T20 roundup

So how was it for you? The T20 quarter-finals, I mean…

Last night saw one serious mis-match, with Somerset thoroughly outclassing Northamptonshire who batted poorly, fielded even worse and with the exception of Jack Brooks, bowled fairly poorly too. Elton Chigumbura's 4-14 at Derby looked like the work of a twin brother as he was hammered last night, but Northamptonshire were very poor and contributed to their downfall with silly run outs. Beating Somerset was always going to be a tall order, but to do so you need to play to potential. Even their skipper, Andrew Hall, looked fairly chastened by it all. Surely we'd have played better than that?

Sadly the reality is that we blew our chance and we'll never know.

Northamptonshire's one consolation is that they seem to have a real find in Jack Brooks, who looks a good bowler on the occasions I've seen him this year. He's got enough pace to be a handful and is accurate enough to cause problems. Seeing him bowl after watching 19-year old James Vince steer Hampshire through the previous night suggests there's talent progressing through English cricket.

It was also evident in the other semi-final, where Chris Wright confirmed my suspicion that he's as good a limited overs bowler as there is at present. His death bowling stopped Lancashire closing in on 200 and Essex did a fine job in chasing the total down after the early loss of Bopara. Considering they were missing Cook, ten Doeschate, Napier and Kaneria from a first choice side they did very well.

The quarter-finals blew a hole in my theory that the north group was the stronger, with only Nottinghamshire progressing to finals day. I still think that they can win it, especially if they're allowed to play their England players. Their first change attack against Sussex was impressive, with Patel and Mullaney doing a fine job, yet they could add Swann and Broad to the mix. Their presence is unlikely though, given England's coming fixtures against Pakistan.

I'd a few e-mails last night agreeing with my suggestion that all counties should be allowed an overseas player and a Kolpak. Some suggested that we should return to two overseas players to address the loss from the county game of its star turns.

One of the great things about county cricket watching in my youth was that you could see the people you'd watched on TV in the flesh. You saw them at their cars, you could get their autographs - if you got lucky you could even have a chat. Sightings of England players at county grounds today are marginally more likely than seeing an aardvark on the outfield and it is little wonder that crowds are dwindling when the star turns aren't there. It's like going to an end of the pier show at the seaside and finding that the two headline turns from television have been replaced by a juggler and an acrobat. Entertaining in its own way, but not likely to result in a full house.

At least seeing a couple of foreign stars might address that imbalance, though the current international calendar might legislate against it being similar big names to my youth.

Speaking of my youth, it is also worth mentioning something that I've noticed in recent weeks, which is the return of the…er…"rounded" cricketer. In recent years the trend has been for cricketers to look like whippets and be trained to the peak of physical condition. Only yesterday, Angus Fraser was bemoaning the fact that Steve Finn had been taken away from Middlesex for six weeks when he was in prime form so that he could "pump iron" and build himself up for…bowling. Since he has returned he has naturally looked rusty, a somewhat logical consequence and vindication for the old-timers who claim that you get fit for bowling by doing just that. Nowadays a bowler's action is broken down by bio-mechanics shortly before the bowler breaks down himself.

It is a far cry to days of yore. From WG Grace onwards, the game has had its share of "big lads" who have been fine players. Colin Milburn, David Shepherd, Fred Swarbrook and Fred Rumsey in my youth looked a long way from athletes but gave excellent service to their counties. Swarbrook's deeds actually produced one of my favourite quips from a fan, after his rounded form landed with a thump as he dived for (and held) a catch for Derbyshire.

"Did the earth move for you?" quoth a man to our right amid the applause, which my Dad and I still think one of the better things we'd heard on the boundary edge.

There are a few big lads around this season, with three on duty in last night's matches. No names, as if you have been watching you have probably noticed yourself, but the people concerned are all very good players. It illustrates two things, the first being that you don't necessarily need to look like an athlete to be a good player. The other is that it allows those of us less svelte than we once were to think we look like first class players when we play.

For that, gentlemen, I salute you.