County Championship 2019 Thread

by jimbohammers Tue 26 Feb 2019, 3:29 pm

Just over a month to go until the new season starts.

Same old questions...

Who are your picks for the title?
Who is going down?
Surprise team?
Most runs?
Most wickets?
One to watch?

How is your team shaping up for the start of the season? Any inside news?

Discuss here...

by jimbohammers Tue 26 Feb 2019, 3:32 pm

Reason for starting this thread today was when i saw the news that Olivier has quit international cricket to sign a kolpak deal with Yorkshire.
Had been in great form for South Africa

by Gooseberry Tue 26 Feb 2019, 4:13 pm

Woah really? I cant blame him for quitting a rabble that just lost at home to Sir Lanka but that is pretty bonkers even if he is down the pecking order when everyones fit. Huge blow for SAs future which seemed to be looking rosey on the pace bowlers front if not the batting.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 21 Mar 2019, 10:15 am

Who are your picks for the title? - Surrey in Div 1 and Middlesex in Div 2 (with Durham and Sussex to be promoted alongside them)
Who is going down? - Warwickshire
Surprise team? - Kent
Most runs? - Liam Livingstone
Most wickets? - Morne Morkel
One to watch? - Will Jacks

How is your team shaping up for the start of the season? Any inside news?

Think the Rey are shaping up quite well, seem to be looking to bring through the next batch of youth players in Jacks and Jamie Smith in particular. Not sure where Virdi is fitness wise, so spinner is an issue but in the early season we might get away with it

by Gooseberry Thu 21 Mar 2019, 12:05 pm

Im gonna go all out on this

Surrey
Somerset
Notts
Essex
Yorks
kent
Warks
Pantshire

Lancs
Worcs
Sussex
Middles
Glaws
Derbyshire
Durham
Glam
Nortpants
Leicestershire

(Assuming just D1)
Runs : Pope
Wickets : Oliver
One to Watch : No-one watches the CC

by James100 Thu 21 Mar 2019, 12:37 pm

Who are your picks for the title? - D1 Surrey, D2 Worcestershire
Who is going down? - Hampshire
Surprise team? - Yorkshire
Most runs? - Sam Northeast (is he fit again?)
Most wickets? - Morne Morkel
One to watch? - Matt Parkinson. We know he can do it with the white ball, can he do it with the red one?

by **Afro** Thu 21 Mar 2019, 1:02 pm

Who are your picks for the title? Somerset
Who is going down? Surrey
Surprise team? Surrey, for the wrong reasons
Most runs? James Hildreth
Most wickets? Lewis Gregory
One to watch? Will Jacks

by king_carlos Thu 21 Mar 2019, 6:33 pm

Who are your picks for the title? D1 Essex D2 Lancashire
Who is going down? Hampshire
Surprise team? Middlesex
Most runs? D1 Alastair Cook D2 Ben Duckett
Most wickets? D1 Morne Morkel D2 Tom Bailey
One to watch? Billy Root

I can see Cook scoring an absolute bucket load for Essex with the pressure of his shoulders. My prediction of Essex resting on a strong batting line-up if Cook and Nick Browne can set regular foundations at the top.

As for Billy Root. I just have a hunch he will do well with Glamorgan. With more opportunities I can see him scoring some runs.

by king_carlos Thu 21 Mar 2019, 6:35 pm

Interesting that Cameron Bancroft has been made CC and one-day cup skipper by Durham. James Franklin making a bold call early in his coaching career.

by jimbohammers Wed 27 Mar 2019, 12:04 am

Who are your picks for the title? - D1 Surrey, D2 Sussex
Who is going down? - Yorkshire
Surprise team? - Yorkshire
Most runs? - Rilee Rousouw
Most wickets? - Morkel
One to watch? - Jordan Clark at Surrey

Hampshire.. Not too confident. I like the signing of Barker and he adds some strength to our bowling. Crane is back playing so hopefully will see him a lot this season. New coach, someone I've never heard of but the talk is he is respected in the game from fellow pros, so deserves a chance.
Overseas is Kunuratne (spelling) although he may play for Sri Lanka yet and not actually play, so our batting is looking a bit edgy!

Interesting talk that England have asked is to consider trying Vince out as an opener.. He's opened in both warm up games so far..! Something to keep an eye on

by Gooseberry Wed 27 Mar 2019, 8:05 am

jimbohammers wrote:Who are your picks for the title? - D1 Surrey, D2 Sussex
Who is going down? - Yorkshire
Surprise team? - Yorkshire
Most runs? - Rilee Rousouw
Most wickets? - Morkel
One to watch? - Jordan Clark at Surrey

Hampshire.. Not too confident. I like the signing of Barker and he adds some strength to our bowling. Crane is back playing so hopefully will see him a lot this season. New coach, someone I've never heard of but the talk is he is respected in the game from fellow pros, so deserves a chance.
Overseas is Kunuratne (spelling) although he may play for Sri Lanka yet and not actually play, so our batting is looking a bit edgy!

Interesting talk that England have asked is to consider trying Vince out as an opener.. He's opened in both warm up games so far..! Something to keep an eye on

I'm Hampshire sceptic this year too. Unless theres some good young talent that's ready to step up or some late signings to come in (Is Steyn still possible post WC?) their squad looks noticeably weaker than last season, and whilst that's hardly unique in what looks like the limpest division 1 ever. A lot seems to be riding on the golden goose Northeast, and this could be a career defining season, but I'm not sure I buy the hype. Hes a mature player who still has modest returns outside T20.

Vince as an opener. Yeah no. A guy whos been unable to break a habitual instinct to nibble at anything outside off stump is surely not cut out to bat there in a competition that thrives off bowlers moving the new ball around outside off stump. In your post Jimbo are you suggesting that the England leadership have suggested that they want him to play there for his county with an eye to that role for England? It seems bonkers after dropping him at 3, and replacing Jennings because he cant cope with the new ball outside off stump with a batsman who cant cope with the new ball outside off stump just seems wilfully masochistic. Although exactly the kind of muddle headed circular selection we've come to expect. For the county it makes a bit more sense, partly because they just don't have any openers worth a place ( Ok that's also England so maybe it does make sense after all....)

by jimbohammers Wed 27 Mar 2019, 8:32 pm

Hi Goose, site not letting me quote for some reason.
We have a few good younger players but no one especially standing out. Obvious one is Crane but no one really new. Weatherley has got talent but it is fairly inconsistent. We've also lost big experience players in Adams and Ervine who have both retired. So yeah totally agree a big season for Northeast.
Steyn a possibility coming back. We have a fairly experienced bowling line up with Abbott, Edwards, Barker and probably Fuller. (Very british side i know...!)

Vince looks like he will be opening for us this year, confirmed tonight at the members forum. I see your points about nicking off, but we're normally 6-1 anyway and batting at 3 is more or less and opener for us. Hampshire's director of cricket and ex player Kevan James who works for BBC Solent both said there's been talking with England about Vince opening, so I'll take their word for it.

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Mar 2019, 9:15 am

Who are your picks for the title? Essex (Lancashire)
Who is going down? Hampshire
Surprise team? Surrey (Leicestershire)
Most runs? Alistair Cook (Alex Lees)
Most wickets? Duanne Olivier (Tom Bailey)
One to watch? Darren Stevens

by Gooseberry Thu 28 Mar 2019, 5:58 pm

Continued sidejacking of this re Vince....interview today clarifies it a bit. He asked England what would enhance his chances of a recall and they made the obvious point that batting high up the order will increase anyone's chances. Hampshire are being obliging in letting Vince pursue his ambitions of a recall.
There's little to suggest the Smith is thinking he will make a good opener, more it's the easiest route to an England place if he can make a go of it.

by king_carlos Thu 28 Mar 2019, 6:59 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Who are your picks for the title? Essex (Lancashire)
Who is going down? Hampshire
Surprise team? Surrey (Leicestershire)
Most runs? Alistair Cook (Alex Lees)
Most wickets? Duanne Olivier (Tom Bailey)
One to watch? Darren Stevens

The romantic in me really hopes that Stevens and Trescothick can have strong seasons at the age of 43. Hopefully a further season in division 1 doesn't spell a damp squib of an end for two fantastic servants to their counties.

I considered Duanne Olivier for wickets but the depth of Coad, Patterson, Fisher, Bresnan and Willey made me think that the wickets at Yorkshire will likely be shared around a fair bit.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Mar 2019, 11:10 am

It could be that Olivier's aggressive bowling buys wickets for the metronomic Coad. For varying reasons not sure we will get too many wickets from Fisher, Patterson, Bresnan and Willey.

by wisden Tue 02 Apr 2019, 8:57 am

Who are your picks for the title? - Essex
Who is going down? - Kent
Surprise team? - Hampshire
Most runs? - Alistair Cook
Most wickets? - Jamie Porter
One to watch? - Ed Pollock

How is your team shaping up for the start of the season? Any inside news?

by jimbohammers Tue 02 Apr 2019, 9:32 am

All gets underway this Friday...

Div One:

Hampshire vs Essex
Notts vs Yorkshire
Somerset vs Kent

Div 2:

Derbyshire vs Durham
Northants vs Middlesex
Sussex vs Leicestershire

by Duty281 Tue 02 Apr 2019, 10:50 am

Who are your picks for the title? - Yorkshire
Who is going down? - Hampshire
Surprise team? - Kent
Most runs? - James Hildreth
Most wickets? - Ben Coad
One to watch? - Hameed

by **LondonTiger** Tue 02 Apr 2019, 1:25 pm

Duanne Olivier has limped off mid-over with what I think is a knee problem.

by Gooseberry Tue 02 Apr 2019, 1:50 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Duanne Olivier has limped off mid-over with what I think is a knee problem.

LondonTiger wrote:
Most wickets? Duanne Olivier

by **LondonTiger** Tue 02 Apr 2019, 3:07 pm

Gooseberry wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:Duanne Olivier has limped off mid-over with what I think is a knee problem.

LondonTiger wrote:
Most wickets? Duanne Olivier

Yup.

by Gooseberry Wed 03 Apr 2019, 8:29 am

I checked with the international federation of casual forum prediction threads and you're allowed to change up till the first ball of the first game being bowled. Just dont pick " The Titanic" as one to watch Very Happy

by **LondonTiger** Fri 05 Apr 2019, 10:52 am

Not a massive surprise but Essex and Yorkshire both opt to bowl negating a need to have a toss. Delay at Taunton before Kent probably choose to do the same.

by Duty281 Fri 05 Apr 2019, 11:05 am

Three balls of the new season gone...Derbyshire 0/2. Derbyshire actually chose to bat first, too.

by alfie Fri 05 Apr 2019, 11:16 am

Surrey to win again , Kent for the drop and Essex might be the main danger at the top.
Lancashire and Middlesex to fight out Div 2

Cook to make a bucket of runs and fully fit all season Jack Leach to do the same with the wickets .

by Gooseberry Fri 05 Apr 2019, 12:17 pm

Duty281 wrote:Three balls of the new season gone...Derbyshire 0/2. Derbyshire actually chose to bat first, too.

Ed Smith immediately selects their opening pair for the Ashes

by Duty281 Fri 05 Apr 2019, 1:10 pm

Speaking of openers, Hameed has hit a half-century against a University side.

by king_carlos Fri 05 Apr 2019, 4:40 pm

The evergreen Tim Murtagh with figures of 18-3-31-4 so far. He's removed all of the Northants top 4.

After an impressive 4 tests prior to injury Toby Roland-Jones must be raring to make a quick impact this summer.

Murtagh, Roland-Jones, Steven Finn and James Harris should be a match winning seam attack in Div 2.

by jimbohammers Fri 05 Apr 2019, 5:30 pm

Was thinking the same thing Carlos, that is an impressive bowling attack!
Northants doing well against it for now though...

by Gooseberry Fri 05 Apr 2019, 5:36 pm

king_carlos wrote:The evergreen Tim Murtagh with figures of 18-3-31-4 so far. He's removed all of the Northants top 4.

After an impressive 4 tests prior to injury Toby Roland-Jones must be raring to make a quick impact this summer.

Murtagh, Roland-Jones, Steven Finn and James Harris should be a match winning seam attack in Div 2.

In theory yes but the other 3 are 219/1 between them so far. Cant imagine they are the most mobile fielding unit!

(Just checked Tim Murtaghs profile and only Root in the current England side has a better test batting average than him Whistle

)

by JDizzle Fri 05 Apr 2019, 5:57 pm

Duty281 wrote:Speaking of openers, Hameed has hit a half-century against a University side.

161* now. He’s back. Ink him for the Ashes.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 05 Apr 2019, 6:21 pm

Joe Clarke with a hundred on debut for Notts.

by Gooseberry Fri 05 Apr 2019, 6:49 pm

JDizzle wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Speaking of openers, Hameed has hit a half-century against a University side.

161* now. He’s back. Ink him for the Ashes.

Jokes aside its great to see, I seem to recall he scored a big century at the end of last season (for the seconds Id assume) too. Its probably unrealistic for the Ashes but at worst every run he scores now increases the chances of him staying in pro cricket when his contract runs out this season. And if this is a genuine sign hes back then hes plenty young enough to make it back. (KP quote about being too short for test cricket / generic comment about how county runs dont mean much)

by Duty281 Fri 05 Apr 2019, 7:15 pm

Double ton for Hameed. Hopefully it'll give him the confidence to score some serious runs in the CC and rescue his ailing professional career. Joe Clarke has put himself in the spotlight early as well.

by Gooseberry Fri 05 Apr 2019, 7:45 pm

Given his previous best in first class was 122 getting a double ton in a day is a heck of a thing albeit against a university side. Jennings only managed 31.

by alfie Sat 06 Apr 2019, 9:47 am

Delighted to note Hameed with big runs - albeit against student opposition. Only a start on the road back ; but one that must surely give him a large shot of confidence.
We all saw when he played against India that he had "it" . He's lost his way ; but that ability cannot have just vanished so he must have a serious chance of making it back , if he wants it enough.
Heaven knows England need him to do so as he was certainly the most likely looking proper Test style opener to appear since Cook.
Keeping my fingers crossed for his future...

by jimbohammers Sun 07 Apr 2019, 12:27 pm

Averaged 9 last season, wouldn't get too excited about him scoring runs against a university side

by guildfordbat Sun 07 Apr 2019, 1:39 pm

alfie wrote:Surrey to win again , Kent for the drop and Essex might be the main danger at the top.
Lancashire and Middlesex to fight out Div 2

Cook to make a bucket of runs and fully fit all season Jack Leach to do the same with the wickets .

Alfie - don't think you'll be far off the mark with any of that.

Surrey or Essex are my picks to top the table. Essex should benefit from not losing players to international calls but their squad could be exposed if there are any individual losses of form or injuries. In contrast, Surrey have masses of strength in depth.

I would also suggest Sussex will be in the mix to win Div 2. Interesting game currently going on between them and Leics at Hove. The home started poorly but appear to be coming back into it ....

by **Mat** Sun 07 Apr 2019, 11:41 pm

Bit late to this:

Div 1 Title: Surrey
Div 2: Lancs
Relegation: Kent
Most Runs Div 1: Alistair Cook
Most Run Div 2: Joe Clarke
Most Wickets Div 1: Olivier
Most Wickets Div 2: Toby Roland-Jones
One To Watch: Dillon Pennington

From a Worcs perspective, interested to see how we go this year. Our bowling attack in the four day stuff should be pretty potent in Division 2, batting will be heavily reliant on the ever-green Daryl Mitchell at the top of the order and then Callum Ferguson, particularly with the loss of Joe Clarke. Hoping Ed Barnard is moved into the top 6, he needs more time at the crease considering the runs he gets from lower down the order.

Hoping for a repeat of our performances in the limited overs stuff from last year, Riki Wessels should be a great addition in T20 and interesting to see if Pat Brown can repeat last year's heroics.

On a general note, looking forward to seeing how some of the young fast bowlers go. Obviously focus is on Jofra Archer predominantly but there's some really promising (and fast) bowlers knocking around. Really liked what I saw of Brookes at Warwickshire, with Olly Stone obviously there too. And from my biased perspective, Pennington and Tongue too.

by guildfordbat Mon 08 Apr 2019, 8:13 am

If the weather (including the light) behaves, there could be some surprising results in Div 1 today.

Biggest surprise of all - Hants look on for an innings win against Essex at Southampton. [Jimbo H - I didn't recognise the name of your new coach, Adrian Birrell, when he was appointed a few months back but I've since heard good things about him.]

In a low scoring game at Taunton, relegation favourites Kent could pull off a surprise win against Somerset who went into this match without Leach and Bess (think that was Somerset's choice of selection).

At Notts, Yorks will need to bat out the day to avoid defeat.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 08 Apr 2019, 9:14 am

Also a couple of potential surprises on the cards in Div 2 - Leicestershire need 133 more runs with 9 wickets left to beat Sussex at Hove, Middlesex trail Northants by 65, with eight wickets in hand following on and Durham need to bat out the day to avoid defeat to Derbyshire (or chase a very unlikely 351 more runs with all wickets left)

by Gooseberry Mon 08 Apr 2019, 9:53 am

Hants have taken quite a few of us by surprise and rather ruined our predictions havent they! As was suggested Northeast has played a pivotal part in that, and all my usual reservations about one innings and the quality of the CC its encouraging to see and a glimmer that he really might put himself forward as a maturing all formats star of the future (except hes 29) Rolling Eyes

by Duty281 Mon 08 Apr 2019, 10:16 am

Could be a close finish between Somerset and Kent if the former can add another 50 runs. Surprised Nottinghamshire are still batting on.

by **LondonTiger** Mon 08 Apr 2019, 10:20 am

Duty281 wrote:Surprised Nottinghamshire are still batting on.

I wonder if they will give Clarke a chance for his second hundred in the game.

by Duty281 Mon 08 Apr 2019, 10:58 am

Notts declare meaning Clarke is marooned on 97*. Yorkshire will probably be bowled out before tea now!

by guildfordbat Mon 08 Apr 2019, 11:58 am

Duty281 wrote:Notts declare meaning Clarke is marooned on 97*. Yorkshire will probably be bowled out before tea now!

Just noticed that. Quite possibly Yorks will be bowled out early as Duty speculates but the declaration was absolutely the right call. I hope Clarke accepted it with good grace.

by Duty281 Mon 08 Apr 2019, 12:17 pm

Somerset's last wicket stand clubbed fifty-odd, and Kent are 1/2 and in deep trouble.

by Gooseberry Mon 08 Apr 2019, 1:25 pm

Looks like Tom Taylor maybe shouldve been on the ones to watch list.
10 for 112 and 33 runs with the bat isn't a bad way to make your first team comeback after over a year in the wilderness and looking like he was on the scrap heap. Hes been a pre season star for Leicestershire too taking 12 for 156 in two warm ups. First class career best innings and match figures for him, and most of his games have been non CC.

by wisden Mon 08 Apr 2019, 3:12 pm

Absoulue horror show from us! Credit to Hampshire, but a shocking result for us, and a truly diabolical performance all round, the bowlers set the tone, with wayward spells and lines and lengths, and the batting showed no real application, dreadful start!

by Sponsored content