Somerset 2017

[comrade powell]

That must have been a shock - Essex were one of my tips for relegation.

I thought after last season's grand finale that the key appointment during the winter at Taunton would be the new captain and was amazed when Abell was appointed. Early days, but such an inexperienced skipper is a huge risk, especially as you will need his runs.

[Beau Nash]

Relegation looms...for Somerset and Middlesex, not Essex.

[Luton Roman]

Calm down everyone. We are useless in April.

[comrade powell]

Remember there are two less games this season. Seems ridiculous that 25% of the teams will go down, and Warwickshire's dreadful start suggests they'll do very well to avoid being one of them. Somerset's attack should be enough to win them sufficient games, especially as Team England are unlikely to come calling.

[Ashley]

Enjoyable day at Cardiff today as Somerset go 4 from 4 in the one day cup.

Classy innings by Allenby backed up by Elgar, who was very unfortunate to miss out on a century with 96, and Hildreth.

Glamorgan's batting and fielding was very poor and Somerset won comfortably.

Nice ground at Cardiff but a pity there was hardly anyone there, crowd of well less than 1,000 I'd say with no atmosphere and no feel of an occasion. Perhaps Taunton spoils us with the event that cricket feels there.

Scorecard for anyone interested - http://www.espncricinfo.com/royal-london-one-day-cup-2017/engine/match/1068462.html.

[comrade powell]

You didn't mention the weather. The crowd at Bristol yesterday looked pretty cold, but at least they only had to stay for a couple of hours. The few who turned up at Hampshire the other day were suffering from hypothermia by about 8 pm. Only the ECB would schedule night games for early May and yet have virtually nothing scheduled for a Bank Holiday!

So Somerset have just got to sort out the championship team now. Middlesex are the opposite - I know it's like comparing football with croquet, but it's amazing that the best 4 day team by some distance are still clueless in the slog version of the game.

[Ashley]

It was a breezy but quite sunny day and got really warm around the interval.

I didn't see any of the England game, was it a good crowd?

[Peter Newman]

I went to the Kent game at Taunton last Weds where there was a good attendance in reasonably warm and sunny conditions. Despite  700 odd runs the best action was Peter Trego depositing a 6 onto a top floor balcony of the flats- followed by the resident nonchalantly returning it straight into the hands of the boundary fielder.
Perhaps this should have been posted in the ex-players section!

[comrade powell]

Genuine question, Somerset fans (about proper cricket)...

I said at the end of last season after they had come so close to the title, that the crucial decision would be appointing the new captain. I gather that Allenby's elevation came as a great surprise to many. Gerry will rightly argue that the season is still very young, but wouldn't Trego have been a better bet, even if only for a season or two? Surely the last thing a young batsman needs is to be saddled with the captaincy, which is more important a role than in any other sport j can think of.

[Luton Roman]

Presume you mean Abell for the 4 day? I guess they thought of all those issues before confirming the captaincy. With the disjointed season we have to wait a while before he can get back at it. Yes early days, we are notoriously bad in April, but I would expect him to come good soon with the experience around him.

[comrade powell]

Yes, Abell! I heard somewhere that Hildreth was asked, but his family commitments prevented him accepting. Of course Trego's game may have been affected by the job, but I would have thought he could handle the additional pressure.

So have you got a membership for the champions again? I'm coming up for one day each of the Somerset and Surrey games and two of the Yorkies'.

[Luton Roman]

Your at Lords on Friday 2nd June?

[comrade powell]

Yes!

[comrade powell]

Fixtures are out today...

2-5 June Mx v Somerset
25-28 Sept Somerset v Mx (title decider?)

more like relegation decider...

[Micawber]

It was a strange decision to give the captaincy to Tom Abell. It's only his 2nd full season and batsmen often have a trough in form at this time. Besides which he is no Joe Root and has a much more limited range of strokes. I would think there is no option but to rest him and hope he can score runs for the 2nds. There's no obvious replacement as Captain though.

[Luton Roman]

And so we go into the last 5 weeks of the season which at least concentrates the mind on the Championship. Somerset's chaotic player recruitment gets no better as they say they cant find an overseas player to get in for the finale....yet Amir is coming back for Essex. Hopefully the new CEO will have a shake up post season, get rid of Maynard and get a more professional approach for next season in Div....well who knows, keeping the faith for now.

[comrade powell]

I won't wish your boys well for the rest of the season as any escape from relegation will most likely be at Middlesex's expense. I'm just hoping that the last game of the season at Taunton is not a 48 pointer! Off to the Oval tomorrow for days 3 + 4 but I don't expect much if any of the final day to be required.

Will be interesting to see if a proper spell of first class cricket actually sees some teams posting decent 1st innings totals - yesterday's 3 matches suggest that it will need at least one more round before players get out of the damned T20 mindset.

[Luton Roman]

It's close!

[comrade powell]

Horribly close! Well done to Somerset for clawing back from the cliff edge. Yes, they've had the best of the weather in the past fortnight but still had to win those two games, something which I think Middlesex will now need to do. They've only got themselves to blame for the situation they find themselves in and now need the approach of twelve months ago. The problem is that we can't expect the MCC to provide a result pitch against Lanky, and if we're behind Somerset on Friday we know what to expect from the Taunton track for the finale. Yorkshire will surely not cock up against Warwickshire although they have their final match at Chelmsford. But of course, the weather will probably have the final say...

[comrade powell]

Well when we were 4 down for 28 this morning and you were going well at the Oval, I feared it was just about all over! To elect to bat on that wicket seemed crazy but I guess Voges doesn't want to bat last on it as apparently it's badly cracked. To recover to 237 took some doing - but thank god Jimmy wasn't playing! Similar collapse and recovery at the Oval - will be interested to see if Surrey bat as well as they usually do there. Tense times ahead...

[Luton Roman]

Well regardless of result tomorrow beat Middlesex and we stay up, long as they dont edge us on bonus points. 1 year on and we look at permutations again.

[comrade powell]

You could lose both games and still stay up, provided the Yorkies lose tomorrow and you get 3 more points than them next week! Great end to the game at Lords today - Lanky went very close and the injury to Hameed was probably crucial, although neither TRJ or Rayner could bowl for us.

There are some spiteful types on your forum!

[Luton Roman]

Lol probably no different to urs that I read. All prepared for a spinning top next week. Our fragile top order is likely to cost us in the end I fear. No Elgar nor Gregory to slay you as at Lords.

[comrade powell]

I certainly wouldn't read the Middx forum if it had the likes of Grockle and Tom Seymour posting on it. Quite a poisonous atmosphere...
(I hope neither of those are you! )

[Beau Nash]

Somerset MUST win and get more bonus points than Middlesex.

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