Bad news for Essex

[Yorkshire Blue]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/6676739.stm

Both Mervyn Westfield and Maurice Chambers are suffering stress fractures of their backs and are pretty much out for the season.

I was hoping for big things from these two England under-19 bowlers. Westfield in particular had impressed me when I saw him at Garons.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

:(

Incidentally, catching up with recent results...

* we drew with Leicester in the County Championship - although in the end, we were the side grateful for the day lost to rain, after being bowled out for 201 chasing 335.

* we hammered Middlesex by 9 wickets and almost 5 ov. to spare in the Friends Provident trophy.

:)

 

[SUFC_Al]

:(

* we hammered Middlesex by 9 wickets and almost 5 ov. to spare in the Friends Provident trophy.

:)

that's a fantastic result, Pettini and Chopra 100's Bopara 52 n.o

Quality stuff :D

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

If the news about our young bowlers was pretty depressing, our young batsmen's display against Middlesex was really encouraging. Set a fairly daunting target of 278 when missing our two best one-day batsmen in the now retired Andy Flower and (the injured?) Ronnie Irani, we made it with ease, with nearly 5 overs to spare.

Both 23 year old Pettini (who was captain for the day), and 19 year old Varun Chopra (in just his 3rd list A game - in his previous one he batted no.11!) made their maiden one-day hundreds, and 22 year old Ravi Bopara finished things off with a 42 ball 56*.

Its even more impressive when you consider that Alistair Cook was also missing, as he was putting in a man of the match display for England at Lords!

Its just a shame that all our young bowlers are also injured and aren't progressing similarly.

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

You spoke a bit too soon YB...

Essex 90/5 (32.0 ov) at Lunch.

Lost the toss and were put in.

Team has just 3 specialist bats Pettini, Chopra, Bopara.

Phillips batted at 4, Foster at 5.

RTD and Midders at the crease at the moment.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Wickets are falling all around the country - even Taunton has seen 3 wickets fall!!! Joe Denly and Craig White are the only two batsmen to have passed 40 in the 7 games that are being played today.

Its also worth noting that the same Middlesex attack we twonked around the County Ground has reduced Glamorgan to 59-9.

Still can't explain why we are only playing 3 batsman but 8 bowlers.

 

[Grayson]

With the loss of Cook and Flower, along with no Irani it seems, we dont really have many batsman. Really should've kept hold of Jefferson and signed another one in the winter. We tend to only get overseas bowlers, too.

Glamorgan all out for 60 :hilarious: Do we get to play them?

 

[SUFC_Al]

A Richardson bowling for Middlesex

O M R W
11 7 7 4

:eek:

Essx now 164-6

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

With the loss of Cook and Flower, along with no Irani it seems, we dont really have many batsman. Really should've kept hold of Jefferson and signed another one in the winter. We tend to only get overseas bowlers, too.

Glamorgan all out for 60 :hilarious: Do we get to play them?

We've already played them. Beat them by an innings IIRC.

I've no problems with us going for overseas bowlers - bowlers win matches and our seam attack is shocking.

I take your point about the lack of batsmen (although I wonder if any are available on the loan system), but I'd rather we stuck in a kid with talent than had all-rounders from 4 downwards. Tom Westley is supposed to be highly regarded, would it hurt to give him a game ahead of one of the multitude of all-rounders who aren't good enough with either bat or ball?

 

[Grayson]

We've already played them. Beat them by an innings IIRC.

I've no problems with us going for overseas bowlers - bowlers win matches and our seam attack is shocking.

I take your point about the lack of batsmen (although I wonder if any are available on the loan system), but I'd rather we stuck in a kid with talent than had all-rounders from 4 downwards. Tom Westley is supposed to be highly regarded, would it hurt to give him a game ahead of one of the multitude of all-rounders who aren't good enough with either bat or ball?

I'd rather have the extra batsman too, but was just trying to give reasons for the lack of them :D

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Decent recovery from 94-6, now 247-7.

Performance of the day isn't Alan Richardson's impressively economical bowling figures but surely Joe Denly for Kent. He made 115* in Kent's 199 all out. Second top score was extras with 20.

Denly was in my telegraph fantasy cricket XI (which I failed to enter on time). I've therefore been keeping an eye on his scores and he's been carrying the Kent batting this season. Got a decent score against Durham (Harmison, Onions and Plunkett - almost the England attack) last week and now runs against Stuart Clark, Tremlett and Warne. I think he's already shown enough this season to get a place on the academy this winter.

 

[Grayson]

Danish just gone for 65, what a knock. When did he stop being a rabbit with the bat?!

290-8, let's get this next batting point.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Congratulations on a maiden first-class 50 for Dani.

Not only are Essex relying on him to bowl teams out, we now expect him to score all our runs as well! I thought he was a nailed on certainty for the no.11 batting spot this season, but fair play to him. I'm pretty impressed that he's got above Andre Nel in the order. Nel's been batting 9 in tests for South Africa, who are considered to have one of the stronger tails in international cricket.

314/9 looks a pretty respectable score, my only worry is that the helpful conditions have gone and it'll flatten out into a road.

 

[Grayson]

Nel's picked up the wicket of Gallian.

Notts 12-1.

This is a big game as they're one of the stronger sides in this division.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Yey! Nel strikes first over. 0-1

Ex-England man Jason Gallian out. Gallian is famous for two things:
1. throwing Kevin Pietersen's kitbag over the balcony at Trent Bridge
2. opening the batting for England with Mike Atherton, with John Crawley at 3. It meant that not only did England's top 3 all play for Lancashire, but they were all Oxbridge educated.

As for the current two, Mark Wagh (another ex-Oxbridge man) is a very decent bat on the verge of the England set-up who chucks his off-spinners, whilst Bilal Shafayat has failed to live up to his potential. He dominated u19 cricket captaining England, scoring all the runs and taking all the wickets - whilst not keeping wicket, which he also did. If England had any imagination they would have made him (and also Essex's Mark Pettini) keep wicket full-time and made him the one-day keeper.

I'll be very pleased to see the back of those two. Mind you, Notts have Stephen Fleming and David Hussey in next so it's going to be a long day tomorrow anyway, particularly as Chris "the rabbit" Read is bound to score loads of runs against us.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Yey! Nel strikes first over. 0-1

Ex-England man Jason Gallian out. Gallian is famous for two things:
1. throwing Kevin Pietersen's kitbag over the balcony at Trent Bridge
2. opening the batting for England with Mike Atherton, with John Crawley at 3. It meant that not only did England's top 3 all play for Lancashire, but they were all Oxbridge educated.

As for the current two, Mark Wagh (another ex-Oxbridge man) is a very decent bat on the verge of the England set-up who chucks his off-spinners, whilst Bilal Shafayat has failed to live up to his potential. He dominated u19 cricket captaining England, scoring all the runs and taking all the wickets - whilst not keeping wicket, which he also did. If England had any imagination they would have made him (and also Essex's Mark Pettini) keep wicket full-time and made him the one-day keeper.

I'll be very pleased to see the back of those two. Mind you, Notts have Stephen Fleming and David Hussey in next so it's going to be a long day tomorrow anyway, particularly as Chris "the rabbit" Read is bound to score loads of runs against us.

Wish granted 168/3 Fleming & Hussey at the crease now.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Wish granted 168/3 Fleming & Hussey at the crease now.

Its an absolute disgrace that Fleming and Hussey are batting. Notts appear to have dropped Samit Patel to make way for Fleming. Now Fleming is a class act, proven test player and arguably one of the best captains around, but Samit Patel is a very promising young English batsman, with a first class career average a touch under 50 (49.70 to be precise) who finally looks to be fulfilling his considerable promise. Its not even as if he's out of form as he's averaging 75 this season. As far as I'm aware he's not injured, and in that case he should be playing.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Check out Ravi Bopara's bowling figures on the BBC here.

Apparently 5 balls have gone for 49 runs, whilst his other 17 overs were maidens. Hmmm, shome mistake shurely.

Anyway, Essex toiling with Notts 284/4

 

[Grayson]

Check out Ravi Bopara's bowling figures on the BBC here.

Apparently 5 balls have gone for 49 runs, whilst his other 17 overs were maidens. Hmmm, shome mistake shurely.

Anyway, Essex toiling with Notts 284/4

Same's reported on Sporting Life. Must be a mistake.

302-4, uh oh.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

433/4. Hussey is taking us to the cleaners - he's 150* now.

:(