Week 9 - Pitches

Southern League

Match 1: Somerset CC vs Hampshire Royals

Pitch:
A typical Taunton pitch with small boundaries adding to the fun. The
ball should sit up nicely on this pitch allowing batsman to score
freely. This game could well be won by the side that fields the best.

Match 2: Essex Eagles vs Sussex Sharks

Pitch: A downpour overnight has taken the life right out of this pitch and slowed the outfield right up. Bowlers will have to bowl as tight as possible in order to take control whereas batsmen will have to look to rotate the strike as much as possible.

Match 3: Middlesex Panthers vs Surrey Lions

Pitch: This is a very hard pich with true bounce.
Not a blade of grass in sight. It may spin a little towards the end of
the second innings but with the lightning quick outfield this is a
batsmans paradise. Runs aplenty here today.

Northern League

Match 1: Leicestershire Foxes vs Durham Dynamos

Pitch: Spin, spin and more spin! A completely dried up pitch with large cracks that will cause even part time spinners to lick their lips. Batsman will have to be at their best to get anything out of this pitch.

Match 2: Nottinghamshire Outlaws vs Lancashire Lightening

Pitch: A fast pitch that will suit express bowlers. Even the medium pacers will
get some great bounce and pace off of this pitch. If a batsman can use
the pace to his advantage they are bound to do well.

Match 3: Yorkshire Carnegie vs Worcestershire Royals

Pitch: A greenish pitch on a day where the overcast conditions will mean the
ball will swing quite a lot, the ball may spin later on. Batsmen may
struggle with the conditions so thorough application is required.

Provisional XI for Hants:

1. Smith - Overseas (Captain)
2. Adams
3. Clarke - Overseas
4. Akmal - Overseas/ Under 25 (Wicket Keeper)
5. Bopara
6. Vince - Under 25
7. Smith - Overseas/ Under 25
8. Mascarenhas
9. Khan - Overseas
10. Briggs - Under 25
11. Wood - Under 25

Provisional Surrey XI to face Middlesex

1) Steve Davies (wk)
2) Brandon Taylor
3) Jason Roy
4) Mahela Jayawardene (c)
5) Mike Hussey
6) Darren Stevens
7) Angelo Mathews
8) Ravindra Jadeja
9) Chris Woakes
10) James Harris
11) Steven Crook

Overseas: Taylor, Jayawardene, Hussey, Mathews, Jadeja
Under 25: Davies, Roy, Mathews, Jadeja, Woakes, Harris
KOLPAK: Crook

Middlesex provisional XI to face Surrey:

No	Player	Ave	SR	Bowling Ave	Econ
1	Martin Guptil (o,u25)	36.78	132.02	-	9.50
2	Brendon McCullum (o,wk)	32.55	137.24	-	-
3	Shane Watson (o)	31.29	144.84	24.75	7.28
4	Dawid Malan (u25)	32.15	118.00	23.00	6.90
5	Eoin Morgan (u25)	26.33	130.64	-	-
6	Yuvraj Singh (o)	26.98	133.93	23.07	7.21
7	Darren Maddy	30.18	132.97	23.84	7.95
8	Daniel Vettori (o,c)	19.40	122.87	21.16	6.25
9	Jack Brooks	14.75	134.09	30.15	6.93
10	Boyd Rankin	8.00	84.21	16.25	5.41
11	Steven Finn (u25)	9.00	90.00	25.76	7.54

Middlesex team to face Surrey

No	Player	Ave	SR	Bowling Ave	Econ
1	Martin Guptil (o,u25)	36.78	132.02	-	9.50
2	Brendon McCullum (o,wk)	32.55	137.24	-	-
3	Shane Watson (o)	31.29	144.84	24.75	7.28
4	Dawid Malan (u25)	32.15	118.00	23.00	6.90
5	Eoin Morgan (u25)	26.33	130.64	-	-
6	Yuvraj Singh (o)	26.98	133.93	23.07	7.21
7	Darren Maddy	30.18	132.97	23.84	7.95
8	Daniel Vettori (o,c)	19.40	122.87	21.16	6.25
9	Jack Brooks	14.75	134.09	30.15	6.93
10	Steven Finn (u25)	9.00	90.00	25.76	7.54
11	Boyd Rankin	8.00	84.21	16.25	5.41

Toss: bat first and pile on the runs, then back the bowling to keep a lid on the chase.

Batting: Guptil and McCullum open up, and look to attack. With Watson at 3 there is hitting backup in the event of an early wicket, while Malan is also accomplished against the new ball. Morgan, Yuvraj and Maddy are tasked with acceleration in the second half of the innings, all are very capable of finding the fence regularly, and if wickets have been retained in the first half of the innings they can be promoted ahead of Malan. Vettori and Brooks are no slouches either should they be required. On such a good pitch 180-200+ is likely to be needed.

Bowling:
Steven Finn (4 overs 1,3,5,11)
Boyd Rankin (3 overs 2,4,20)
Jack Brooks (3 overs 6,8,13)
Shane Watson (4 overs 7,9,17,19)
Yuvraj Singh (2 overs 10,15)
Daniel Vettori (4 overs 12,14,16,18)

Finn and Rankin open up with pace, to see if they can draw an error in the power play. Rankin's steepling bounce on this pitch could make life interesting facing balls hitting back of a length. Brooks with his accuracy and Watson with variations of pace come in next, while Vettori is held back to later in the innings to utilise any spin on offer, and using his variations of flight and pace to confuse the batsmen and slow the scoring rate. Yuvraj gets a couple of overs of left arm darts to offer some variety, before Watson and Rankin bowl at the death. That means there are extra overs available from Rankin, Brooks and Yuvraj if anyone is having an off day, while Maddy's medium pace is another back up option.

Surrey tactics to face Middlesex


1) Steve Davies (wk)
2) Brendan Taylor
3) Jason Roy
4) Mahela Jayawardene (c)
5) Mike Hussey
6) Darren Stevens
7) Angelo Mathews
8) Ravindra Jadeja
9) Chris Woakes
10) James Harris
11) Steven Crook

Overseas: Taylor, Jayawardene, Hussey, Mathews, Jadeja
Under 25: Davies, Roy, Mathews, Jadeja, Woakes, Harris
KOLPAK: Crook

Toss: Bowl first, on a pitch such as this it will be important to know exactly what we are chasing.

Bowling: Open up with Woakes and Harris and look to keep it tight and look for the Middlesex openers to make a mistake, first change being Crook although we will let Harris bowl three straight up. After the powerplay we will go straight to our medium pacers in Mathews and Stevens who are great at keeping it tight. After a couple from Stevens we will turn to Jadeja to turn his arm and keep it tight once more. Mathews will bowl three of his but will leave the other until the the death overs. Jadeja to bowl out his four from one end whilst we rotate Stevens, Crook and Woakes at the other end. The final 2 overs to be bowled by Mathews and Woakes.

Woakes - 4 overs (1,3,17,20)
Harris - 3 overs (2,4,6)
Crook - 2 overs (5,15)
Mathews - 4 overs (7,9,11,19)
Stevens - 3 overs (8,10,13)
Jadeja - 4 overs (12,14,16,18)

Batting: Davies, Taylor and Roy have permission to go all out in the first 6 overs as we have Mahela and Hussey at 4 and 5 who can play through whilst still playing the big shot. We will be looking for one of these two to play that innings whilst the others play around them. Mathews, Stevens and Jadeja can all play huge shots on demand and will be looking to clear the ropes as much as possible. Woakes, Harris and Crook can all bat as well although hopefully they won't be needed.

Gregers, isn't it "Brendan" Taylor? Unless your opener's not the Zimbabwe skipper?

Somerset vs Hampshire

Hants XI:
1. Graeme Smith - Overseas (Captain)
2. Jimmy Adams
3. Michael Clarke - Overseas
4. Umar Akmal - Overseas/ Under 25 (Wicket Keeper)
5. Ravi Bopara
6. James Vince - Under 25
7. Steve Smith - Overseas/ Under 25
8. Dimitri Mascarenhas
9. Zaheer Khan - Overseas
10. Danny Briggs - Under 25
11. Chris Wood - Under 25

Toss: We don't mind what we do as the pitch should be good throughout. If forced we will bowl first, as we like to chase and see what we have to go at.

Bowling Tactics:
Zaheer Khan - Overs 1,3,18,20.
Steve Smith - Overs 2,4,6,8.
Chris Wood - Overs 5,7,9,11.
Danny Briggs - Overs 10,12,14,16.
Dimitri Mascarenhas - Overs 13,15,17,19.

Zaheer Khan will open the bowling and look to pick up some early wickets. Then come back at the end and bowl yorkers and slower balls. He is one of the best in the world at this.
Steve Smith will open the bowling as well, to try and not let the batsmen settle against a set pace. He will bowl and look to pick up wickets as well.
Chris Wood will come in and look to bowl tight and keep his economy down. Can pick up a wicket or two.
Danny Briggs will bowl in the middle overs and look to keep the run rate down, while picking up wickets and taking advantage of any spin that arises.
Dimi Mascarenhas will come on to bowl at the death. He is a clever canny bowler and will look to keep the runs down at the end.

Batting Tactics:
Smith - Look to score at just over a run a ball. Marshal the innings, look to make big runs so people can play cameos around you.
Adams - Look to get us off to a flyer. Hit out or get out.
Clarke - Look to dominate the bowling, you can get big runs today.
Akmal - Come in and look to explode. Take the game away from the opposition.
Bopara and Vince - Depending on the situation you will both come in and look to continue the high scoring rate. Look for boundaries.
Smith and Mascarenhas - You two can get the ball over the ropes. Look to finish the innings off on a bang.
Khan, Briggs and Wood - Hopefully you won't be need but if you are, just throw the bat at the ball. Edges can get lots of runs

Kiwireddevil wrote:Gregers, isn't it "Brendan" Taylor? Unless your opener's not the Zimbabwe skipper?

Yes yes it is, stupid autocorrect!

Nottinghamshire v Lancashire

Injuries: Jimmy Anderson, Nathan McCullum & David Payne

Changes:

Mustard (fit again) in for Cross
Taylor (fit again) in for Moore
Brown in for Williamson (in order to keep overseas numbers down)
Harris in for Anderson (injured)
Johnson in for McCullum (injured)
Napier in for Croft (pitch suited to his pace)

1. Phil Mustard (wk)
2. Phil Hughes (U25) (Ov)
3. Jesse Ryder (Ov)
4. Ross Taylor (Ov)
5. Tom Maynard (U25) (C)
6. Karl Brown (U25)
7. Graham Napier
8. Mitchell Johnson (Ov)
9. Glen Chapple
10. Ryan Harris (Ov)
11. Simon Kerrigan (U25)

Toss: Bat first – get a big total taking of a hard ball and fresh pitch, and use scoreboard pressure to restrict Notts

Batting

Mustard – Play your natural game, take advantage of the early pace and look to get us off to a flier
Hughes – Bat through the innings – he has shown with Worcs that he is a good 20/20 batsmen capable of batting time but also scoring quickly
Ryder, Taylor & Maynard- all players capable of clearing the ropes, look to score quickly and use the pace that Notts will give you
Brown – look to rotate the strike and let the ‘power hitters’ take over
Napier, Johnson & Chapple – just whack it, all three of you can hit it a mile

Bowling

Harris (1, 3, 5, 20)
Chapple (2. 4, 13, 15)
Napier (6, 8, 17, 19)
Johnson (7, 9, 11, 18)
Kerrigan (10, 12, 14, 16)

We open up with the very pacy Harris and the ever reliable Chapple, Chapple will put the bowl in the right place and look at restricting the score, whilst Harris will look to bowl at express pace and exploit the pitch. Napier who can also be express will take over and continue the ‘Harris role’. Johnson will come on after the power play where the field can give him a bit more protection, he will look to bowl ‘wicket taking deliveries’ and will concentrate more of dismissing the Notts batsmen rather than keeping the score in check. If he can take 3 or 4 for 35-40 then he has done his job. Kerrigan will bowl his allotment in one spell, with the bounce often assisting spinners, he will to tie down the batsmen. The death overs are spread around our three quick bowlers, with all three capable of hitting Yorkers and varying their deliveries.

Somerset line up

Toss - Bat, we should be able to do either, however we would prefer to bat first and hopefully pose a total which should be looking at a minimum of 10 an over with 6 batsmen and bowlers who can throw the bat which will make the opposition have to chase heavy from the start and against our bowlers including alfonso thomas and dockrell that will be a tough ask.

1) Kieswetter - WK + U25
2) Gayle - OVERSEAS
3) Trott
4) Ponting - OVERSEAS
5) Buttler - U25
6) Morkel - OVERSEAS
7) Philander - OVERSEAS
8) Thomas
9) Gregory - U25
10) Dockrell - U25
11) Tait - OVERSEAS

6 regular bowlers have been chosen as its a good pitch it gives us a wider variety of bowler to use as its likely the opposition will be able to get after 1 or two. There is also Chris Gayle as a 2nd spin option.

Preferable bowling order

Shuan Tait - 1, 7, 9, 15
Alfonso Thomas - 2, 4, 18, 20
Lewis Gregory - 3, 5, 13, 17
George Dockrell - 8, 10, 12, 14
Vernon Philander - 6, 11, 16, 19

Albie Morkel is able to fill in for any seamer should the opposition be able to get ontop of any of the quickies and Gayle can come on for either a seamer or Dockrell. This is also a team that generally is good at fielding which will be crucial on Taunton.

The pace of the innings will start quickly with Kieswetter and Gayle to take advantage of the powerplays, Taunton is short straight where both of these guys like to play shots. Trott can provide balance and support for whoever is still at the crease and Ponting can either come in as aggressor or as the Trott role depending who is still there. Beyond this there is Buttler who will be able to pace an innings as required, Morkel and Philander who can support with fireworks hopefully at the end of the innings.

In the field Alfonso will bowl at the start and end hoping to see a quick surge in the required rate at the start by using his slower balls, cutters, slower ball bouncers, yorkers etc so when the other bowlers come on theres more pressure on the batsman. Tait will bowl sporadically as it will be easier for batters to get used to his pace, but will try and get another over used in the middle of the innings.

Dockrell has recently developed very good variety in his bowling in terms of pace and flight and should be able to put a clamp on the run rate meaning going into the 2nd half of the innings the opposition should be looking at a daunting run rate having lost a few wickets. Philander will bowl in 1 over spells in the attempt to take batters by supprise with his bowling.

Worcestershire Royals line up vs Yorkshire

1)Kevin Pietersen-HG
2)Vikram Solanki-HG
3)Hashim Amla
4)Ian Bell-HG
5)Shakib Al Hasan-U25
6)Dan Christian
7)Tim Paine(WK)
8)Brett Lee
9)Jack Shantry-U25-HG
10)Junaid Khan-U25
11)Stuart Meaker-HG-U25

Toss:Bat First

Team News:Paine for the injured Wilson, Christian for Hafeez in accordance with conditions. Solanki to open up the innings.

Bowling tactics:

Lee(1,3,18,20)
Meaker(2,4,6)
Junaid(9,11,17,19)
Christian(12,14,16)
Shakib(8,10,13,15)
Shantry(5,7)

Nottinghamshire Outlaws Vs Lancashire

Alex Hales
David Warner
Michael Lumb
AB De Villiers
James Taylor
Morne Van Wyk
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Pat Cummins
Lasith Malinga
Luke Fletcher

Toss: Bowl first. Blow Lancs away with my bowlers then chase down a small total.

Bowling: I will open up with a one over burst from Malinga who might not extract the bounce from the pitch because of his slingy action, but his raw pace will cause damage. From the other end Pat Cummins will open up and he is rapid and will love this pitch. Then I have Broad and Fletcher to bowl, both quick hit the deck bowlers who will really enjoy bowling on ths wicket as it will play to their strengths. Swann will also enjoy the bounce. Broad and Malinga to return at the death.

Malinga - 1, 16, 18, 20
Cummins - 2, 4, 6
Broad - 3, 5, 17, 19
Swann - 7, 9, 11, 13
Fletcher - 8, 10, 12, 14

Batting: Basically, play their natural games. Alex Hales will go hard early on like he always does. David Warner has grown up on pitches like this in Aus, so is used to it and will cope with it fine. Lumb has got back to form this year and is decent nick so will just keep going. Then I have one of the best T20 batsmen in the world to come, in AB, and he will know how to pace a chase. Taylor can rotate the strike well and being short will love the bounce. Van Wyk is my finisher and will close it out when needed. Even my tail can blast a bit with the likes of Broad, Swann etc. but hopefully it will nto come to that!

Tactics by tomorrow midnight okay for everyone? Really want to crack on with this

yep, get mine in sometime tomorrow. Going out tonight (it's fete de la musique here )

SUSSEX SHARKS Tactics v Essex Eagles @ Chelmsford

Team line-up:

1 Chris Nash
2 Richard Levi
3 Virat Kohli (c)
4 Matt Prior (wk)
5 Luke Wright
6 Andre Russell
7 Ben Brown
8 Michael Yardy
9 Dale Steyn
10 Clint McKay
11 Monty Panesar

5 Overseas players (Levi, Kohli, Russell, Steyn, McKay)
4 Under 25s (Levi, Kohli, Russell, Brown)

Clint McKay replaces Harry Gurney, whilst Ben Brown slots in for the injured Jacques Kallis.

Toss

Bat first, but we have a line-up that can chase well if we do lose the toss

Batting Plans

- Nash to bat sensibly and ensure that wickets don't go down too quickly. Can accelerate as the innings goes on.
- Levi to hit up front in the first six. Capable of going on with it, as is shown by his record fastest ever T20 hundred.
- Kohli at three is extremely classy and experienced on slow pitches. Runs well between the wickets
- Prior is experienced, and very capable of playing all kinds of innings.
- Russell and Wright are both capable of massive hits. They will need to attack the spinners on this occasion, but will also need to run well, as constant big hitting may not be possible.
- Yardy will play primarily as a bowler but he has a good FC batting record and if we lose early wickets can come in up the order and bat to good effect.

Bowling and Fielding Plans

- Steyn takes the new ball on this occasion. He should be difficult to score off as the premier pace bowler in world cricket. He returns at the death, where he is also an extremely skillful bowler.
- McKay at the other end is a fine international bowler. Will make use of his variations, and bowl at the death.
- Russell is an exciting cricketer who will run in and give his all.
- Panesar and Yardy will bowl in tandem, as they look to get the most out of a wearing surface
- Depending on how things go, Wright and Nash can fill in some overs

- We are a good fielding side. Russell, Kohli, Brown, Levi and Nash are great in the outfield, and Prior is one of the best keepers around.

Approximate Plan -
Steyn: 1, 3, 18, 20
McKay: 2, 4, 17, 19
Russell: 5, 7, 14, 16
Panesar: 9, 11, 13, 15
Yardy: 6, 8, 10, 12


+ Nash and Wright as option

This plan is very much dependent on how people bowl. We have plenty of alternatives if we need to move away from Plan A.

Yorkshire Team vs Worcestershire

1. Sehwag
2. Denly
3. R.Sharma
4. Duminy
5. Dhoni (w)
6. Bairstow
7. A.Mahmood
8. Rashid
9. Bresnan
10. Shahzad
11. Warne (c)

Toss: Bowl. Let the seamers take advantage of the early swing.

Batting: Sehwag will play his natural game and go after the opening bowlers. Denly will play a bit safer and look to get set before attacking himself. Rohit, Duminy and Dhoni will play aggressively or a bit more conservatively depending on the match situation. They are all good enough players to do this. Bairstow and Mahmood will look to come in at the end and hit out from ball one. The whole batting line up can clear the ropes on their day.

Bowling: Bresnan and Shahzad will take the new ball and look to extract early swing. Mahmood will come on first change and bowl a couple of overs. If we bowl first he'll come back later, if not, his two overs will be taken by JPD. Warne and Rashid will look to control the middle overs before Bresnn and Shahzad return at the death.

Over allocation:

Bresnan 1,3,17,19.
Shahzad 2,4,18,20.
A.Mahmood 5,7,(13,15 if bowling first)
Rashid 6,8,10,12.
Warne 9,11,14,16.
Duminy (13,15 if batting first)

Sehwag can also fill in an over or two if needed.

Leicestershire Tactics vs. Durham

Team Sheet

Sanga (WK) ©
Dilshan
KOB
Raina
Trego
Hughes
Cobb
Henderson
Ajmal
Tremmers
Bishoo

Toss – Bat first, use the good players of spin to bludgeon their way to a steady total before turning to our wealth of excellent spinners to suffocate their reply.

Batting

Sanga and Dilshan will open up, looking to score early on to make Durham’s spinners’ task a lot more daunting. Sanga will be tasked with playing straight through the innings whilst Dilshan will look for fireworks. Kevin O Brien will come in at 3, capable of blazing further and is more than able to play spin as is Raina who is used to slow pitches that facilitate spin. Trego, Chesney Hughes and Josh Cobb are all big hitters who can also play positively as well. We’ll look to score around 170ish in the knowledge that our spinners are more than able to stifle any batting order.

Bowling

Bishoo – 4 – (13,15,17,19)
Ajmal – 4 – (14,16,18,20)
Henderson – 4 – (5,7,9,11)
Cobb – 2 – (10,12)
Dilshan – 3 – (4,6,8)
Tremlett – 2 – (1, 3)
Trego – 1 – (2)

Oh Dear I keep forgetting about this. Ok if I post tactics tomorrow?

We need them asap Shanky as voting has already opened