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Fuck me. 1st over and Trott's on his way already.

God help us in the Ashes

22-2

Cook gone as well

And I thought Windies were the weakest Test side

Negative cricket again. I know it's a test match but Aussies would be going after bowlers first few overs. Instead we were 3-1 off 4.

Early days yet, you can always lose a couple of wickets to a new ball when put into bat in a Test.

Nice touch of England to get to 2-22 for Richie.

Ballance just gone now, 34-3. I don't have any rage left, it's just funny now.

All going well isn't it - sure the ECB will tell us this is the plan and they will stick to it!!  Perhaps the rain will save us!

It's turning for Benn from the first morning and we've played Tredwell...good lord. Tredwell is a good one day bowler (so we didn't play him at the WC until it was all over...) but I reckon he's about the tenth best first class attacking spinner in England, not even the best at Kent or in the England squad.

I'm not sure there are 10 spin bowlers in England, certainly Tredders isn't the best in Kent, which is why he was loaned out last season.

It's just nice to have some Test and 4 day cricket to watch, or read about....I was feeling quite optimistic mid afternoon yesterday about Somerset's new look outfit....should have known better  :(

Yes, it's good to have the longer version back.  I'm off to Worcester v Yorkshire tomorrow.

Forecast not too bad.....a day at New Road, is always a pleasure.

The horrendous start might be a blessing. A few more and we can get shot of Cook and possibly see a return of KP - we'd benefit hugely from both

Well this is going a bit better. Funny how much better Stokes does when you don't send him in at 8.

Bell gone for a great score, and we send in a night watchmen to the non strikers end to watch the last four balls. Odd.

It looks like we have a chance of winning the 2nd test.  143 required off 59 over.  We may have to up our usual run rate but its possible!

Especially with them two bowlers down- Holder looks like he's fucked his ankle and Bishoo can't grip the ball.

Ooooooooh jimmy jimmy

Can we now please give up on the Jonathan Trott as an opener experiment?    :bye:

Get in Chef!

Hmm. Good to see Cook get a ton but not a great day overall that, 240/7 after choosing to bat first isn't too clever. Hopefully Buttler can add some quick runs tomorrow and we bowl well.

Must say I'm disappointed we didn't make any changes, got a very busy summer coming up and taking a look at Lyth, Plunkett, Rashid etc. seems a no brainer really. I guess Moores and Whittaker are very, very worried about losing their jobs if this test goes against them, so I can kind of understand the conservatism but...still, it seems a wasted opportunity.

It really pisses me off when England batsmen get out just after they get their ton.  Basically they're saying "I've reached my milestone, now I'll relax, bugger the team".  The volume of batsmen out between 100-109 compared to between 90-99 in test matches is exponential.

One of the many good things about Joe Root is his track record of converting hundreds into big hundreds. 

Something Cook's been very good at during his career on the whole too.

Yes that's fair. 

It was just getting out in the last over made such a difference to both teams perspective on the day, and to England's chance of making a big first innings score.

Bloody hell, Steve Harmison looks a right tub of lard

Congrats to West Indies.....good series, some decent cricket played in a generally sporting fashion.

Hopefully some of our young talent, will have learnt something about what is need to succeed at this level.

The next series v Kiwis, is going to be fascinating, as they enter it probably for the first time ever as favourites.

Poor from England I have to say, but fair play to the West Indies. Worries me for our summer against NZ and Australia.

For me, Moores has to go as I think the bloke is clueless.

As a Yorkie follower, why Adam Lyth and Adil Rashid didn't get a game is beyond belief! Trott is not an opener and as a KP fan, if he can score some runs over next few games, the pressure will be on Bell to get runs against NZ!

Completely agree Nemo, could have been playing for Yorkshire along with Bairstow in the last 2 county championship fixtures. Not sure Cook is keen on Rashid as he tends to go for a few runs in his spells (whilst picking up wickets may I add) and Lyth seemed a natural choice to partner Cook after scoring over 1000 runs last season.

If Rashid wasn't played on that track, he'll never get played. I'm not sure what we're achieving by playing Stokes, Jordan and Broad they seem pretty similar to me.

Right here goes ....

Cook/Trott/Ballance to similar and create pressure on middle order by not moving scoreboard at any kind of rate. Surely Lyth will come in for Trott but he will come in on the back of having played no cricket and against a quality NZ attack in May so a bit of a hiding to nothing.  Longer term Alex Lees would be the option but would like to see him left at Yorkshire a bit longer.  Alex Hales has started well and could provide impetus but I don't think England fancy him and if honest I don't really.

Buttler at 8 is a nonsense. He needs to bat at least 7. To often is been left with the rabbits in Broad and Anderson and that's a waste of his talent. 

Can't have Stokes and Jordan in the same team they are both to similar. One plus Broad and Anderson and then something a bit different. I would have gone Plunkett with his extra pace and option to start banging it in.

Moeen served up a load of junk but hadnt really played much and probably still has some credit in the bank from last summer.  I don't see him winning test matches long term so a Riley will come into it but probably not till late in Ashes series or tour to Pakistan.

Anderson apart that bowling lacks penetration. Wickets late summer will be low and slow and the role of the spinner will be crucial. It could be a long and pretty horrible summer.

I imagine the team for the first test v NZ will be:
Cook
Lyth
Ballance
Bell
Root
Moeen
Buttler
Stokes
Plunkett
Jimmy
Broad

More fun would be guessing what a team for the 5th test v Aus might look like ....

End in a positive note ... After the summer England go to Dubai to play Pakistan then to SA for 5 test over Dec/Jan.

Trott's called it a day. Feel really sorry for the bloke, was painful to watch in the Windies. The brain is a strange thing, hope he finds a better place in County Cricket as Trescothick did, would be a shame if he was lost to the game entirely.

It does rather call into question again the competency of the England heirarchy, who thought Trotty might be up to a re-run v the Convicts.

So Adam Lyth who may or not be a Test batsmen, has missed an opportunity to gain a bit of experience.

In further news it looks like Andrew Strauss is getting the England Director job thing.....not entirely sure what the job entails, but I suppose in the England set up, you can never have too many jobs for the boys.

So, on KP, we will have gone from directors of cricket as follows:

Downton :    " disinterested and disengaged "

to
 
Strauss   :    " an absolute c*** " (to Aussie Fox TV viewers!)

Would rather have taken a chance on Vaughan, as I believe the necessary shake up that is required is one at the top.

In fairness to the hierachy (which I don't think I am all that often), Trott scored runs in County Cricket and on the Lions tour, he felt ready and various psychologists and support staff reckoned he was ready. Ultimately this is really sad, but I think it would have been a bigger negative step if they'd just written him off and said nobody with mental health issues should be considered for selection. It hasn't worked, and that's a shame, but it also didn't work with Carberry, Compton and Robson for various reasons - and the first two perhaps would suggest they were hard done by.

Lyth will play against NZ, that much seems obvious. I think a lot of selection on this tour has been odd, but I'm glad they gave Trott a chance. I would have debuted Lyth in the final test though, give one of the established batsmen a rest and blood him against an (in theory) less threatening attack.

Strauss would be a strange decision. I mean, it would be classic ECB jobs for the right kind of people, but that doesn't seem Graves' way at all, which suggests that perhaps he's not wielding complete power as it might have seemed with Downton's dismissal. The next few months are going to be very interesting with Messrs Moores and Whittaker next on the chopping block...it'll be like the 90s selection policy but for backroom staff!

 Nemo you're a Somerset man....at the start of the season, I said to a fellow ciderman, I reckoned we'd be doing well to avoid relegation this season....

 I based it on Tresco needing probably to have quit the captaincy, and if he fancies becoming coach......Maynard coming in, having no discernible record of success, as coach instead. 

The unfortuate loss of Keiswetter, who'd been kept, meaning Buttler had to go, so rather than the best 2 wicket keeper batsmen in the country....none.  Barrow stepping in, to see if he can keep wicket..when his record as a bat is terrible.

The acquisition of relatively ageing journeymen like Cooper, Groenewald, Myburgh and Allenby....just seemed at odds with the policy of the last relatively successful, without winning anything, recent years of bringing through youngsters, like Buttler, Keiswetter, the Overtons, Lewis Gregory, and George Dockerell.

Now first week in May, and we've lost more games than the last couple of years combined, going to take a monumental turn around to avoid the Gloster league next season  :(

Maybe a hot summer might get Rehman into the wickets, but a long shot.    Perhaps the strategy is sod the Championship, let's concentrate on the one day stuff.....

If Strauss gets this director job it would be a disaster. The shake up needs to come from someone who isn't close to the dressing room and isn't afraid to rattle a few feathers, someone like Michael Vaughan would be ideal but looks like he doesn't want it.

My choice would now be Mr Stewart at Surrey.

Really excellent piece on the ridiculous scheduling that has a lot to do with the retirements of Swann and perhaps Trott: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/may/05/jonathan-trott-early-retirement-england-cricket

As for Somerset Reg...can't disagree with much of what you've said. A lot of the problems are bad luck, especially Kieswetter and Compton leaving after we'd already sorted the overseas. I think Rehman will come into his own in the second half of the season, and Cooper and Allenby will be good in the one day stuff at least, but it's going to be a tough season. An innings and a 62 to Worcestershire, my word.

It's a bloodbath of ineffective leaders today - rumours swirling that the greatest coach of his generation is getting sacked.

Moores officially gone.

Strauss the new DoC. Farbrace to be coach for the series against the Kiwis.

So, welcome Andrew Strauss and goodbye Peter Moores.  Although Moores was not my choice the second time around, he certainly deserved to be treated with respect and not to have to read about his "sacking" in the media.

In spite of changes at the top, it is gratifying that the ECB can still maintain its grand tradition of leaks dissing its employees.

Great planning isn't it?  Have a caretaker in charge, then the new man has an Ashes series as his first day at the office....good luck with that.

TBF to Moores, when he was appointed there's wasn't exactly a queue for the job.  It's a tough job, involving many, many hours of work, I'm sure it pays well enough, but a couple of months in the IPL, won't be bad money for much less work.

I'd like to think they've got someone lined up, who's just not quite ready yet commitment wise.....wouldn't bank on it though.  Moores should have gone for the WC....

ECB PR Masterclass is back in session today. Regardless of whether or not you like Pietersen, this is a reasonable summary of the last few months:

- ECB Chairman says door is open if he scores runs
- Pietersen scores 355* for Surrey in one innings, in a game in which nobody else got past 40 (one Kumar Sangakarra got 36...)
- Literally the next day, the new Director of Cricket (KP's old friend Straussy) says that he can't possibly play for England due to "serious trust issues"
- But offers his an ODI advisory role. Where presumably trust will be less important?

It's genuinely funny how out of touch the ECB are. It really, really shouldn't be hard to win a PR battle against someone whose main spokesperson appears to be Piers effing Morgan.

Totally agree with you on that summary - PR disaster. 

I'd find it easier to support KP without Piers Morgan's incessant whining.  I don't think Morgan gets the link between the "trust issues" and the fact that he often reveals details of private discussions between KP and ECB via his tweets!

Graves should never have hinted that KP can come back, especially after burning all his bridges in the tell-all book.

I know KP scored over 300, but it was his first ton for nearly 2 years against a county side that has not won a Championship game since 2013.

Perhaps, but if the bridges are burned then why offer him an advisory role?


Nobody else in the Surrey side got past 36, and that was Kumar Sangakarra. I get that there's an argument to be had about his attitude, but in terms of ability there surely isn't any doubt that he should at least be in the ODI/T20 teams and probably the test one?

It wasn't just one way traffic, the ECB and other England players burnt their fair share of bridges as well.

Take the KP Genius twitter account. KP suspected other players were involved, turns out it was Stuart Broads best mate behind it. Broad says he had nothing to do with it and the ECB took him at his word. I'd have been pissed over that and still find it very hard to believe Broad wasn't involved in some form.

The big issue though is the complete mismanagement by the ECB, it could and should have all been avoided.

Whatever's happened, you can't have someone like that back in the dressing room. Not unless the whole setup changes. Too many cross words have been said and bridges burnt. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.

And scoring a 326 is fantastic and all, but could he do that for England? Could he do it regularly enough to warrant a place in the team?

More likely to than any other player.  Sheringham and Cole managed ok.

If that's the way it is, why did the ECB chairman say the door was open leading Pietersen to cutting his IPL contract short?

Whilst I'm sure he doesn't need the money, Pietersen has lost a fair chunk of money for no reason at all.

If the ECB keep on digging the players won't need a plane to get to Australia for the next Ashes series down under.

Well the mighty Cidermen managed to survive and even win a game....next season will see Div 1, consist of the Test ground counties and Somerset.

Been a terrible summer, with only an occasional bright spot.....namely the emergence of Abell; Leach finally getting a look in and the Overtons continuing to develop.

Tresco, for better or worse is carrying on, and has been getting runs, Hildreth is still class and Trego a good team man. Gregory had a good start to the season, but less form at the later end.

The Great Alphonso has gone....plenty of work to do in the winter. Need an effective overseas, a wicketkeeper who can bat and something solid for 3 or 5. A left arm swinger would also be desirable.

Hildreth and Tres ended the season as 1st and 3rd highest run scorers in the division - although in Tres' case that was largely due to an unbelievable purple patch in the last month or so of the season. The real worry is that the players we brought in last winter- Cooper, Allenby, Rehman - were a disaster. Lots of exciting young players though with Gregory, Abell, the Overtons and now Leach and Hose emerging.

I think Ronchi might well be back as the overseas next season, then we need a middle order bat and we might well do alright.

Sussex went down on the last day after Hampshire pulled off a great escape - does Mex still post around here? I think he was a Sussex member.

I wouldn't mind Ronchi, if he's not required by NZ, but prefer a fella who will give you a season. There was some talk of Chris Rogers....

Normally I'd prefer Hampshire over Sussex, but don't want to see Div 1 just become the preserve of Test ground counties, so wouldn't have minded if Sussex had stayed up.