe Man. A miniscule prize on its way to you. I must say if I was quick enough that would have been my X1, although not sure of order.

Scorecard order as per our very own Mr Don Shelly should be the ultimate answer to any order.

Well done Seaxe Man, see three months without a pc and he can still win comps on here.

Lower Mound wishes to point out he got the XI correct and had Tim Murtagh, Toby Roland-Jones and indeed everyone bar the openers in the correct order. He says he is not seeking the prize of a pen, but recognition that he did well in this competition.

Congratulations to Seaxe_Man.

By the way, my mention of the Essex v Gloucestershire match was just to have a laugh at the batting order stated on the official feeds rather than to comment on the reliability of these feeds.

Well done Seaxe-M !!

118/4 after the first day. That Philander must've been a handfull?!

Yes JW, Lower Mound did get the correct team. I think a few others did too, as hardly anyone went outside the same 12 names to make the starting line up. Seaxe Mans entry was 3 days earlier than LM, and who was first was also part of the decision. As far as I can tell SM was the only one (certainly the first) to get correct 11 AND Robson to face first ball. Batting order was used as tie break.

I think the line up should be as the first scorecard at taunton,this is the team they put on card:
Dexter
Crook
Ireland
London
Malan
Robson
Rossington
Rayner
Scollay
Simpson
Smith
Williams

The above is in the order printed,an insert was quickly printed and added!

Beefy- If that's true (and why would I doubt you?) that really was wishful thinking by someone at Somerset ccc!

I suppose that Lower Mound cannot be considered the outright winner.

I can confirm that the Somerset v Middlesex day one scorecard named several 2nd XI players, as that story is mentioned on Cricinfo's live blog of yesterday's County Championship action under "10.45am: David Lloyd at Somerset v Middlesex".

A page on Somerset's official website about ways to follow day one showed the XI which appeared on the scorecard, although that page has since been edited to hide the evidence.

My only guess is that the XI shown on the scorecard was based on the line-up for our friendly v Northamptonshire.

Jonathan- I take your point that in one sence your dad was as right as SM. Both entries had one place wrong in the official batting order- SM getting 1 and 2 right, but not 9 and 10, and Lower Mound visaversa, but SM wins as he was 3 days earlier with his entry.

I wouldn't want you to think I trawled through this thread looking for a 'Stop Winsky' candidate. (as if I would!)

Yes JW as i stated above with the team on scorecard!

Sadly have discovered this earlier than I liked Dial M is actually batting above TRJ. Hope this proves to be a good move.

Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele

Thank you all chaps...the luck of being 98 I guess..tho have to admit, feel it with the current icy blasts...

And congrats to Murts...on his 45...might get you in the Ireland T20 team come Sept Tim...with Joycey and Stirlo there...a home from home...

By Sunday we will know how crucial those runs were...