Week 4 - Southern League Pitches

Match 1 - Essex Eagles vs Hampshire Royals

Pitch: A dry pitch with some cracks in it. Fast outfield so should be a high scoring game. Some uneven bounce throughout to excite the pacemen and more spin as the match continues.

Match 2 - Surrey Lions vs Somerset CC

Pitch: Some rain overnight has taken the sting out of the pitch meaning that bowlers will have to bowl extremely well to get anything out of it. Batting wise once a batsman gets used to the slowish pitch they should be able to score well.

Match 3 - Middlesex Panthers vs Sussex Sharks

Pitch: Some rain is predicted between the innings making the toss crucial. The rain could make the job of the spinners harder in the second innings but it might also make the pitch somewhat two speed. Some clouds throughout will should offer some swing.

Provisional Surrey Lions squad:

1) Davies
2) Taylor
3) Roy
4) Northeast
5) RHB
6) Mathews
7) Stevens
8) Woakes
9) Kartik
10) Tahir
11) Dernbach

Match 3 - Middlesex Panthers vs Sussex Sharks

Pitch: Some rain is predicted between the innings making the toss crucial. The rain could make the job of the spinners harder in the second innings but it might also make the pitch somewhat two speed. Some clouds throughout will should offer some swing.

Hmmm, tricky pitch to get a read of - possibly an "if in doubt, bat first" one?

Middlesex team to play Sussex

No	Player	Ave	SR	Bowling Ave	Econ
1	Martin Guptil (o,u25)	36.78	132.02	-	9.50
2	Shane Watson (o)	31.29	144.84	24.75	7.28
3	Dale Benkenstein (kolpak)	25.87	129.38	26.95	7.35
4	Dawid Malan (u25)	32.15	118.00	23.00	6.90
5	Eoin Morgan (u25)	26.33	130.64	-	-
6	Brendon McCullum (o,wk)	32.55	137.24	-	-
7	Neil Dexter	20.86	110.93	26.96	7.54
8	Irfan Pathan (o)	22.97	127.97	24.31	7.57
9	Daniel Vettori (o,c)	19.40	122.87	21.16	6.25
10	Jack Brooks	14.75	134.09	30.15	6.93
11	Steven Finn (u25)	9.00	90.00	25.76	7.54

Shane Watson returns from injury to strengthen both the batting and the bowling, he was sorely missed last match. To keep the English player quota intact Neil Dexter replaces Praveen Kumar.

Toss: Bat first

Batting: With the ball expected to swing around a little all match I've picked a team that bats all the way down to number 10. The order is tweakable depending on circumstances, ideally I'd like Morgan to come in around the 12-14th over, so Dexter could be promoted to steady if wickets do fall, as could McCullum, while Morgan, McCullum and Pathan can be promoted as necessary to maximise the hitting potential if things are going well.

Watson and Guptil open up, and look to be positive particularly if we're batting first, while a wet ball could negate some swing batting second, so in that case they will look to get the ball moving along the grass early, with Benkenstein and Malan to follow who're both capable of working the ball around at a decent clip.

Bowling wise, if we bowl first it's a fairly straightforward attack, Finn and Pathan open up looking for wickets with swing, backed up by Watson and Brooks. Vettori comes in to use his mastery of flight to contain and apply pressure, while Dexter is available to pick up overs if anyone gets smashed. If we bowl second the plan is similar, though Pathan and Watson will also look to exploit any 2-paced-ness with a few slower balls. If grip is an issue for Vettori (it will be more an issue for wrist spinners than finger spinners) then Dexter steps up to bowl some of his overs.

Shane Watson (4 overs 6,12,17,19)
Irfan Pathan (4 overs 2,4,18,20)
Daniel Vettori (4 overs 8,10,14,16)
Jack Brooks (4 overs 7,9,11,15)
Steven Finn (4 overs 1,3,5,13)
Dexter (backup overs as required)
Malan and Benks are back-up spin options, though they almost certainly won't be needed.

Surrey Lions side to play Somerset CC

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

Toss: Bowl First. I think that knowing what we are chasing will give us an advantage on a pitch where judging what a good target is could be difficult.

Team news: Hussey is out injured and therefore Stevens gets promoted up the order. Northeast also comes in to make his Surrey debut.

Bowling: We will open up with Kartik bowling the first over in order to try and catch Gayle out before he gets going. Woakes to bowl two from the other end. The final powerplay overs being bowled by Dernbach and Arafat. Arafat will also bowl the 7th over before being replaced by a returning Kartik who will then bowl out. At the other end Mathews will bowl the 8th over. Stevens to come on and bowl the 10th. A returning Arafat will bowl the 12th over before Stevens returns to bowl the 14th. With Woakes and Dernbach bowling the final 5 overs Mathews will bowl the 15th over. If any of our bowlers get hit out of the attack Rory Hamilton-Brown and Brandon Taylor can chip in, alternatively Mathews or Stevens can bowl more if required.


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

Batting: We will look for Davies and Roy to both attack from the off whilst Taylor plays himself in. Hopefully we will make the powerplay count. Stevens at 4 has enough experience to judge his innings perfectly and can hit big shots at will. RHB and Northeast will look to play sensibly but can both hit out if required. Mathews might seem a touch low at 7 but he can be promoted if we need quick runs, for example if we get bogged down in the powerplay he could even come up the order as high as 3 and act as a pinch hitter for us. Woakes, Arafat and Kartik can all bat if required.

Somerset team to face Surrey

Toss - Bowl, we will want to see what we are chasing on here, will be hard to judge what a good target to set would be as it could all depend on whether one person can produce a loose cannon innings and take their opponents apart. So field first know what to chase.

1) Trescothick (c)
2) Gayle
3) Kieswetter (U25)
4) Hildreth
5) Van Der Merwe (O)
6) Morkel (O)
7) Meschede (U25)
8) Philander (O)
9) Thomas
10) Gregory (U25)
11) Dockrell (U25)

Batting down to 7 with Philander and Thomas able to have a swing so there is plenty of batting in the line up, a mixture of explosive batters with those who can pace an innings should give the team balance. Maybe have Tres look to play as many of the 20 overs as possible while not going too slowly but allow Gayle to look at the pitch for an over or 2 to gauge the pace before teeing off. Kieswetter has more of a licence to go after the bowling. Hildreth if and when required will look to play the role of rotator to take 1's and 2's while going for boundaries as well. VDM and Morkel can provide fireworks with Meschede the sort of batsman who can play either role required of him.

Bowling:

Philander - 1, 9, 11, 19
Thomas - 2, 4, 18, 20
VDM - 3, 13, 15, 17
Dockrell - 6, 8, 10, 12
Gregory - 5, 7, 14, 16

In an ideal innings the bowlers above would bowl the overs as such, however the bowlers below can be used if one or more of the above are leaking too many runs
Morkel
Meschede
Gayle

The idea will be to have a couple of overs of seam and try and introduce spin early so the change of pace may catch them out. VDM will have overs held back towards the end and try and get Dockrell bowling out in the middle overs. Gregory ahead of Morkel as the sting is gone from the pitch and Gregory is more likely to pitch the ball up and with his pace it should still cause problems. Split Alfonso in half so the batters can't get used to his bowling and hopefully by the end he should be bowling to the lower middle order at least so should have a better chance of wickets or keeping it tight.

SUSSEX SHARKS Tactics v Middlesex Panthers @ Lord's

Team line-up:

1 Chris Nash
2 Luke Wright
3 Virat Kohli (c)
4 Scott Styris
5 Mohammad Shahzad
6 Ben Brown (wk)
7 Michael Yardy
8 Dale Steyn
9 Clint McKay
10 Reece Topley
11 Monty Panesar

5 Overseas players (Kohli, Styris, Shahzad, Steyn, McKay)
4 Under 25s (Kohli, Shahzad, Brown, Topley)

McKay returns in place of the injured Prior (Brown takes over keeping duties), Styris returns in place of Misbah and Yardy replaces Croft.

Toss

Bowl first - we are a strong chasing side

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 Pathan and Watson.
- Kohli will bat at three and look to play a match-winning knock, particularly taking the attack to Vettori - a type of bowler he will be well accustomed to facing, being team-mates at RCB
- Styris in at 4, largely to attack though he is not a one-trick pony. Yardy will come in at 4 if two early wickets fall to steady things - otherwise he will be used primarily as a bowler and could even slip below Steyn and McKay if quick runs are needed.
- Shahzad will begin to play their shots as the innings progresses, though they should not be reckless if the situation does not demand it.

Bowling Plans

- Steyn and McKay have the new ball on this occasion, to exploit early swing and make like difficult for Guptill, Watson and Benkenstein.
- Topley takes an over in the powerplay, as does Yardy
- Panesar to bowl in the middle overs and create pressure, as well as having the ability to bowl wicket-taking balls. Nash to bowl a bit.
- Steyn to bowl at the death and use all of his death-bowling skills. McKay has also demonstrated good ability at this point of the game for Australia.
- 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 -
Steyn: 1, 3, 18, 20
McKay: 2, 4, 17, 19
Topley: 5, 14, 16*
Yardy: 6, 8, 15
Panesar: 7, 9, 11, 13
Nash: 10, 12
Wright: 16*

+ Kohli as an option if any of the others don't go well

* Depends if Topley has gone well. If he doesn't go well then Wright can fill in as a more experienced one-day bowler

Essex Tactics by the only person here interimming... Mr Neal McNeil

1. Shahid Afridi (O)
2. Rob Nicol (O)
3. Owais Shah
4. Dinesh Chandimal (wk) (U25) (O)
5. Ryan Ten Doeschate (c)
6. Liam Dawson (U25)
7. Joe Gatting (U25)
8. Brad Hogg (O)
9. James Pattinson (O) (U25)
10. Stephen Parry
11. Tymal Mills (U25)

O = Afridi, Nicol, Chandimal, Hogg, Pattinson
U25 = Mills, Pattinson, Gatting, Dawson, Chandimal

Toss: Bat first

Bat: Plenty of power hitters in Afridi, Nicol, Chandimal, RTD and Hogg. Shah can anchor the innings and we'll hope it doesn't come to Gatting and Dawson to score the key runs! Overall a pretty good batting line up and we are aiming for a big score!

Bowl: You're all professionals so do what you do best....

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

Hampshire Royals Tactics vs Essex Eagles
Venue: Essex

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, and then use the spin and uneven bounce to conquer their batsmen.

Batting:
Smith - Play through the innings looking to score at just over a run a ball.
Adams - Go out and play your shot, I want you to get us off to a fast start.
Vince - Even if you come in second ball I want you to tee off and score quickly.
Akmal - Play yourself in for a while and then let go and hit some sixes.
Bopara - Look to nudge and nurdle if we are bother but if not come in and free your arms up.
Smith, Mascarenhas, Bravo - You guys need to clear the boundary rope at the end of the innings to push us up to a very high score.

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

Bowling plans:
Wood and Bravo to start off looking to take early wickets, both looking to get some swing and take advantage of the uneven bounce.
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, Wood and Bravo will finish off the innings.