Weston Saint

Left hander batting middle order - right arm medium. Batting average - 50 matches 44.2 - 5 centuries and 9 50's Bowling average 50 matches - 23.61 - 128 wickets Age 29. Not for tomorrow but Yusuf goes after this match so a replacement. Unless of course they drop him for his final game

Lehmann not far away from coming back. Hampshire hoping he will be back in time for Essex away. Certain he will be in for Nottinghamshire if not. Dawson should be fit as well. Not making any excuses, we have been dreadful in all 3 home games. One of the issues is that we have a batch of young players that the club are trying to accommodate for the future. If you do not play them, you will lose them or they will not develop. That is why Gubbins is playing as an opener, to allow Mayes to play in mid order and develop Prest at 3. Rod Bransgrove is not involved with management of the club anymore. He stood down last season. He is still a director but does not get involved with the cricket team. He has moved abroad and can only be in the country for 90 days a year for tax purposes. He was at this game and I chatted to him. Have not seen the coach for a chat yet but I do speak to the Chairman and Cricket Secretary so still get some information.

Jake Lehmann not available for Hants v Glamorgan. Gone home for personal reasons.

Since my review above Hampshire have named 13 for Essex Game Kyle Abbott (87) Eddie Jack (91) Toby Albert (15) Jake Lehmann (33) Sonny Baker (95) Ben Mayes (21) Ben Brown Captain † (10) Tom Prest (24) Scott Currie (44) Joe Weatherley (5) Liam Dawson (8) Codi Yusuf (39) Nick Gubbins (31) So no Orr or Middleton so it will be interesting to see who opens. My take Weatherly Albert Gubbins Lemann Prest Brown Dawson Mayes Yusuf Abbott Baker

I think this might be another year of transition in the Championship but confident we will end up in the top 5. Adi Birell will be a big miss for his man management skills, but in Domingo I think we have a skilled coach, and I am backing him to be a big success. Batting wise, we need to have a good opening pair who can stick around. Then we have excellent players to follow that through. Middleton Orr or Albert Gubbins Lehmann Prest or Mayes or Weatherley Brown Dawson Yusuf Abbott Wheal or Currie or Turner Baker or Lumsden or Jack That leaves Organ and Kelly on the sides for now Edit, and Fuller who I assume is injured Expecting us to be there or there abouts for white ball.

Best points-per-game records as Saints manager across all competitions (20+ matches managed): ◎ 1.92 - Alan Pardew ◉ 1.90 - Tonda Eckert ◎ 1.82 - Nigel Adkins ◎ 1.64 - Ronald Koeman (for Premier only) ◎ 1.58 - Russell Martin

Lehmann has a dual passport so does not count as overseas.

https://www.utilitabowl.com/cricket/news/hampshire-confirm-men’s-coaching-appointments/

Think he is still playing for Casa Pia in Portuguese Premeira Liga. In fact he scored on Saturday

Subject to medical today/tomorrow. Deal to end of season with additional year option. Also subject to usual clearance.

On an X poll run by SaintsExtra "would you support Russell Martin returning" with 834 votes so far 83% say No.

One thing I could not report on until now (Adi would have not known until this morning) was that when Adi Birrell announced to the squad he was not renewing his contract and leaving at the end of the season, they contacted his son to see what would be a good leaving gift from them. He said Adi needed a new Bull for the farm. They paid for it out of their pockets by contributing a percentage of their salary so it was a fair and even donation. Just shows the closeness of the dressing room and the respect they had for him. I spoke to Adi on Thursday. He is going to do some farming and may take a coaching job going forward but not a big one like the Hampshire one was.

Well, that was a lucky escape. One of our problems this season has been that we had an excellent coach whose knowledge and Man Management skills were excellent, but he was not a strong enough voice in the dressing room. That was his character and personality. That is fine if you have a strong character as Captain. Vince was good in that respect. Brown is an excellent tactician but again, a quiet character. We need a strong character with authority next season. Some of the younger players need to step up. Prest has been a disappointment. There may be reasons for that not being said. Albert has a good character and even practices on his own to get extra time batting. He is a determined character and hopefully he will succeed. Currie was devastated after the loss in the T20 and One day cup. Blamed himself and was unconsolably for at time. That shows a good spirit and another who will likely succeed. Ben Mayes is one for the future. England are already snooping around. Apparently, he is ahead of Root at the same stage in his career. If he continues to improve, we have a star. Recruitment continues to be an issue. We had one player we had approached only for Australia to pick him for heir squad. Another from a county where we offered an increased deal only for his present club to match it. It is happening more and more. (Don’t ask me to name names or clubs because I will not). Orr is beginning to get confidence and push on. Middleton is steady although there is still room for improvement. Gubbins has had a poor second half red ball but don't write him off just yet. We need a good strong experience number 4 next season. Dawson is Dawson at 5 Bowling department is ok, through plenty of inexperience. Club will have to do a lot of sole searching over the winter and rest assured.. they know it.

Chahar does not have and England contract though, he is Indian. ECB made the decision which is why Surrey England contract players could not play as they have to play for England in three months!! (from a Surrey Official today)

Baker was not allowed to play. ECB said he had not played enough Red Ball leading up to this game and 4 days might be too much for a young player on an England Contract...true but you could not make it up.!!