Alex Thomson comes into the squad to replace Mark Watt, on the back of some impressive displays in the second team. Presumably this allows the Scot to get into T20 mode, ahead of the start of that competition next weekend.
Mitch Wagstaff is also in the 13 man squad, after doing well in the second team, but it is hard to see where he gets into the eleven, with none of the batters deserving to be dropped after the last game.
The final place looks like a question of whether Suranga Lakmal is now fit, presumably to replace either Sam Conners or Zak Chappell. The latter may also be considered for a breather, ahead of the Vitality Blast.
Likely team:
Came, Ali, Guest, Madsen, du Plooy, Lamb, Reece, Thomson, Chappell, Brookes, Conners (Lakmal and Wagstaff)
It is hard to see a way back for Billy Godleman at this stage. With the T20 around the corner, I cannot see him playing any time soon, with the all round games of Came and Tom Wood better suited to that format. Presumably the Royal London Cup, a competition in which he has been successful, might be an opportunity for him, but otherwise it is hard to see where that might come from.
Gloucestershire, who this week announced major losses of £570k, are currently the only side below Derbyshire. They have some very good players, but like us have not yet performed to the expected standard and haven't had much luck with the weather either. Their opening partnership of Australian Marcus Harris and Chris Dent is a good one, while skipper Graham van Buuren has been an excellent servant to the county. Marchant de Lange continues to be a fast and awkward bowler, as well as a powerful late order hitter.
Their squad:
Harris, Dent, Hammond, van Buuren, Bracey, de Lange, Taylor, Dale, Gohar, Price, Charlesworth, Taylor, Shaw
Once again, the forecast is far from favourable. It looks like tomorrow will see interruptions, as will Sunday.
With that the case, I'm going for another draw here, even though a win before we change formats would be a very welcome relief. With four full days, I would predict a win, but that looks unlikely.
What do you think?
It isn't so much that Gloucestershire 'haven't performed at the expected standard.' They've actually been in pole position to win two games and had a third against the current weakest side in the country (Yorkshire) washed out. True, they were lucky against Sussex that rain came to the rescue but their lowly standing is because they have been barely able to get on the park.
ReplyDeleteThey have hardly got any batting points, which is why they're bottom of the table, but that's because as usual they are not scoring any runs in first innings. That's a feature, not a bug.