Window Cleaner

A good day for once.

Who could say. Today was better than last week but Weatherly needs replacing and Brown and even Dawson need to bat lower, after Mayes.

Mayes and Lehmann cutting loose. Good watch.

111/3 now. Jogging along but Yorkshire are bowling pretty well and we've had a few near misses.

Same team as last week. Weatherly once again proving that he is not a div1 opening batter. Just cannot comprehend why anyone would think he is. Perhaps his Gran is picking the team nowadays.

I think we just gave up, we were never going to save the game anyway.

Journeymen? Cook is a good bowler, better than anything we had in this game. Quick,straight and gets mouvement. Critchley, well that's Roy of the Rovers stuff innit.

Well we suspected that might be the case. That's not the problem, why can't we do anything about it is. A lot of players in the evening of their careers and very,very little coming through really. The Alberts and Middletons aren't all that young by sports standards. Our bowling wasn't anywhere near good enough, there's no way our batting was going to get anywhere near saving the follow on. Prest and Gubbins made a bit of a stand in our second innings but the rest ....

Substandard side. Unexplainable really. Nothing new,no known problem addressed once again.

Why is Weatherly still here? Totally incomprehensible. Never been any good really but still gets a game.

Shambles. Lehmann stupid stroke, Brown just left it to hit the stumps. 54/5

We might have been better served if the game hadn't restarted. Gubbins bowled 3rd ball, he really isn't an opener. Just don't understand leaving 3 openers out of the side. Apparently the new coach is a bit harder on them than the old one. Must have seen stuff that displeased him I suppose.

But apparently subs have to be like for like. I think they said that you can't replace a batter with a pace bowler. Still out in the field, Essex nigh on 400 on the board and looking to be in an armchair. As KJ said this morning, we're probably a senior bowler short.

Although from what I've seen this afternoon this perhaps looks about right. The bowling isn't very good so far. Jack and the new chap don't look like world beaters. Whatever happened to Turner ?

Didn't catch what he said about Orr, but KJ says Albert and Middleton didn't make the team although fit. Albert was fielding a couple of minutes ago. Not a bad start but the bowlers now look to be labouring, decent wicket perhaps. KJ has also just said "Staying up will be seen as job done". Nothing like a bit of ambition then !!

So Seales is a no go as well. Move blocked by the West Indies Board. Hope we don't get another Hampton. Some play in the second friendly, batting still a bit iffy but no doubt it's not the definitive version anyway. Glouc now batting at a snail's pace.

Just been browsing the Counties section on BBC Sport and I see that we're not getting Neser now. Been replaced by a West Indian pace bowler-Seales. Friendlies startting Friday I think, although we've had a few practice games at training camps.

Looks like the Brave are boycotting Hampshire players as well. Just Stubbs so far. A few of the young lads look to have picked up little contracts here and there. I saw Baker and Mayes in the lists probably others as well.*-

Lumsden seems to have gotten hammered today, the other bowlers not much better though. Will need a big show from the England batters to get anywhere near India U19s total. See that we have Tristan Stubbs for the T20. Were Sussex even that good last season? Perhaps they spend a fortune on fading idols.

Ah thanks, seem to remember that his mum is someone connected with Hants's sister. Sounds like good news.

So Lehmann, Neser and Abbott. does that mean that we'll be rotating our overseas players? Although Neser is just for the first 6 championship games.

Still's reputation is built basically on one season at Reims. He had two lightning fast wingers, both Japanese and Balogun to finish it off. Then he went and got coaching certificates and the magic disappeared.

Shit keeping at it's zenith.

Well of course you did. For our two seasons in League 1, particularly the second, we had one of the finest teams ever to grace that division, only some inept management stopped us winning the title by a wide margin. A side stuffed full of potential internationals, some of whom would go on to play in World Cup competitions, and top sides..

So, business as usual then! I actually saw the game yesterday, bit of a rarety nowadays, it was on BeIn. We did pretty well early on and then City started pressuring us. The rest is history. Bristol defend pretty well and their numbers 10 and 11 are pretty handy. Got the impression that Still doesn't know what to do with the players that he has. Doesn't surprise me, saw his Reims side at Clermont once, two Japanese wingers that he just had to point in the right direction, but it was pretty good stuff really. Saw his Lens side as well, wasn't pulling up any trees there really. I'd say that him getting his coaching certificate changed his style of play, didn't have it at Reims, they got fined 25000 euros a match for it.