County Championship 2019 Thread

[jimbohammers]

First topic message reminder :

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...

[Afro]

Weather not looking good for next week either, so heavily in Essex's favour now

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Kyle Abbott's having a decent game huh

[LondonTiger]

Kyle Abbott's having a decent game huh

17 wickets and an important stand with Vince.

[sirfredperry]

17 wickets is a Hampshire record and, I think, the first occasion that anyone has taken 17 wickets in a match in the county championship since the Second World War.

Quite a week for stats, with Stevens/Billings rewriting the Kent record books, Sibley getting a double ton and Simpson hitting a career best for Middx.

[Soul Requiem]

More importantly for Sibley it takes his average above 40.

[Afro]

Right, this is it. Nice to have a title decider between the top two in the last round of games. Unfortunately, the forecast for Taunton this week is pretty bleak, so we may well have a complete anti-climax.

And if we do get play, we are bound to have prepared a turner, as we need a result pitch, so it will be Leach v Harmer

[JDizzle]

The groundsman has delivered! Fingers crossed we get enough play to get a result and the rain holds off.

[Afro]

As soon as I saw a team with Leach, Bess and van der Merwe, it was pretty clear what the pitch was like!!!

[Duty281]

Of the nine fixtures this week, I doubt. if any more than two will end with a positive result given the very wet weather and dark skies that is set to smother England this week.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Fair to say the step down from Harmer to Nijjar is...large.

[LondonTiger]

TKC making a decent fist of his first time opening in first class cricket for Yorkshire.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Forecast for Taunton looks to have improved for the next two days, we might get a result in this one

[Afro]

I'm hoping that us being all out (as will happen very soon) is a blessing in disguise and that we get to bowl at them and begin the process of getting them all out twice. Hopefully skittling them cheapily

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I'm hoping that us being all out (as will happen very soon) is a blessing in disguise and that we get to bowl at them and begin the process of getting them all out twice. Hopefully skittling them cheapily

The way the pitch is playing for both spin and seam, I reckon you're gonna want 100-120 overs if you bowl well to get through them twice - Essex don't bat nearly as deep as Somerset do.

[Afro]

Nice last wicket stand on going between Leach and Rolly. Could be important quick runs

[Duty281]

Somerset should think about declaring now. Knocking a few runs per over and staying out there only helps Essex. Last session of today is set to be mostly rained off. Then further interruptions over the next two days with delayed starts, inevitable bad light and scattered showers throughout.

They need to get in the field.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Essex have completely lost the plot here

[Afro]

203 ao

Let the battle commence!!

[Duty281]

Be lucky to get anything more than 20 overs in today and overnight rain will likely delay the start tomorrow.

If Essex can bat 60 overs+ in this innings, they should easily get the draw they need.

[Duty281]

Of the nine fixtures this week, I doubt. if any more than two will end with a positive result given the very wet weather and dark skies that is set to smother England this week.

Odds-on for nine draws out of nine - absolutely ridiculous to expect to play cricket at this time of year!

Delayed start at Taunton.

[Afro]

My hopes were not high, but what little optimism I did have this morning has quickly evaporated.

Got to bowl Essex out cheapily twice in a day and half max

[Afro]

Unsurprisingly its raining in Taunton

[Soul Requiem]

It really is absurd to be playing first class cricket at this time of year, the championship seems to be decided on who gets the best weather.

[JDizzle]

Essex collapse to 137-9! It’s (not) on!!

[Afro]

Probably too late, but it has provided some excitement.

All out, and we forfeit our innings

[JDizzle]

George Dobell just tweeted there is only 67 minutes of play left? Why?

[Afro]

George Dobell just tweeted there is only 67 minutes of play left? Why?

The madness that because we have mainly bowled spinners, and therefore got through the allocated overs quickly. We can make up a bit of time, but they won't pay indefinitely, even if conditions are ok.

Put a bit of cash on an Essex win at 5/1 when they were 7 down, as a bit of a moral saver

[JDizzle]

George Dobell just tweeted there is only 67 minutes of play left? Why?

The madness that because we have mainly bowled spinners, and therefore got through the allocated overs quickly. We can make up a bit of time, but they won't pay indefinitely, even if conditions are ok.

Put a bit of cash on an Essex win at 5/1 when they were 7 down, as a bit of a moral saver

Oh cricket. They’ve got through the allocated overs, apart from all those lost in the three days of rain. It will never cease to amaze with it’s ridiculousness.

[Afro]

Yep. Cricket has a greater ability to make itself look ridiculous than any other sport.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

They’re not just going to suddenly change the rules and regulations they’ve played under all season to give Somerset a chance to win lads

Probably shouldn’t have bottled it mid season and at Hampshire last week

[JDizzle]

Doesn’t make the rules any less ridiculous cause they’ve been there all season! If only they could have signed a bowler in his prime with 300 Test wickets at 27... Alas, not all counties can do that

Still not as galling as 2010, when Notts won the title on a tiebreaker cause they took three Lancs wickets in 4 overs on the final evening for the extra bonus point.

[Afro]

They’re not just going to suddenly change the rules and regulations they’ve played under all season to give Somerset a chance to win lads

Probably shouldn’t have bottled it mid season and at Hampshire last week

I wasn't complaining about the rules specific to yesterday.

I was more thinking in general, like when they are off all for rain all morning, come back for a bit and then take lunch when its brilliant sunshine

[Gooseberry]

They finished 45-1 ...its not like Somerset were anywhere near winning it based on an hour here or there. 

Somerset had one ofther draw this season. Essex three others. The way the points work that suggets they suffered more from bad weather than Somerset did, and really neither team was overly affected by it compared to some other years despite the CC being scheduled to the fringe of the season. Surrey had 10 draws in 2017!

Somerset lost more games and relied on a highly dubious pitch to make this one a lottery. I have no issue with Essex being champions even if the final game was a damp squib.

[Afro]

Essex undoubtedly deserved the title. They were far more consistent and as Olly put it so politely, we had games where we just capitulated.

I think the draws/weather could have gone either way - Those draws could have been because weather saved them from losing as well as not winning, which in fact gained points.

[JDizzle]

Somerset only had two blokes average above 30 with the bat in the CC - and they were only just! It is going to be impossible not to have games where your batting falls in a heap and costs you when that is the case. Similar to England in the regard they bat deep but have no real top quality. Hopefully they can strengthen, but finding good CC batsman in a tough job at the moment!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Somerset only had two blokes average above 30 with the bat in the CC - and they were only just! It is going to be impossible not to have games where your batting falls in a heap and costs you when that is the case. Similar to England in the regard they bat deep but have no real top quality. Hopefully they can strengthen, but finding good CC batsman in a tough job at the moment!

Could do with getting more out of their overseas too in the county championship too JDizzle - only 3 fifties from the combination of Azhar Ali, Murali Vijay and Babar Azam (one game), with a high score of 79 and an average of just below 20 combined is...yeah not good.

[JDizzle]

Somerset only had two blokes average above 30 with the bat in the CC - and they were only just! It is going to be impossible not to have games where your batting falls in a heap and costs you when that is the case. Similar to England in the regard they bat deep but have no real top quality. Hopefully they can strengthen, but finding good CC batsman in a tough job at the moment!

Could do with getting more out of their overseas too in the county championship too JDizzle - only 3 fifties from the combination of Azhar Ali, Murali Vijay and Babar Azam (one game), with a high score of 79 and an average of just below 20 combined is...yeah not good.

Yeah, a lot of Somerset fans seemed outraged about Vijay’s form - which is fair enough, but Azhar seemed to dodge that criticism. Maybe because he contributed in the RL win I guess. But CC runs via the overseas was an issue. Renshaw was very good in a brief stint in 2018, wonder if they look to get him back. Also wouldn’t mind see them give Hameed a chance. Low, slow, turning Taunton wickets could be just the medicine for him.

Recruitment might be up in the air with all the off the field stuff, which I am not too plugged in on.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Somerset only had two blokes average above 30 with the bat in the CC - and they were only just! It is going to be impossible not to have games where your batting falls in a heap and costs you when that is the case. Similar to England in the regard they bat deep but have no real top quality. Hopefully they can strengthen, but finding good CC batsman in a tough job at the moment!

Could do with getting more out of their overseas too in the county championship too JDizzle - only 3 fifties from the combination of Azhar Ali, Murali Vijay and Babar Azam (one game), with a high score of 79 and an average of just below 20 combined is...yeah not good.

Yeah, a lot of Somerset fans seemed outraged about Vijay’s form - which is fair enough, but Azhar seemed to dodge that criticism. Maybe because he contributed in the RL win I guess. But CC runs via the overseas was an issue. Renshaw was very good in a brief stint in 2018, wonder if they look to get him back. Also wouldn’t mind see them give Hameed a chance. Low, slow, turning Taunton wickets could be just the medicine for him.

Recruitment might be up in the air with all the off the field stuff, which I am not too plugged in on.

Can't say I know anything about this off field stuff, anybody shed any light?

[Afro]

Not aware of any major off field issues tbh. There is the continued struggles with lack of money, but that is about it.

I think there seems to have been a noticeable switch to sub-continental players as the overseas choice. Whether this is tied in with them trying to produce turning wickets I don't know. Prior to this, off the top of my head, the likes of Renshaw, Rogers, Peterson, Langer, Smith all did well enough, and we had initially signed Bancroft as well prior to his ban.

I think Azhar had more credit in the bank as he was scoring on a par with the rest of the team and had done a little bit better the previous season, with some important innings. Murali Vijay just hasn't worked, whilst Babar you can disregard as he was signed as a T20 player and only played the one CC game to help us overcome a registration issue.

[Gooseberry]

Essex undoubtedly deserved the title. They were far more consistent and as Olly put it so politely, we had games where we just capitulated.

I think the draws/weather could have gone either way - Those draws could have been because weather saved them from losing as well as not winning, which in fact gained points.

They could have been but in general draws are a bad thing for both sides in the CC, the difference between a draw and a loss in minimal compared to the gains for a win. For a side thats only lost once all year its a fair bet that they were more likely to have been in winning positions ( as they were in this game albeit thanks to s sporting declaration) in those games than losing ones. Essentially its very hard to win the CC if you have a lot of draws. Essex did it with more than most teams and won with enough points to spare that even if you took them off they still won (although if you'd put them on Somerset then it would've been a different story). Its pretty clear they didnt have the luck of the weather any way you cut it, and compared to some previous seasons the weather played less of a role in this seasons table than it has in some others. 
The lack of runs from Somerset batsmen maybe also points to something about the pitches theyve played on at home and their lack of draws too. Certainly this game was cooked up to suit their spinners in a way that might've led to some much more justifiable grumbles from Essex fans had there been enough time for a result. 
Its only because it was the last game of the season and it just happened it was the top two playing each other that folk are getting riled up about it. 

Theres much bigger problems with the CC than the climate, and still talk of chopping it to 3 day games and tests to 4.

[Gooseberry]

Not aware of any major off field issues tbh. There is the continued struggles with lack of money, but that is about it.

I think there seems to have been a noticeable switch to sub-continental players as the overseas choice. Whether this is tied in with them trying to produce turning wickets I don't know. Prior to this, off the top of my head, the likes of Renshaw, Rogers, Peterson, Langer, Smith all did well enough, and we had initially signed Bancroft as well prior to his ban.

I think Azhar had more credit in the bank as he was scoring on a par with the rest of the team and had done a little bit better the previous season, with some important innings. Murali Vijay just hasn't worked, whilst Babar you can disregard as he was signed as a T20 player and only played the one CC game to help us overcome a registration issue.

Suspect its also down to the Australians being very busy this summer and the Saffers being rubbish. 

If you look across the CC though the quality of overseas recruits hasnt been what it was and has declined steadily over the past few years. Some of thats going to be down to lower availability with them playing more global T20, and some down to counties focusing on their T20 squads for investment as thats where the big gains financially are for all of them. As someone alluded to above we are seeing more and more short term signings which feels a bit like cheating but also reflects the realities of the global schedule now, especially in a world cup year. 

Not heard anything specific about Somerset and off the field issues but there cant be many counties with a healthy balance sheet. 

Who won it for Essex though? their long term established former England test players Cook and Bopara ( and err Westley) with the bat. A retired saffer allrounder who barely troubled their national side (5 caps) with the ball, a local kid, and half a season from big name signings. Harmers maybe the stand out star but on paper not a grandstand signing, but turned out to be a very smart piece of business. Siddle did good stuff in half a season but its really not like Essex's success has been built on big marquee signings.

[Afro]

Essex undoubtedly deserved the title. They were far more consistent and as Olly put it so politely, we had games where we just capitulated.

I think the draws/weather could have gone either way - Those draws could have been because weather saved them from losing as well as not winning, which in fact gained points.

They could have been but in general draws are a bad thing for both sides in the CC, the difference between a draw and a loss in minimal compared to the gains for a win. For a side thats only lost once all year its a fair bet that they were more likely to have been in winning positions ( as they were in this game albeit thanks to s sporting declaration) in those games than losing ones. Essentially its very hard to win the CC if you have a lot of draws. Essex did it with more than most teams and won with enough points to spare that even if you took them off they still won (although if you'd put them on Somerset then it would've been a different story). Its pretty clear they didnt have the luck of the weather any way you cut it, and compared to some previous seasons the weather played less of a role in this seasons table than it has in some others. 
The lack of runs from Somerset batsmen maybe also points to something about the pitches theyve played on at home and their lack of draws too. Certainly this game was cooked up to suit their spinners in a way that might've led to some much more justifiable grumbles from Essex fans had there been enough time for a result. 
Its only because it was the last game of the season and it just happened it was the top two playing each other that folk are getting riled up about it. 

Theres much bigger problems with the CC than the climate, and still talk of chopping it to 3 day games and tests to 4.

I agree with pretty much all of this tbh. With the draws, I think most were generally because of running out of time generally and not because of the weather, and non could be clearly labelled with either "missing a win" or "avoiding a draw".

On the pitches, yes the runs probably reflects the results pitches at Taunton, but then we also struggled on the road.

[JDizzle]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27459133/somerset-part-company-chief-executive-andrew-cornish

Chief Exec was sacked in August and the CEO sadly died earlier in the year. This will be four Chief Execs in two years! So is a vacuum at the top at the moment.

[LondonTiger]

Somerset docked 24 points (12 suspended for 2 years) due to the pitch for that final game v Essex.

The pitch was deemed substandard, which Somerset did not contest. However they were also charged with failing to prepare a pitch as good as they could. Somerset may choose to appeal against this latter part.

[Duty281]

Right call, pitch was a disgrace. ECB will be glad Somerset didn't win, otherwise they would have had a huge headache about the destination of the title!

[Gooseberry]

Puts them very much on the back foot for the new season, although the points deduction isn't quite as dramatic as it sounds when the suspended part is considered. Bess apparently is fishing around for a new county on top of everything else. The boardroom saga suggests all is not rosy on the finance side despite some success in the league. No Tresco anymore and they will hardly see Buttler with him now being a 3 format england regular, hundred player and in demand on the T20 circuit

Couple of seasons narrowly missing the title, maybe their chance has slipped.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Puts them very much on the back foot for the new season, although the points deduction isn't quite as dramatic as it sounds when the suspended part is considered. Bess apparently is fishing around for a new county on top of everything else. The boardroom saga suggests all is not rosy on the finance side despite some success in the league. No Tresco anymore and they will hardly see Buttler with him now being a 3 format england regular, hundred player and in demand on the T20 circuit

Couple of seasons narrowly missing the title, maybe their chance has slipped.

And also being a Lancashire player

[Gooseberry]

Ha well umm yes. Shows how little theses chaps turn out for their counties and how little attenation I pay I guess!

But anyway next season should be interesting. Hard to imagine surrey being quite as awful again but I'm not backing them. Who is likely to challenge Essex?

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