Another night - another loss?

Lancashire tonight. At home, on the TV, big crowd. Bound to lose then...

Having tried various options at the top of the order, I'd be inclined to go with Dan Birch at the top of the order tonight, replacing John Sadler in an otherwise unchanged team. At least he is an opener and can play his natural game. The loss of mobility in the field is a factor, but if Birch got us off to a flier there would be few complaints.

John Morris is making all the right noises in the media, as he has to do of course, but our qualification for the final stages appears as likely as Lord Lucan riding Shergar around the boundary edge before the game. We could play brilliantly tonight, wipe the floor with Lancashire and then lose the next one. It's a shame after our highly encouraging start, but progress in this competition isn't going to happen.

Lancashire turn up with Andrew Flintoff in the following 13-man squad:

Mal Loye
Paul Horton
Steven Croft
Francois du Plessis
VVS Laxman
Mark Chilton
Andrew Flintoff
Gareth Cross (wkt)
Glen Chapple (cpt)
Kyle Hogg
Stephen Parry
Sajid Mahmood
Gary Keedy

We will be wary of du Plessis after his sparkling century in the FP Trophy at Derby, while Gary Keedy will again enjoy the County Ground because he always does.

There will be no report on tonight's game from me as its early night time before flying out early tomorrow morning on our holiday to Tennessee. I don't think there'll be a blog during this time, but I will be following the county fortunes and will catch up on my return.

As for the poll, let's assess the state of the nation. How happy are you with our season so far? Two weeks to enter this one and I'll see your views on my return.
If you've any comments, mail them to me at peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk and I'll include the best of them in the blog once I'm back in circulation.

As for the last poll, 75% of people still think Dan Redfern the man for the middle order slot. Me too. He's a man for the future and you reap what you sow. Investment in his experience just now must pay dividends in future years.