Southern League - Week 3

Match 1 - Hampshire Royals vs Somerset CC

Pitch: A great batting pitch where a batsmen should be able to hit through the line well, due to the great batting conditions bowlers that can keep it tight (especially spinners) will be invaluable in keeping the score down.

Match 2 - Sussex Sharks vs Essex Eagles

Pitch: A dry pitch following a spell of hot weather has turned the Hove pitch into a bit of a dustbowl, therefore spin could well be the difference between winning and losing. However, if a batsman has got himself in he should be able to score quickly especially if he can play spin well.

Match 3 - Middlesex Panthers vs Surrey Lions

Pitch: Flat pitch, very good for batting, bowlers who bowl wicket to wicket will profit most from this pitch, should be a high scoring affair.

whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Provisional line up:

may go for the bat Hampshire out of the game approach

1) Tres
2) Gayle
3) Kieswetter
4) Durston
5) Buttler
6) Morkel
7) Meschede
8) Phillander
9) Thomas
10) Tait
11) Murali



would have 3 spin options with Murali, Durston and Gayle. Seamers with Thomas, Phillander, Tait, Morkel, Meschede

2 injuries, and it's 2 batting/seam bowling all-rounders in Shane Watson and Neil Dexter.

Provisionally I'll go with
Brendon McCullum
Martin Guptil
Mark Ramprakash
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Dale Benkenstein
Irfan Pathan
Daniel Vettori
Jack Brooks
Praveen Kumar
Steven Finn

4 seam options in Finn, Pathan, Praveen and Brooks. Spin from Vettori, plus part time spin from Malan and Benks

Provisional Squad to face Middlesex

Davies
Taylor - O
Roy/De Bruyn
Hussey - O
RHB
Mathews - O
Stevens
Woakes
Kartik - O
Arafat/Rana/Cummins - O
Dernbach

Lots of wicket to wicket seam there, Stevens and Mathews relishing this pitch and might go with De Bruyn as well for his medium pace. Woakes, Dernbach and the Overseas pace bowler should all do well. Kartik to do what he does best and bowl four tight overs

the pitch for my game is well suited to me.

i have quality spinners, and quality players of spin

ESSEX SIDE TO FACE SUSSEX

1.Joe Gatting (u-25)
2.Rob Nicol (O)
3.Owais Shah
4.Liam Dawson (u-25)
5.Ryan Ten Doeschate (c)
6.Shahid Afridi (O)
7.Dinesh Chandimal (wk) (u-25) (O)
8.Brad Hogg (o)
9.James pattinson (u-25) (o)
10.Stephen Parry
11.David Masters

TEAM NEWS: Packed the side full of spin and good players of spin for thhis pitch

TOSS: BAT FIRST, NO BRAINER REALLY.

BATTING: Gatting looks to bat through and play the anchor role...Nicol tees off from the start, knowing that taking advantage of powerplay and field restrictions is vital. Shah bats 3 class player of spin, looks to score positively in the middle overs..Dawson another good player of spin look to get a good partnership, and build the platform, for the 3 explosive players, in RTD, afridi and chandimal, hopefully propel my side to a big score.

BOWLING: Parry will open with spin again, keeping it tight, and bowling his 4 overs in one spell...Pattinson will bowl 2 overs from the other end, Hogg then comes on and bowls out, hogg and afridi strangle sussesx with spin, before masters and RTD come on, then finishing off with Pattinson

Parry-1,3,5,7
Pattinson-2,4,18,20
Masters-14,17,19
Hogg-6-,8,10,12
Afridi-9,11,13,15
RTD-16

Somerset side:

Toss - Bowl

1) Marcus Trescothick (c)
2) Chris Gayle
3) James Hildreth
4) Craig Kieswetter (wk & U25)
5) Wes Durston
6) Jos Buttler (U25)
7) Tim Southee (U25)
8) Alfonso Thomas
9) Shaun Tait
10) Muttiah Muralitharan
11) George Dockrell (U25)

With it being a batting pitch there are 6 specialised batters with Southee and Thomas who can make a few each.

We will choose to bowl if winning the toss, on this kind of pitch we will be confident of chasing down a total set by the opposition, so try and limit whatever score they can make and also try and get in their heads while they're batting. With the likes of Tres, Gayle and Kieswetter on this pitch they will know a big total is needed and may try to take more risks than needed to secure that big total.

Bowling:

Tait - 1, 3, 5, 18
Thomas - 2, 8, 14, 20 (bowls earlier if wickets fall quickly)
Southee - 4, 6, 16, 19
Muralitharan - 7, 9, 11, 13,
Dockrell - 10, 12, 15, 17

Gayle and Durston real possibilities for this match if any of the seamers can't keep it tight.

At the start the aim has to be to restrict Greame Smith if he gets going we could be looking at a big scoreline with people batting around him. Don't mind in the first couple of overs trying to get him to take a single but any chance to get him out needs to be taken. Getting both main spinners on before the half way point to try and make use of the pitch and hopefully will have them bowl a full 4 each if not Gayle or Durston will have some.

For our innings if we bat 2nd, will need to watch out for danny briggs, allow gayle and tres to go as they want, then whoever stays have them bat with Hildreth, from there it will depend on who falls as to who goes hard from our order. try and have 1 big hitter with a guy who can knock it around. On this pitch we shouldn't see a colapse so should have wickets in hand coming to the end of the innings.

Surrey Lions tactics vs Middlesex Panthers

1) Steven Davies (wk) - U25
2) Brandon Taylor - O
3) Jason Roy - U25
4) Michael Hussey - O
5) Rory Hamilton-Brown - U25
6) Angelo Mathews - O
7) Darren Stevens
8) Chris Woakes
9) Murali Kartik - O
10) Yasir Arafat- O
11) Jade Dernbach

Toss: Bat first, put huge runs on the board and then squeeze Middlesex out of the game.

Batting: Davies, Taylor and Roy have all got free license to attack on a pitch that should suit them. Hussey can attack but will look to play through once he gets in. Rory, Mathews and Stevens can all hit out in a big way. Mathews and Stevens inparticular can clear the boundaries at will. Woakes, Kartik and Arafat can all bat as well.

Bowling: Start with Dernbach and Woakes, Woakes bowls three in the powerplay whilst Dernbach is changed after his first over. Arafat will then come on to bowl with as little width as possible. After the powerplay Mathews and Stevens will come on and bowl two each. Kartik on in over 11 for two and if it goes well then a third. Arafat will bowl the 12th before Mathews returns for over 14. If Kartik has been economical he will bowl the 15th if not then Stevens will bowl it. The 17th over will be bowled by whoever out of Arafat, Mathews and Stevens has bowled the best.


Overs:
Dernbach - 1,16,18,20
Woakes - 2,4,6,19
Arafat - 3,5,12,(17)
Mathews - 7,9,14,(17)
Stevens - 8,10,(15),(17)
Kartik - 11,13,(15)

SUSSEX SHARKS Tactics v Essex Eagles @ Hove

Team line-up:

1 Chris Nash
2 Luke Wright
3 Virat Kohli (c)
4 Misbah-ul-Haq
5 Matt Prior (wk)
6 Mohammad Shahzad
7 Ben Brown
8 Dale Steyn
9 Robert Croft
10 Reece Topley
11 Monty Panesar

4 Overseas players (Kohli, Misbah, Shahzad, Steyn)
4 Under 25s (Kohli, Shahzad, Brown, Topley)

Steyn returns for the injured Gurney but the U25 conundrum means that Reece Topley comes in for his Sussex debut to replace the unlucky McKay. Greater experience on slow pitches sees Misbah preferred to Styris on this occasion, whilst, in a tough call, Robert Croft replaces Michael Yardy to use his vast experience as a spinner on pitches which suit him.

Toss

Bat and then squeeze with the spinners

Batting Plans

- Nash to be careful up front, though playing his shots when the right ball comes along and particularly once he is in.
- Wright to hit up front in the first six. Capable of going on with it if he survives. Try to score some early runs against Parry and Pattinson.
- Kohli will bat at three and look to play a match-winning knock, particularly taking the attack to Parry - a type of bowler he will be well accustomed to facing.
- Misbah down to come in 4 but can slide below Prior, Shahzad and Brown if we have got off to a great start or need to score quick runs. Has played a lot of his cricket on slow pitches.
- Prior and Shahzad will begin to play their shots as the innings progresses, though they should not be reckless if there are overs to spare as the game could be low scoring and they will not want wickets to fall.
- Ben Brown to add some additional aggression in the closing overs if necessary
- Steyn and Croft can bat but ideally won't be needed.

Bowling Plans

- Nash and Croft to take the new ball and create early pressure on Nicol, Gatting and Dawson (3 weakish players in the top 4)
- Topley and Steyn to take an over each in the powerplay
- Panesar to bowl in the middle overs and create pressure, as well as having the ability to bowl wicket-taking balls. Nash to bowl another spell.
- Steyn to bowl at the death and ensure that their is no let off from the other end when not facing spin
- Topley to bowl here and their but probably not finish his quota
- Wright and Kohli to bowl fill in overs - Kohli's cutters could come in handy.

Approximate Plan -
Nash: 1, 8, 10, 17
Croft: 2, 4, 6, 19
Topley: 3, 12
Steyn: 5, 15, 18, 20
Panesar: 7, 9, 11, 13
Kohli: 14, 16*
Wright: 16*

* Depends whether Kohli bowls his 1st over well or not

Middlesex tactics vs Surrey
Team:
Brendon McCullum (o, wk)
Martin Guptil (o, u25)
Mark Ramprakash
Dawid Malan (u25)
Eoin Morgan (u25)
Dale Benkenstein (kolpak)
Irfan Pathan (o)
Daniel Vettori (o, c)
Jack Brooks
Praveen Kumar (o, u25)
Stephen Finn (u25)

Toss: on a pitch that will stay good all day, bowl first and try to contain, backing the batting line-up to chase whatever's needed.

Batting
Guptil and McCullum are a pretty tried and tested combination and should be able to get away to a pretty rapid start in the powerplay on a great pitch for batting. Ramprakash and Malan are both capable of carrying on at a decent clip finding gaps in the field and playing their strokes, before Morgan leads the heavy hitting in the 2nd half of the innings aided by Benks, Pathan and Vettori. Brooks and Kumar are both capable of finding the fence if needed too.

Bowling
Finn (1,3,13,15)
Kumar (2,4,17,19)
Pathan (5,7,18,20)
Brooks (6,9,11)
Vettori (8,10,14,16)
Malan (12)

Finn and Kumar open up, with Finn's extra pace hopefully getting something out of the admittedly flat deck. Praveen has plenty of practice keeping things tight on flat decks, so will try to build pressure while finding any swing that is available. Pathan (who's re-modelled action was fairly effective in Australia after he was brought over as a replacement this year) and Brooks come in to end the powerplay.

With the powerplay over Vettori comes in, his mastery of flight makes him tough to score off on any pitch so runs should be hard to come by in his spells. Seamers Brooks and Finn rotate around at the other end trying to not offer any width, while Malan, who's got a surprisingly economical record for a leggie, gets an over in the 12th to add some variety and see if he can get anything from the pitch. That over also means Brooks has a "spare" over available should any of the other seamers be having an off day. Praveen and Pathan are experienced death bowlers and they get the final overs, still focusing on a tight line and length.

Hampshire Royals Tactics vs Somerset CCC
Venue: Hampshire

Starting XI:
1. Graeme Smith (Captain) - Overseas
2. Jimmy Adams - England
3. James Vince – Under 25/England
4. Umar Akmal (WK) – Under 25/Overseas
5. Ravi Bopara – England
6. Steve Smith – Under 25/Overseas
7. Dwayne Bravo - Overseas
8. Dimitri Mascarenhas - England
9. Wayne Parnell – Under 25/ Overseas
10. Danny Briggs – Under 25/England
11. Chris Wood – Under 25/England

Toss: Bat first and build a big total. Then take quick wickets with the new ball and look to keep it tight.

Batting: Smith and Adams will look to get off to a fast start with one of the two looking to stay in for most of the innings. Vince and Akmal will come in and look to destroy their plans by blasting it all over the park. Bopara will come in and look to nudge and nurdle picking up the odd boundary. Then Smith, Bravo and Mascarenhas will look to finish the innings off on a high with some big sixes!

Bowling:
Chris Wood (Overs 1, 3, 5)
Dwayne Bravo (Overs 2, 4, 16, 19)
Dimitri Mascarenhas (Overs 6, 18, 20)
Danny Briggs (Overs 7, 9, 11, 13)
Wayne Parnell (Overs 8, 10, 12, 14)
Steve Smith (Overs 15, 17)

Bowling plans:
Wood and Bravo to start off looking to take early wickets, both looking to get some swing.
Mascarenhas will finish off the powerplay.
Then Briggs and Parnell will come on and bowl the next 8 overs. Briggs will look to contain and nick a couple of wickets with Parnell bowling aggressively looking to take wickets.
Then the combination of Mascarenhas, Smith and Bravo will finish off the innings.
We have 4 seamers, some who can be clever and bowl cutters and swing and some who will look to pick up wickets.
Briggs and Smith will look to take wickets and try to keep the run rate low.