Somerset
The Blast Quarter at Northants - will it be four in a row?
By Grockle
September 8 2024
The usual suspects return to try and wake up the T20 momentum from before August. It's like the last month or so never happened. No Meredith who was only possibly available for the final, no Pretorius who it was possibly hoped might be available but went down with an injury so who do we turn to? Roelof!! Fingers crossed
Blast Quarter Final - v Northamptonshire @ Northampton Thursday 5 September 2024
The T20 side to hopefully send us to our fourth consecutive Finals day is;
Banton, Smeed, Abell, Kohler-Cadmore, Dickson, Gregory, Green, Overton, RvdM, Davey, Ball
No George Thomas even in the squad, no Goldsworthy as the spinning all rounder, no Leach, no Aldridge as it seems Ball is fully fit. The county have gone directly back to the line-up as if franchise cricket hadn't happened and despite the fact that some players picked have had very little cricket in the past 6 weeks and may not be our in form players presently.
We lose the toss and are put in to bat so Tom Banton and Will Smeed go out to start things off. It's good the game was in the North as a South West fixture would have been washed out by lunchtime. The weather looks fine in Northampton so with luck it will not be rain affected game.
This will be the effective end of Will's season should we not succeed tonight because of his white ball preferences, he takes his place back from Thomas with something to prove to Somerset fans as this has not been his season in many ways. It does not go well as he is the first to fall after 6 balls to Willey with the score on 10 caught by McManus. Not a great start. However we do seem to be keen to push it on as we send in TKC and he looks to move the score on with Banton, our T20 bat in form. Willey and Sanderson ask questions but the Somerset pair seem to have the answers, especially Banton who looks in decent touch while TKC seems to be willing to let him have the strike and settle in for the long haul not a usual Kohler-Cadmore strategy.
Northants run through their bowling options with White, returnee for this game Agar and Zaib all coming on to try their luck. However the score moves on with Banton passing 50 and Somerset passing 100 before the Somerset keeper finally goes to Zaib in the 14th caught by George Bartlett for an excellent attacking 75 from 43 balls with the score on 135 and the visitors firmly in this game. The decision to not then send in Abell suggested that Somerset are looking to push ahead and that seems to have been the message to TKC who took over the role of high scoring passing his own individual 50 before finally going himself for 64 also off 43 balls at 171 for 3 in the 17th. Gregory joins Dickson and they push the score to 215 for 3 in 20 partly thanks to 2 spinning overs courtesy of Heldreich (18) and Broad (14). Dickson takes 33 from 17 while Lewis takes 20 from 12. A good score but not that far over a par for tonight given our 'variable' bowling attack.
The Reply
A lot will be asked from Overton and Davey tonight as Vasconcelos (suffering from a broken finger from the abandoned match at Bristol) and Bartlett once of Taunton parish come out to open the Northants innings. It doesn't go well for George who is on his way back before the end of the first over for 1 as TKC catches him off of COve. 1 for 1 and a great start for the visitors. Willey enters the fight and is certainly keen to move the score on at the start of his game as the two Northants men push the score ahead of Somerset's and over 50 before the courageous Vasconcelos falls to Gregory in the 8th over. Somerset hope that the speed of scoring will now slow though new boy Broad looks to help his skipper continue to push it forward.
They have moved past 100 before Broad is caught and bowled by Somerset's captain at 114 in the 13th. The game is still on hjowever as only Craig's 4 over spell has kept Northants in check with an excellent 1 for 22. The next tightest bowler is Davey going for more than 8 an over while Ball (10.25) and Green (16) are both struggling to keep their over tallies in single figures. Gregory is also going at over 8 but at 151 in the 16th he does get the dangerous Zaib caught by Abell to effectively put the score beyond the rest of the home side batting line-up while taking his own wicket tally to 3.
A 12 run over by Roelof gives them hope but the loss of Willey for a 39 ball 57 at 159 for 5 caught by the Dutchman off Ball leaves Agar and McManus too much to do in too few balls. They fight to the end with Agar putting the ball into the stands more than once but they fall short by 17 runs at 198 for 5 and we move on to Edgbaston next weekend to join our South group partners Surrey (who we play in the first semi final again!!), Gloucestershire with the fourth space being taken by Sussex.
We will need to bowl very much more sparingly next Saturday if the chance of the first 'Cider Final' in 25 years is to be a possibility. Surrey are heavily hit by England call ups etc but the side from the QF is not our side to win back to back trophies.
However, the QUADRUPLE (The already won 2nd XI T20 trophy, The Championship - Surrey on Monday carries that on. The Blast next Saturday and the Metrobank 50 in Nottingham a week next Saturday) is still a possibility to us. It's not certain how feasible the dream is but you have to be in it to win it so they are all up for grabs.
Champions win when they shouldn't but they also need to win against the strongest opposition when it faces them and we may need to ask some questions to keep the dream alive at Taunton this week (weather permitting) and in Brum next weekend.
We may not have it quite right yet but
FINGERS CROSSED
AND SEE YOU THERE!!
#weareSomerset #MetrobankFever
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:11:05:22:58 by Grockle.
The 11 on duty for those last two encounters -and for most of the campaign - were Banton, George Thomas, Kohler-Cadmore, Abell, Dickson, Gregory, Green, Overton, Leach, Meredith and Ball. Plainly New Zealander Brett Randell comes in for Meredith, but there is a strong argument that it would be more than a tad unfair to make any other changes.
But what about the recent excellent form - in the Metro Bank Cup, the Championship,, and for England Lions - of the likes of Rew, Aldridge, Goldsworthy, van der Merwe, Lammonby and Davey, plus the return to fitness of opener Will Smeed with 70-odd for the Seconds last week.
I don`t know if I would be ruthless enough to make any changes, but feel there is certainly a case for bringing back T20 specialist Smeed to open (although this would sideline George Thomas`s useful medium-pace bowling), and perhaps, perhaps, perhaps Goldsworthy or Rew for Kohler-Cadmore, and Davey, van der Merwe or Aldridge for Ball.
Quite a dilemma, but not a bad one to have to face!
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:07:12:08:16 by Grockle.
It does leave a bowling place available though - perhaps for Roelof van der Merwe, who has an outstanding record for Somerset in the short-order game, of Josh Davey, in strong form at the moment. Both would cut the length of the tail.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:02:11:03:37 by cricketjerry-mouse.
Not only did the Steelbacks miss out on a probable first championship win of the season, but almost certainly lost leading run--scorer Ricardo Vasconcelos (suspected broken finger) for their Vitality Blast quarter final with Somerset next Thursday - and possibly last season`s second top scorer Rob Keogh (also finger injury) as well.
Veteran all-rounder Ravi Bopara, who ruptured a finger tendon playing in some Mickey Mouse tournament in the Cayman Islands, and teenage fast bowler Raphy Weatherall (back) had already been ruled out,
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:02:12:03:20 by Grockle.
RvdM is contracted until the end of next season, but even though he remains a herculean cricketer with superb commitment, he is nonetheless nearing forty & having regard to the number of other options we have, I do wonder how much he'll feature in future.
Grizzers
Squad: Gregory (c), Smeed, Banton, Kohler-Cadmore, Abell, Dickson, Goldsworthy, Lammonby, Green, Overton, Aldridge, van der Merwe, Davey, Leach and Ball.
Northamptonshire wait on an injury check on opening batsman Ricardo Vasconcelos (broken finger) before naming their squad. They will definitely be without veteran T20 all-rounder Ravi Bopara (injured).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:05:09:54:53 by Grockle.
I'm not sure Jake Ball is fully fit or RvdM is a credible choice with Goldsworthy in the squad but they are both in the 15 man named squad.
Not being named even IF Smeed was always going to play says something to a player presently at the end of his contract. Unless there are backroom conversations the message to.George is probably pretty clear. Maybe he isn't named because he's already taken the 'hint'?
[www.metoffice.gov.uk]
Bath has had rain pretty much non-stop all morning and it looks set to continue...
A quote isn't really needed when the quoted one is simply just above. It all keeps the threads shorter 😁👍🏼
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:05:18:25:27 by Grockle.
I'm surprised and, if truth be told, a bit disappointed.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:05:18:06:28 by Phrench Phil.
A case of one season too many but we continue to pick those beyond their prime while leaving up and coming players out!!
Maybe Lewis should have held the signing of an extension back gor a couple of days and kept them wondering?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:05:18:22:18 by Grockle.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
If Will is such a 'class act' it's about time to show it in 2024 because he's been significantly less clasy this year so far.
There's still time though but in his case unless it is this game, he's done for the season.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
OK start, could push on to 200. What do you guys make of Heldreich's bowling action?
And no, I'm not counting any chickens, but that's certainly defendable.
Not sure the signing of Ashton Agar has paid off so far...
Fingers crossed.
By the way, would Somerset have batted first if they'd won the toss?
Well played gents
The Dickson/Gregory partnership looks to have been very well paced with only a couple of sixes, both having faster scoring rates than TKC who hit five sixes. This isn't a criticism of TKC, just an observation. I'm not going to argue with 63 off 43 balls.
Didn't see any of the game but VdM's position must be under threat.
They won through their manipulative skills and experience - highlighted by Gregory`s decision-making - that kept Northampton`s potential match-winner David Willey down to 57 runs from 39 balls, well under half the 101 bowled in total while he was at the wicket.
Say he had faced even three more and hit hem all for six, Somerset would have lost!
Tom Banton looks just so impressive these days and helped nudge TK-C into a semblance of his previous form. That we reached 215 without Tom Abell even batting, speaks volumes.
Not sure we had entirely the right bowling line up tbh, but I ain’t going to argue with the end result.
If it stops raining long enough, things could get very tasty over the next few weeks.
Grizzers
As a point for discussion, how good has Tom Banton been this season across formats? Another wonderful innings at the top of the order and he has really progressed this season and I am really pleased with how he has played and contributed this season, hopefully he has found his right position in each format.
I agree with those who suggest Goldsworthy should replace Roelof. As good a servant as he has been over the years, this is no time for sentiment. I also wonder if Ben Green’s position is under threat from George T. Green doesn’t seem to have the magic arm of 2023 at the moment.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:09:06:12:16:47 by Grockle.
Lewis Jr for RvdM would be a no brainer for me.
Not sure about Jake... he goes for more than I'd like but can come back. Kasey can be too bloody variable to be a confident alternative. Much of a muchness. Or you go with Jack who is a much more confident option this year from others but spin at Edgbaston?
Other counties must be envious that we have these selection dilemmas - we really do have a wealth of talent and I’ll be sorry to see either or both of them leave. Let’s hope Greener goes in a blaze of glory on the 14th!
I can't explain that but it may be Des's fault...
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
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