Clydesdale Bank 40 Discussion Thread

[Shelsey93]

The CB40 can be a damp squid of a competition. The format is wrong (debatably), the picture of a final on a damp September day in front of a half-full crowd is in my head, and there are too many dead games, leading to counties fielding virtual 2nd XIs with regularity.

But that is what we have, and the tournament starts tomorrow with a repeat of Surrey v Somerset.

The three groups were drawn as follows:

A: Netherlands, Leicestershire Foxes, Worcestershire Royals, Lancashire Lightning, Middlesex Panthers, Essex Eagles, Gloucestershire Gladiators
B: Scottish Saltires, Durham Dynamos, Hampshire Royals, Surrey, Welsh Dragons, Somerset, Nottinghamshire Outlaws
C: Unicorns, Derbyshire Falcons, Yorkshire, Kent Spitfires, Warwickshire Bears, Sussex Sharks, Northamptonshire Steelbacks

Matches to be played over the Bank Holiday weekend are:

Friday 4th May

Surrey v Somerset @ The Oval - Live on Sky Sports 4, 3.00; Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17909365 (BBC London/ BBC Bristol)

Surrey 295-6 (Hamilton-Brown 101, Davies 72, Meschede 2-57) Somerset 190 (Compton 53, Meaker 3-24)

Surrey won by 105 runs

Sunday 6th May

Scottish Saltires v Surrey @ The Grange - Commentary link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910138 (BBC London)

Surrey 187-7 (Rudolph 69, Haq 2-27) Scot 118-6 (Berrington 43*, Spriegel 2-16)

Surrey won by 18 runs (D/L)

Gloucestershire Gladiators v Netherlands @ Bristol - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910365 (BBC Bristol)

Neth 239-6 (Myburgh 77, Young 2-31) Gloucs 238-8 (Howell 72*, Seelaar 4-42)

Netherlands won by 1 run

Lancashire Lightning v Leicestershire Foxes @ Old Trafford - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910367 (BBC Lancashire)

Lancs 296-3 (Croft 82, Prince 79, Moore 74, Cobb 1-37) Leics 291-7 (Cobb 137, Boyce 64, Kerrigan 3-44)

Lancashire Lightning won by 5 runs

Unicorns v Derbyshire Falcons @ Wormsley

Derbys 287-3 (Guptill 125, Durston 120*, Querl 2-58) Unicorns 158-9 (Reece 36, Hughes 5-29)

Derbyshire Falcons won by 129 runs

Warwickshire Bears v Northamptonshire Steelbacks @ Edgbaston - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910141 (BBC Coventry and Warwickshire/ BBC WM)

Northants 209-7 (Hall 52*, Barker 3-41) Warks 212-4 (Bell 82*, Clarke 54*, de Lange 2-31)

Warwickshire Bears won by 6 wickets

Yorkshire v Kent Spitfires @ Headingley - Live on Sky Sports 2, 1.30; Commentary link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910369 (BBC Leeds/ BBC Kent)

Yorks 175-9 (Root 49, Coles 6-32) Kent 176-6 (Stevens 59, Rafiq 3-22)

Kent Spitfires won by 2 wickets

Monday 7th May

Leicestershire Foxes v Essex Eagles @ Grace Road - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910698 (BBC Leicester/ BBC Essex)

Match abandoned without a ball bowled

Middlesex Panthers v Gloucestershire Gladiators @ Lord's - Live on Sky Sports 2, 1.30; Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910932 (BBC London/ BBC Bristol)

Middx 157-8 (Simpson 29, Young 3-26) Gloucs 161-5 (Howell 45*, Rayner 2-29)

Gloucestershire Gladiators won by 5 wickets

Hampshire Royals v Welsh Dragons @ Rose Bowl - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910694 (BBC Solent)

WD 173-7 (Walters 68, Ali 3-44) Hants 151-2 (Vince 83, Carberry 60, A. Jones 1-4)

Hampshire Royals won by 48 runs (D/L)

Scottish Saltires v Nottinghamshire Outlaws @ The Grange

Notts 219-7 (Read 59, Haq 2-34) Scot 108-0 (Macleod 58*)

Scottish Saltires won by 18 runs (D/L)

Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Unicorns @ Wantage Road

Unicorns 79-3 (Reece 27*, de Lange 2-19) Northants 16-1 (Coetzer 10*, Wheeldon 1-9)

No Result

Worcestershire Royals v Netherlands @ Kidderminster - Commentary link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17910696

Worcs 172-4 (Solanki 63, Bukhari 3-29) Neth 139-1 (Myburgh 74*, Borgas 55*, Shantry 1-23)

Netherlands won by 9 wickets (D/L)

[hodge]

Interesting team Somerset have put out, by the way they have listed the team I would have thought Trego or Suppiah would have opened not Compton. Also have a strange feeling i've played against Jamie Overton before

[jimbohammers]

Surrey off to a good start

[jbd349]

Surprised to see Ansari picked ahead of Rodolph

[hodge]

dammit Somerset

[simsini]

It must be really dark out there if Roy is given out when it was nowhere near his pad!

[guildfordbat]

Surprised to see Ansari picked ahead of Rodolph

Rudolph's absence from the side is surprising. Does anyone know if he's at the ground? He missed a game recently for family reasons and today is his birthday - just wonder if there's a connection. Probably not although all seems a bit odd.

Great start from Hyphen and Interesting. Le Roi not getting the rub of the green currently but his talent will still out.

Somerset desperately missing too many of their big guns ....

[hodge]

South Africa apparantly saying Philander isn't allowed to play 1 day cricket

[guildfordbat]

Hodge - due to the IPL, you're also missing The Great Alfonso. A very fine bowler too often ignored by the media.

[hodge]

Yeah he is missed a great deal, noted Philander though as he is actually over here but being made to sit out.

[simsini]

Struggling to get runs here, might not have enough.

[guildfordbat]

Struggling to get runs here, might not have enough.

Simsini - would have been good to really put the foot on the gas in the last 10 overs or so but I'm confident we've got enough.

Somerset won't fancy facing Meaker, Lewis and Dernbach in these conditions. The Brain may well like the conditions as well if he gets a go.

We're strong in the field too. There aren't many better than Roy and Ansari.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Flying visit - looks like a good effort by most of the batsmen. Pleased to see Meaker getting an early wicket.

[simsini]

We definitely have enough. I don't fancy Somerset to get 200 after this start.

[hodge]

Likely near enough over already, would need Hildreth, Compton, Buttler and Meschede to literally explode with the runs ( )

[Corporalhumblebucket]

76 - 3 off 13 overs. Rattling along - but important wicket for Batty...

[hodge]

pitch starts turning as soon as Surrey start bowling, great

[guildfordbat]

Very comfortable Surrey win and fine start to this CB 40 campaign.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Good performance by Surrey. Particularly pleased to see Meaker and Ansari put in strong bowling stints. Adams has obviously got a lot of faith in Ansari to sneak him back from Uni (where he was no doubt meant to be revising )

[hodge]

Good performance by Surrey. Particularly pleased to see Meaker and Ansari put in strong bowling stints. Adams has obviously got a lot of faith in Ansari to sneak him back from Uni (where he was no doubt meant to be revising )

Yes every uni student is meant to be revising at the moment, and in no way has agreed to play 2 cricket games this weekend instead

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Hodge - can't think who that is referring to. Can't be Ansari since he is not travelling to Scotland with the rest of the Surrey team....

[hodge]

shucks been busted

[jimbobgooner]

Struggling to get runs here, might not have enough.

[jimbobgooner]

Surprised to see Ansari picked ahead of Rodolph

[jimbobgooner]

just back from the oval intresting pub that vauxhall tavern

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Jimbob - sounds like quite a long session you had there!

What sort of crowd was there at the Oval?

[SimonofSurrey]

Thanks for the updates folks. Without these, some of us might have been unaware that last season's CB40 Champions beat last year's Runners-up last night, eg: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/surrey/default.stm

Pah. Typical BBC Salford Northern bias

(PS: I know you can click from that page to the scorecard, but that's not the point)

[Shelsey93]

I really think Surrey have mastered this 40 over format. Other teams are caught between Championship and T20 - formats in which Surrey are not amongst the best 3 or 4 sides. All areas seem to be covered. I think playing at The Oval helps too - big scores are always difficult for visiting teams to defend.

[Carrotdude]

Another great CB40 performance from Surrey, carrying on where we left off. Hyphen continues to outdo himself this season with a brilliant hundred and Meaker bowled excellently, scaring the crap out of the batsmen with pace and was actually very accurate too. Ansari was excellent also, although he isn't available for the Scotland match due to uni commitments I hear.

My one big worry is Lewis, especially at The Oval. He bowls so slowly that on a pitch like ours you can just stand and hit it wherever you please. I'm sure he'll be targeted.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Surrey squad for the match against Scotland is:

Rory Hamilton-Brown (capt)
Steven Davies
Jason Roy
Tom Maynard
Zander de Bruyn
Jacques Rudolph
Matthew Spriegel
Gareth Batty
Jon Lewis
Stuart Meaker
Jade Dernbach
Tim Linley
Gary Wilson

I would expect to see the same team as played in the match against Somerset, but with Reindeer replacing Ansari (who has returned to uni).

[guildfordbat]

Corporal - agree.

I do feel sorry for Wilson. Seems all he has to look forward is a season long tirade of 'Drinks Waiter' jokes. That's tough after he performed well for Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year. Add to that, Burns is coming up fast on the outside rail. Probably time for Wilson to go out on loan if that can be arranged - I'm sure he would be a fine recruit for several Division Two clubs. [Apologies as rather off topic but done now. ]

[jimbobgooner]

Jimbob - sounds like quite a long session you had there!

What sort of crowd was there at the Oval?

the crowd was poor corporal but that was no surprise it was bloody freezing at one stage i could not feel my toes that old expression chilly on the willy was never more appropriate

[guildfordbat]

Jimbob - sounds like quite a long session you had there!

What sort of crowd was there at the Oval?

the crowd was poor corporal but that was no surprise it was bloody freezing at one stage i could not feel my toes that old expression chilly on the willy was never more appropriate

JimBob - I guess you're not going to today's game in even colder Edinburgh!

[Guest]

very good start to the campaign for surrey against somerset.......

well played Rory

[guildfordbat]

Scotland currently proving tougher opponents than Somerset for Surrey.

Surrey currently 60-3 in the 15th.

Wilson surprisingly playing in place of Maynard. Perhaps Adams was reading the above ....

P.S. CF - good to have you back.

[guildfordbat]

Surrey 85-3 at the halfway point of their innings.

Could be tricky ....

[guildfordbat]

Surrey end up on 187-7.

Reindeer top scoring with 69 whilst Batty and Lewis added useful runs at the end.

Doesn't seem that big a total but I guess it'll be hard going for the Saltires against our seamers ....

[jimbobgooner]

Jimbob - sounds like quite a long session you had there!

What sort of crowd was there at the Oval?

the crowd was poor corporal but that was no surprise it was bloody freezing at one stage i could not feel my toes that old expression chilly on the willy was never more appropriate

JimBob - I guess you're not going to today's game in even colder Edinburgh!

no chance Guildford lol is winegums injured?

[guildfordbat]

Hi JimBob - I've heard second hand that Maynard dropped out for family reasons. Coming on the heels of Reindeer missing a CC match for the same reasons, all rather odd!

I'm sure the Corporal wouldn't approve and would expect a stiff upper lip to be shown.

Scotland are 8-o off 3 overs. II'll still back our seamers to get us a win. However, if the Jocks can get a partnership going, this could be embarrassing ....

[Guest]

Scotland currently proving tougher opponents than Somerset for Surrey.

Surrey currently 60-3 in the 15th.

Wilson surprisingly playing in place of Maynard. Perhaps Adams was reading the above ....

P.S. CF - good to have you back.

thanks guildford....i wont post anywhere near as much, as i used to, but new account, tweaked name, see how it goes....


awful batting performance from Yorks today only posting 175-9, 6-fer for young Matt Coles

[jimbobgooner]

Hi JimBob - I've heard second hand that Maynard dropped out for family reasons. Coming on the heels of Reindeer missing a CC match for the same reasons, all rather odd!

I'm sure the Corporal wouldn't approve and would expect a stiff upper lip to be shown.

Scotland are 8-o off 3 overs. II'll still back our seamers to get us a win. However, if the Jocks can get a partnership going, this could be embarrassing ....

Thanks Guildford

[Guest]

Surrey only made 187-7 against scotland

[guildfordbat]

JimBob - meanwhile, Spriegel and Lewis applying a stranglehold.

Jocks currently 59-4 off 18.

Looking good for Surrey ....

[Guest]

Is ramps being rested throughout all limited overs game this season?

[guildfordbat]

Is ramps being rested throughout all limited overs game this season?

CF - he was last season and it looks that way again.

[Guest]

hmmm suprising that Lewis didnt take the new ball to be honest..

[Tibor]

I think we may have won by 18 or so runs via duckworth-lewis.

[guildfordbat]

Yep, a win by Duckworth-Lewis.

2 out of 2 although not nearly so convincing today as Friday.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Hi CF - welcome back from me as well. Yes I'm sure that Ramps would only be picked to play now in limited overs matches in an emergency. For example if there was a simultaneous softening of stiff upper lips on the part of all our batsmen at once. I think his fielding is no longer up to the mark in this kind of cricket...

Good to see Spriegel strike some form with the ball. Sounds like a pretty unpleasant day to be playing cricket in Edinburgh... I think by the time play was called off today we were probably at least 80 - 90% likely to win the match. So I would say that there can't really be any complaints about what D/L method came up with....

[Shelsey93]

Wins for Netherlands, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Kent and Surrey today.

I flagged up Matt Coles as an in-form cricketer the other day and he was at it again today with six wickets in the televised game for Kent against Yorkshire. Its the first time I've really concentrated when he's been bowling. At the moment I'd say he bowls a heavy ball and nips it back a little. No particular pace, but ideally suited to the county game. International prospects might rely (like Woakes) on becoming a genuine all-rounder though.

Some people might call Netherlands beating Gloucestershire a surprise. I wouldn't. Netherlands have competed at the last 3 World Cups, as well as upsetting England in the 2009 World T20, and were solidly mid-table in last year's CB40. Overall, with the likes of Myburgh, Tom Cooper and Pieter Seelaar in their side they are probably a good bet for mid-table. Gloucs also notably had the Gidman brothers - Alex and Will - opening together. Scotland are probably weaker than Netherlands, but again beating some of the weaker county sides should not come as a surprise.

Josh Cobb made 137 for Leics. as they almost chased down 297 against Lancs. Cobb is one of a number of players - Sam Northeast, Billy Godleman and Alex Wakely are other examples - who are yet to really demonstrate why they were rated so highly as teenagers. Cobb, after some success in the T20 last year, might be beginning to make a breakthrough.

Martin Guptill and Wes Durston made 100s for Derbyshire against Unicorns. With them, and the talented Chesney Hughes in their side, the Falcons are a useful 40 over outfit.

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