By Grockle et al
October 7 2016

So Matthew Maynard is not going anywhere any time soon.  Sorry those of little faith.... it seems he did have a plan after all.

Predicition versus actuality can be a funny thing.  There were many confident predictions of disaster from the posting public at the start of this season.  It should be about now that we should be speculating on the identity of our new DoC as Matthew Maynard's two year period in the job comes to an ingnaminious end as many expected it would.

But that's the joy of watching a side with a level of faith, occasionally it comes to pass that your faith is rewarded and the doomsayers and miseries who wander through the turnstiles on a regular basis it seems to look for ways to destroy the hopes and dreams of others are found to be lacking in their knoweledge and the players, management and coaches put together something that kicks them in the crutch and sees many scurrying back into the shadows to moan alone while licking their wounds and hoping for poorer seasons to come.

Matthew Maynard is NOT leaving it seems, he's extended his contract for another two years.  The conspiracys theories of his 'jobs for the boys' approach and lack of coherent plan seems to have been mistaken..... Somerset seem to be OK at the moment.  A decade's work on the pitch including a new draingage system, all for naught according to some has not killed the game in the county but seems to have changed the conditions to such an extent that we now petrify batting teams with out triple spin options!!  Kentish Townie must be revolving on something, I hope the old boy is still around and the deliveries of humble pie are winging his way as we speak.

Chris Rogers took time to bring his big bat with him but his presence at the helm of the Championship brought success in his first and final season.  A retirement with a finish that saw us pipped for the top CC1 spot by a bit of wheeling and dealing at Lord's, left us with a decisive victory against Notts and left him with a ton in both of his final innings was far more than many who have been here a long time could have thought possible.  He leaves but he has put something in place that the side will want to build on in the very near future before the idiots at the ECB destroy the Championship forever.

Our T20 campaign was a dismal failure and gave some of our new population the confidence to make predictions about the rest of the season, the quality of our management, organisation, coaching staff, captains, moral fibre, playing ability.  Certain individuals came under extremem crticism not least of which was Jim Allenby who seemed to be responsibile for everything that had gone wrong with Somerset since the dawn of time.  Admittedly the tactics he operated in the 20 over competition were quite remarkably out of date.  If you add to this a lack of information from the club about his own level of fitness and a public/on the field persona that did not immmediately endear him to his new supporter base, you can see why he was not Mr Popular for much of the first third of the season.

One could also say that such was the level of reality in which some commentators lived it would not have made any difference because they had taken a dislike to the concept of him at the sart of the season before and already had their flow charts on the wall showing how he and Matthew Maynard had planned out the downfall of Somerset CCC since their time in the cradle and were putting that plan into action, signing people who could not play the game so that the South West would never rise again to it's average levelof mediocrity for most of it's illustrious history except for the Golden Age of blessed memory when we'd beaten everyone to everything using two very talented guys who spent most of their time in the pub and a very tall man from a Carribbean island somewhere.

But the T20 was inept.  We finished where we deserved to finish, Reolof van der Merwe was our player of the tournament and his achievements were not what he himself would probably have called wonderful but he was the best of a very bad bunch.  The crowing from the cheap seats was load and proud.  Gleeful posts about young players leaving before the end of the season like rats from a sinking ship.  Prose about the demise of a DoC who couldn't do his job and the mates he'd brought in to enjoy the spoils with him were two a penny.  It as diffcult on the surface to argue with some of what was being said though there were some green shoots in there that seemed to be ignored in the 'Maynard and Allenby Moanfest'. 

Trescothick hadn't started too badly, we had not lost a Championship match even though we hadn't won one. Tom Abell and Johann Myburgh were starting to settle into some kind of form.  Rogers wasn't making runs but nice things were being said by the young bowlers about his field settings and on the field we looked more focussed and organised under his control.  RvdM and Jack Leach looked an interesting pairing in the slow ball department and the skipper turned to Lewis Gregory more than once and got what he asked for.  Tim G and the Overtons were making the tail a force with the bat....we weren;t giving up all that often.

So......... Shall we review?

Discussion started by Grockles.com , 07/10/2016 17:39

Grockles.com
07/10/2016 17:39

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:12:19:11:36:56 by Grockle.

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old boy!
08/10/2016 08:00

MM has been a success beyond all hope IMO. Assuming he has a suitable replacement for Rogers lined up, I see the only danger to us walking away with the Championship by the end of August next year is our brightest and best youngsters being picked for and ruined by the England team coaches!
Old Boy!

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Ronniesabre
08/10/2016 10:14

Not so much a review but a go at certain people.

it really was great to see Allenby stick it to some doubters too for me . Centuries please next year Jim !!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:10:08:10:31:59 by Ronniesabre.

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Grockle
08/10/2016 15:06

Ahh haven't finished it yet Ron and pots and kettles come to mind in that comment. Give and take seems to be the lesson here. I also missed the posts from you commenting on the doubters having a go at the site when they were in full flow early in the summer of 2016.

There were some very justified and knowledgeable comments made in the first third of the season about the deficiencies of the side especially in the T20 tournament. Those people were still making comments about the improvements in the side at the end of that season and the deficiencies that still exist,

We are by no means a finished side and the Championship is NOT going to fall into anyone's lap by right in 2017.

But you wanna take the ride, take the whole ride. Be there at the start and the finish. A go at some people? Damn right. You can't write what some did at the start of this season, then simply disappear when those predications are turned on their heads by the end of the season and expect to get off scot free.

If you want to dish it out you need the guts to take it. Those who want to retrospectively come on and explain their lack of posts from the end of June are most welcome to post under the story. Those who want to come on and continue to criticise the management and the coaching staff and the players and the skippers are also welcome to do so - the backup info will be interesting to read and debate.

There were some very vocal critics who upped and left the moment things looked better, their posting tailed off to almost nothing around the Middlesex CC1 game - I welcome them back with open arms. Come and tell us all how @#$%& we are now. Take yer best shot.





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2016:10:08:16:15:14 by Grockle.

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Brixtonian
20/12/2016 20:28

Hello Grockle, KT here posting under a different username to reflect my move South of the river.

I am of course, glad for you and other posters to eat humble pie about our pitches. Taunton is Killing cricket was based on the observation that it was extremely dull watching teams rattle up massive totals and the ensuing draws made it hard for us to progress and challenge for the title.

We regularly won more games away than at home and because the pitches didn't deteriorate we could bowl 140 overs on the final innings (in 2013 i think)and still not win.

Now finally FINALLY the club has twigged that if you produce results pitches attuned to your bowling attack you can actually er win. Durham and Yorks have been doing this for years.

So yes Grockle eat some pie on my behalf but also ask why on earth the club didn't do this earlier..

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Grockle
25/12/2016 10:18

Welcome back KT.... We'll have to see how it goes next year and go from there.

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