Hodgey

Over the season they all played well, you could look at Donald and Holland as being two weaker players but until we paired Holland with Organ as openers we looked worse. To go that one extra next year we need to find another quality batter, I’d say we also need to keep Fuller who has provided a fair few marginal differences with both bat and ball. Finally as stated a spinner we trust in 4 dayers. Plenty of positives - Organ starting to come of age, Brown has been an excellent signing, and we have a wagging tail with Barker and Fuller. Would like to see Prest given another go for the dead rubber and maybe Albert as well.

Too pessimistic Pilchards - got 300 so decent effort. Truth is we never recovered from that 1st innings shambles. Shame, couple of batsmen like Vince have been really off form since the bash it about season (and actually during it). That bowling attack was the best in the division, but the batting was very ordinary. Well done Surrey - deserved winners

It’s still possible if unlikely - big score to chase down but the pitch has flattened and we have a short tail. Question is do they have the application ?. Surrey would now need to lose against Lancashire of course, so we wouldn’t want any rain there…

Yep WC - Vince out and Surrey look set for close to maximum batting points. I don’t want my post above about bonus points to come true but I’m not seeing many batting points here…..

7 down - seems like a good time to bat second (let’s see). Not sure why Pope and Foakes are allowed to play and others aren’t…shouldn’t it be all or none for fairness ???

What are our expectations here honestly ? We’ve bought a lot of talented inexperienced kids, lost a talented cf so we only have one extremely limited cf option , and lost a def mid who with JWP could control a midfield. This season was always going to be tough, we are going to get some highs and many lows. We have issues - JWP and Diallo cannot play together - we knew this from previous seasons, they both seem to make each other worse. We don’t have many goals in this team - Che is good for 8 goals a season, JWP will weigh in with similar. Nobody else contributes. That is a huge issue. on the positive side our defence looks much improved. In the last two games I’d argue that if you swapped keepers in each, both would have ended 0-0. We have to hope Bazuna realises his potential and learns quickly. I think we have enough to avoid a relegation dogfight - just, and that is my expectation. Of course if we keep losing to the likes of Villa and Wolves then we may not meet that expectation. Everton is looking like a crucial game for Ralph

Yep - 8 points difference which means a Surrey draw and Hants win means level - aside from bonus points. History suggests Surrey will max batting points in both games which would put them champs even with a draw. Hants have struggled to post 400 plus throughout - hopefully the finishing line as champions may motivate as they are capable and bat down to 8. Weather of course could also factor…

Draw confirmed. I think if Hampshire win the next two with maximum bonus points they will win the championship. I see Surrey drawing one of their games - they do seem to always get max batting points however so unless weather gets in the way I think there is no room for error. Will be remarkable if they don’t win it despite going unbeaten.

This is going to be close. Now into the tail but Northants have a well set batter. Assuming they get to 350 it’ll leave a chase of 270 for Surrey with 60 odd overs. With this pitch and Surreys batters they will fancy that so crucial Northants eat up as many overs as possible and get closer to 300 lead. Either way fair play Northants for digging in and giving Surrey a real game.

I heard that no team have bowled Surrey out twice in a match this season, so unsurprised they amassed a total like that once the pitch flattened. Need Northants to bat until mid afternoon tomorrow now for any hope of a draw..

Amazing stuff - that was pretty much the last ball before heavy rain. Well done Hants, keeps the pressure on and with Lancashire drawing it’s now really a two horse race. Fuller was all over the place before that wicket too !!

Not strictly the right thread but onto franchise cricket and the brave. Surely the idea behind it is to get a load of stars to excite the new cricket watching generation. Not sure a bowling attack of Sterling, Fuller, Hogan, Ahmed, Lintott and someone called Sonny Baker was the plan. That attack would finish bottom in the T20 !. To be fair they are doing all right - and I love watching Sterling , proper old school.

Brave look done so chance Vince might play in latter stages instead of Donald for instance. Not quite sure how it happened but Braves bowling attack was Lintott, a half fit Garton, Fuller, Stoinis, a 41 yr old Hogan and a 17 year old spinner. No wonder two batsmen have smashed record breaking hundreds against them in the last 2 games. That said the all star batting line up have yet to get beyond 138 so not giving the bowlers much to defend. damp squib…

We’re going to really miss him - when he was on fire it coincided with our best periods. Looks like Lavia is the replacement and I can see exits for both him and Che with two more youngsters as replacement.

Usual stuff from Brave, very slow starters and only due to playing a terrible Fire have they any wins. Their big overseas batters haven’t turned up so far and the bowlers are carrying injuries (Mills, Garton) and look a bit weak. Let’s see though - last year they got stronger and stronger, apparently happens with all Jayawardene teams

Evening major

The hundred has never really delivered the superstars. First year loads withdrew due to Covid, this year some stars are about but all the big players are missing a few games due to internationals (ie for Brave - Stoinis and De Kock). I still enjoy it, but in reality they could have throw all this money and effort behind T20 - losing a ball an over / bowlers able to bowl 2 overs etc is all a bit silly in reality. Be interesting to see if it is bringing in a family / female crowd and this format appeals to that group more which was the idea.

I like Che - but he is incredibly right footed, the chances I’ve seen lost whilst he tries and runs around the ball rather than use his left. His right isn’t fantastic either - has a good shot but not great placement. All that said he’s our best striker currently, so selling him now would be madness (hoping it’s all paper talk but can’t rule out a move - doesn’t seem in particular favour pre season). He’s also a streaky player - so we need to ensure he’s in when he goes on one of his (sadly short) runs…

Currie is an interesting prospect. Didn’t know he could bat like that and if he can stop the loose balls he can be dangerous. Also very bat heavy lineup which will be a problem if someone really gets after one of the 5 bowlers (two of which are ironically our 4 day opening batters !). I’d like to see Prest given a bowl as think he could be a useful spin option from what I saw in the T20. The competition is effectively like the league cup in the early stages - mainly kids and reserves !!

It’s an interesting debate as either side could be right. We might have signed superstars who quickly adapt to the Prem and have us flying up the table. Or we might have signed players with a load of potential who will take a year or two to start fulfilling it at this level. Or we may have signed players who will always be found wanting at this level and unable to live up to the early potential. Probability suggests we’ll have one of the former, a couple of the middle and a couple of the latter. That’s my expectation - anything more a bonus and anything less and I’d ask questions of our recruitment. With this transfer policy, the expectation should surely be to avoid a relegation dogfight and progress the youngsters to be Prem ready players for next year. I’m loving the optimists looking for more, but for me it’s easy to underestimate how tough this league has become, it’s a mammoth jump up from playing in smaller leagues, and an even bigger jump for those with little professional experience. we do need a ready now striker though - even if on loan. I can’t see many goals currently in this squad. So I’m going for a 2-0 defeat, and looking for an improvement in tactics to make the most of what looks like an inexperienced/lack of clear Prem level playing squad.

Would be a real shame to lose Fuller, especially as the Hants coaches have helped him pull it all together. Then again if he thinks that Benny Howells could take his spot might make him think - plus it leaves a big all rounder spot at Gloucester. I’d love to have them both - you can never have too many all rounders in limited over cricket, but Fuller has been pivotol in our success this year on all forms so would be a big miss.

Ignoring Valery who is a clear back up, and Rom who is still a great player but can’t play every week, the other 4 are all overpaid Att Mid who can neither score or assist at that level. As such nobody will buy them and as they only have a year left will just be hanging around. On the plus side that’ll free up a good £14m in wages for next year. Guess Djenepo will be an emergency wing back and Ely/Red can probably bully a lower div team we may meet in one of the cups. I’d hope SR would be savvy enough to have understood the only saleable assets we have are the ones we wouldn’t want to lose.

I don’t think we can really moan at other teams performances against Surrey - they are all getting closer than our miserable effort earlier in the season. Still all to play for but let’s be honest so far Surrey have been the better team (no surprise given their strength), undefeated too, but Lancashire away looks the trickiest of all their fixtures. Amazing job to still be in the hunt against such a strong team.

Annoying as it is you have to doff your cap to Surrey. In an awful mess they ended up with a 50 odd lead with Essex 2 down. Incidentally Will Jacks family live just down the road from me - he’s having a good season. As for Hampshire, not bothered about that collapse as time is against them so need to look to get Gloucestershire to follow on. Bigger question is who can take points off Surrey - as we can’t !!.

Not sure why they are complaining about that - the fact they tried to run another to win when the game was clearly over was a bit ridiculous, would you really want to win like that ?. That said they do have a right to moan about the change in field setting, but that’s down to the umpires - they obviously didn’t tell Hampshire to set the same field, plus they snuck a man outside the circle earlier on. I think overall they are just gutted they threw away such a strong winning position so are trying to self justify it…