County Cricket

Another full round of Championship fixtures starts tomorrow! Kent V Surrey is where I will be as they are locked together in the Div 1 table, Essex V Lancashire also a decent watch!. Pretty meaningless overall obviously at this early stage though! Derbyshire V Leicestershire seems like it could be the one in Div 2

More delayed starts .

FFS

^^ Put the stream on & to my surprise, & contrary to the forecast that I saw, play was about to start on time at Lords with Yorkshire the visitors. I decided to do some local food shopping & on my return a wicket had fallen, still a decent start of 41-1 after 7 overs. The wicket to fall was that of the in-form Lyth with a century in each of the first 2 matches. I made a coffee & sat myself down, only to se the umpires conferring & rain on the camera lens, then the players were quickly ushered off the field.

I too had to bide my time until the Kent V Surrey match started in earnest! The change back to the Dukes had the desired effect that many of us want to see be the norm (no to R Keys suggestion) Having said that, in the limited play we got in the games, runs were able to be scored, and decent first day totals accrued if batters <----- put in the work! True, there was probably only one score that Key etc looked at and thought 'that is what we are after' and that was Warwickshire 340/4 against Hampshire - (ok there were 70 plus mph bowlers taking a fair amount of wickets but they were rewarded for accuracy and consistency - important?? right??!), None of it meant that the Dukes proved 'unfit', and largely skills won out either way! I hope for a 3 day weather window now for the remainder of the matches now.

A heavy defeat for Lancashire against Essex. A quick scan through their batting line-up would suggests that it is lacking in both experience & quality.

(21-04-2024 13:39 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  A heavy defeat for Lancashire against Essex. A quick scan through their batting line-up would suggests that it is lacking in both experience & quality.

Not sure how a club like Lancashire fails to secure more top quality players?? They used to churn them out (and be able to recruit) for fun! I know it is a tough environment for all clubs to operate in, but the Lankys surely have both the resources (relative) and pulling power to have more options??

^^ To be fair, Yorkshire had a star studded batting line-up that didn't really show up against Middlesex. The Dukes ball did plenty on day one they were playing catch-up from that point.

Plenty of interest going into day 4 of the current round of matches. If the weather plays its part, i can see all baring one game finishing with positive results. Could that be anything to do with the ball I wonder.

(21-04-2024 20:26 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Plenty of interest going into day 4 of the current round of matches. If the weather plays its part, i can see all baring one game finishing with positive results. Could that be anything to do with the ball I wonder.

The Dukes is the ball if you want cricket to be a competitive sport - like it or not!! Is it beyond the two companies to combine resources for the greater good, and devise a hybrid that marries characteristics??

R Key may not be happy with the return of the Duke?? (although there were still decent individual innings posted - and that is the point surely??) How he thinks that batters for England being unearthed for the long term by seeing them scoring bags and bags of runs in 'laboratory' conditions against the Duke on flat roads at his 'magic number average' of 70 plus, shows their potential for facing international bowlers whether they be upwards of 90mph (another magic number apparently) or not, is a plus, only he knows! Oppositions will make damn sure they don't play against England in such conditions!! Or if they do, will that not nullify England's intentions by allowing those oppo batters to copy and paste??

Derbyshire v Leicestershire v & Northamptonshire v Glamorgan both delayed starts.
Nottinghamshire were also manoeuvring themselves into a position of safety after giving a sizeable first innings lead to Somerset. the 3rd wicket partnership between Kiwi Will Young & Joe Clark has progressed to 392 in the short spell of play today before rain has curtailed proceedings.