After losing the toss for the umpty-first time this summer, Wayne Madsen probably got to the end of the first day of this game a reasonably happy man.
266 all out on the first day of an important championship match isn't a great score, but perhaps more than we expected after losing the toss and being asked to bat. There appears to have been help for the bowlers today and we must hope that it continues tomorrow, ideally with some cloud cover and humidity. With two England men of differing vintage at the crease, we need early inroads tomorrow to keep in this game and hopefully be in a position to push for the win at the end of it all.
The skipper once again batted well, while his batting partner of late, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, had a rare failure. The lower order once again propped us up, as they have so many times in the past couple of summers and the return of Tony Palladino saw the shots of a man who has to be one of the best lower order batsmen on the county circuit. Indeed, 'Dino' scores runs so often now that it becomes more of a surprise when he fails than when he gets a few, a sure sign of progress in his game.
Likewise, Richard Johnson continues to show that he intends to hang on to the wicket-keeper's gloves with another valuable innings and the continued fighting qualities of the side are good to see as a supporter. No one likes to see their team getting beaten, but you can handle it better if you see them going down with a struggle, something we have largely done all summer.
Tomorrow is a big, big day. We could do with an early wicket or two and it was unfortunate that Ben Slater couldn't hang on to a chance when Compton mis-hooked Mark Footitt late on.
We will need to catch anything and everything tomorrow. If ever there was a day to hit the heights once more in the field, this is it.
I'll be back tomorrow night. Normal service should then be resumed over the weekend and next week!
PS Anyone else think that the Old Trafford track that was cleared by Jack Birkenshaw might have got a different reception at a non-Test ground? Northamptonshire were unamused and rightly so, suggesting that it was like a wicket on an outground.
Four day games shouldn't end on the second day . If they do, pitch preparation has to be questioned. Considering that the participants in this match were perhaps the two best sides in the division, it is a poor advert for the county game if the batting was THAT bad.
If that had happened at Derby today and tomorrow, I'd be fearing the worst, for sure...
We're still a div 2 side Peakfan, that is clear to see. 90% of this side would feel a lot more at home playing in that division. Godleman, Slater, Borrington, Turner, Durston, Redfern, Whiteley, Groenewald, Footitt, C Hughes, all not good enough against this quality opposition. This game will finish a draw due to the weather again, and another must win game goes by. I stuck 20 quid on us not winning a championship game all season a few weeks ago, and it sure is looking a safe bet.
ReplyDeleteI feel we might well be a hundred runs short, but we,ll have a better idea of that later today. Good efforts from Madsen, Johnson and Palladino, though it's been very apparent this season how many batsmen have fallen on or around the fifty mark. I'm not criticizing Madsen who for me has been our best batsman by a mile, but this fact is one reason we often fall short of a good total. The other reason is too many fail altogether,as was the case yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWe have to bowl Somerset out for no more than 325 and preferably for a lot less if we are to maintain some control over the outcome. When we do bat for a second time I would push Slater up to open. It's his natural position and whilst there may be an argument that batting lower down takes some of the pressure off, it's a policy that may not work. Godleman has one more innings to save his ass. I can't see how Krikken can possibly get away with picking him again on the back of another pair of failures. No one can accuse Krikken of a lack of faith in his winter signing but enough is enough and it may now be time to reinstate Redfern. We are still a long way from solving our opening issues and with the possible exception of Slater (in time) I don't see anyone who is at the club now likely to offer a solution,including your mate,Peakfan. I still think Redfern could be worth a little experiment though.
On the Old Trafford subject, you certainly don't have to convince me there is one set of rules for test grounds and one for the rest of us. It stinks but it's nothing new and had it been Derby we would have been handed the maximum punishment without a shadow of doubt.
First of all loving the blog still Peakfan, haven't commented for a while.
ReplyDeleteObviously it's been a difficult season to date, but i think we were kidding ourselves if we expected to immediately thrive in this division, with a young and inexperienced team. It was never going to be easy, and yes there have been disappointments, but in the long term i still uphold that this team has the potential to succeed.
I agree we're probably 100 runs short, but hopefully the bowlers can find form. Sadly I think it's time for Godleman to be given a break, he's been very fortunate to be given as many opportunities as he has. I'd bring Redfern back at six, and give Ben Slater the chance to open the batting, or alternatively see what Redfern himself can muster at the top of the order.
There's still half a season left and the T20 to look forward to, so let's make sure we enjoy the rest of the season, and just be happy that we're even in this division. In the end of the day we did brilliantly to get here, but maintaining our place was always likely to be an even more challenging proposal.
Thanks for the comments gents. Nice to hear from you Washy and agree with everything you say mate!
ReplyDelete