stevegrant

Think it would be doable if you had enough players with the right qualities, as you'd then be able to make use of the fact you can sub half your outfielders if you so choose and have four players going full pelt for 45 minutes each.

You would essentially end up with the Hasenhuttl 4-2-2-2 out of possession, but something a bit more expansive in possession. Theoretically doable but you'd be exhausting your wide players who would need to be able to operate centrally too.

Not sure what he expected, it's been a spinner's wicket for years! Somerset were 99/5, so now all we've got to do is put on a 250-run partnership and everything is fine...

Looks like a round of draws here, perhaps with the exception at the Oval in what might be a title decider. Difficult to see Surrey getting 300 in these conditions.

Eagerly awaiting the sanction handed down to Somerset for their pitch transgressions this season... Anyway, we've been beaten by the rain in Hove, fairly certain we'd have won that game if we'd been able to get the overs in, so that's annoying. Also annoyingly, Durham were saved by the rain at Chelmsford, so we are now only 6 points clear of the drop zone, and they play Worcestershire next week. We finish against two of the top three, which isn't ideal.

Fuller played a couple of the group stage games, so there's nothing untoward with him being picked IMO. Dawson is a little bit more on the sly side, but if he's available and willing, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Bit unfortunate for whoever misses out to fit him in, but it's a squad game these days.

20 overs of Neal and Dawson will be huge, and they've both got a wicket already. Middlesex's spinners only went for 57 off 16 overs. Pitch seems pretty variable in terms of bounce for the seamers, and the outfield is a complete lottery so we've probably got to be a little bit sharper in the field. We've not let them get away from us at the start, though, so we've done OK so far.

This pitch is dreadful

Surely as the higher-placed team in the group stage, a washout would see us advance?

And so it came to pass...

Gloucestershire comms seem fairly certain it'll be better to bat on as the day goes on, does look like a couple of short boundaries in the "corners". Essex have piled on shitloads at Derby (366/6) so unless it rains all afternoon it's now a must-win.

So if we win, not only do we guarantee ourselves a qualifying place, we would also guarantee at least a home quarter-final, and potentially a bye to a home semi-final. Any win would see us finish above Gloucestershire on net run rate, which seems fairly mad considering they won all of their first 6 games. Then looking to Surrey to avoid defeat against Worcestershire, which feels like wishful thinking given their performances in this competition The weather looks mostly fine today, perhaps a few short interruptions at Derby but 5-10% chance of rain for most of the day.

Another Gubbins masterclass as we get to 290/7. His scores in this competition this year: 144*, 40, 60, 81, 87* and 144* averaging a frankly ludicrous 185.33 Spinners seemed to keep the score down in the middle overs, so hopefully Neal and Organ can replicate what their Notts counterparts managed - I think our seamers are better than theirs, so that could be the difference.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNfvAkmuvVZ/

At the Oval today for our game, can confirm Manny Lumsden is FAST! Decent bowling conditions, warm and muggy, and Surrey's lineup is pretty inexperienced - only Burns, Foakes and Green with any real pedigree.

7:45 kickoff, so full-time around 9:35, penalties takes 5 minutes to get going and then 5 minutes to complete. Out of the ground at 9:45, into the station at 9:55 with 7 minutes to get food and drink for the train. Job done.

Last train out of Norwich after the game is at 2202 which gets back into London Liverpool Street at 2357. If the game went to penalties, you'd probably have a little bit of a jog required to make that train...

That one was 86, 89 and 90: https://www.11v11.com/matches/southampton-v-newcastle-united-22-march-1995-22079/

Yep. Worcestershire lost in the end, so they're now in the situation of needing results regardless of conditions. Mercifully the last game of the Kookaburra at New Road next week, but I fancy they might try to prepare a pitch that'll produce a result as they need a win - if it means they end up losing instead, it's probably a risk they need to take now.

I would assume the insanely dry period we've had has probably contributed. I think there's generally a preference to high scoring over low scoring in T20 when it comes to preparing pitches, but I'm not even sure the ground staff will have had much say in matters this year with the lack of any real periods of rain to soften the surfaces up, so as a result it's just been a series of roads.

It was an incredible innings, but still one where we will almost certainly feel we could have bowled better to him, especially at the death. We've scored exactly 450 runs in 40 overs against Essex in the Blast this year and only have one win to show for it Fortunately it didn't actually matter in terms of qualification or group placing, I don't think Sussex and Kent would both be able to win by enough tonight to overhaul us, and we couldn't catch Surrey or Somerset, so it was effectively a dead rubber, but it does show a vulnerability at the back end of the innings that we've had throughout this year's group stage. Still think we'll have a good chance at beating Northants, Durham or Warwickshire (final placings in the North group still TBC tonight) on the road, but with the games not taking place until September, christ knows what the squad will look like then. Think it clashes with an international white ball series too

Basically came down to rubbish bowling resource management by stand-in captain Chris Wood, who has pretty much always been one of our death bowlers throughout his career but rather than take responsibility and get the job done he burned his final over with three to go, and then gambled that they'd need too many in the final over that Fuller or Howell bowling pies wouldn't matter.

Another thing, on the scheduling this year... we finish the group stage the quarter-finals are A WEEK before Finals Day in September. Utterly ridiculous, and likely means empty seats at Edgbaston in the four competing teams' allocations.

Great news for Dawson, thoroughly deserved and long overdue, BUT... No worries, we only have a game against the league leaders and then the return against Worcestershire to come in the next few weeks

No idea if it'll be any good and I don't know Rich Edwards so have no skin in the game here, but just seen that a new subscription-based Hampshire cricket news service has just launched: https://thehawk.counterpress.media/ £5 a month, will be interesting to see how it goes. He's certainly right when he says that coverage of the domestic game is pretty thin on the ground these days so there's definitely space for something like this if it's done well.