Bloemfontein in c 1900
Aus v NZ and SA v Eng. Also Sri Lanka boys v Pakistan boys to see who gets to play the West Indies boys in the quarter finals.
It was a very good match today in the Under-19s, WI v Zim, and a shame it ended as it did (not judging anyone or anything, just a bit anti-climactic) but that has happened and tomorrow (today?) is another day.
romeoromeotango 
Morning everyone.
It looks like the Ranji final won’t make it into the fourth day. Saurashtra are still 39 runs behind Mumbai with only two wickets left at tea. 97 for 8. Pujara made 27 off 98 balls.
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And indeed it doesn’t. Mumbai win by an innings and 21 runs to take the Ranji Trophy for the 41st time.
Jolly good (if you support Mumbai).
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Morning all
could I just say I’m really happy to see the article on The G about the female umpires being used at the world T20.
Best of luck to both of them, and I hope it is the start of a trend.
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Unfortunately, Alex Gidman’s had to retire due to the finger injury he got last season.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/975917.html
11,622 FC runs and 103 wickets is a good career but I think we would all have hoped for a couple more seasons for a great county stalwart.
Go well, Alex.
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It’s always very sad when someone has to retire when they don’t want to, well before his time as it were, because of injury.
Very best of luck to him.
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ICC proposals to create 2 Test divisions look interesting, Would require 2 Associates to become full Test sides. Ireland are up for it, and I am sure we would not be averse to the other being Afghanistan, if they could manage it.
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Peter Siddle’s back injury is a stress fracture, which given his age has to be a serious worry for his career.
he’ll be replaced at Notts by Jackson Bird. Notts will need to get a good start this season, I think.
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Jackson Bird hasn’t got the best injury record either.
Best of luck to Peter Siddle for his recovery. I bet he’s glad he accepted the longer deal Notts were offering now.
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I bet he is. I bet there are also a few worried folk at Trent Bridge. A bad start to the season and no Taylor or Hales, and they might find themselves down with us if they’re not careful.
I’ll say it again no doubt, but I think they’ll rue letting Andy Carter leave.
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ECB’s list of county players to watch here: http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/ones-watch-2016
Most of us will be familiar with most of the names on the list. Really pleased to see Alex Mellor listed; Minor Counties stalwart for Staffs and I hope he has a good season.
tbh I thought Lancs should have signed him when he spent part of last season on trial in the 2s, but I suppose he’s a Stokie and would be frightened by a sophisticated city like Manchester.
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I saw that list the other day. I’m not surprised we chose not to sign another wk.
I was surprised they went for Saqib rather than Has (as I’ve recently learned his teammates call him – still no idea about Custard though, I never understood the mooted short temper thing). Lancs are well stocked with seamers but need a good season from Hameed if we have any chance of staying up (Doomed!!!). I’m still surprised we have lost Prince and Horton but not signed a single batsman. Still no overseas player for the white ball stuff too.
Dom Sibley for Surrey? In a one (you’ll be lucky) to watch maybe. If he cemented his place as suggested then he’d be stuck in the 2s. Either of the Currans are surely far more likely to grab the headlines (as much as any county cricketer can).
Warner more likely to turn out for the Yorkists than Fisher? Selman over Donald at Glam too?
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Evening Jim, everyone
One interpretation (well, mine anyway) is that Donald is already ‘factored into’ the Glamorgan side. A year ago (after his one innings against Hampshire in 2014) he might have been ‘the one to watch’. Selman (from what I’ve read about him) does appear to have potential as well. So both should get a good run in the first XI this season – if only because we don’t have that many options.
And for all my thoughts about this being the right strategy (to go with kids, and homegrown as much as possible, and I still think this is the right strategy), the closer we get to the start of the season (and isn’t it great to be able to say that there is only one month left), the more I begin to worry about the potential callowness of the batting line-up. Glamorgan’s only ‘banker’ in Jacques.
Add into the fact that the only bankable opening bowler is Hogan.
Nye and Nick both need to fire this season. I hope Nye gets the century monkey off his back at the start of the season.
Our first match is against Leicestershire, with added Custard. They have had more “ins and outs” than any other team I reckon, so are a pretty much unknown proposition.
Is it right to start feeling concerned?
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I started feeling concerned about the 2016 season in September, mes, so you’re ok to jump on board the Concern Train, or, as the Germans would have it, the Sorgewagen.
Alles am Sorgewagen!
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I have a season ticket for the Sorgewagen, who wouldn’t when the Championship squad only contains 7 batsmen.
While we’re using German compound words, everyone’s favourite target for Schadenfreude have shown why they hold that position by bolstering their ranks with two disillusioned young South Africans. I’m presuming they were Ford rather than MDV signings.
These are in additon to the current seamers in their squad: Curran, Curran, Footitt, Burke, Dernbach, Meaker and Dunn (with Mahmood, Morris and Bravo for the white ball stuff).
It seems an excessive number of seamers but then I suppose Lancs have plenty if you include the young local lads in the squad.
CC-Live’s Vithushan pointed out that they have lost Tremlett, Linley and Balcombe since last season, but they were hardly regulars in 2015 and it seems unnecessary stockpiling to me, with very little chance for local lads to come through.
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That is quite a set of seamers Surrey have got themselves. They’ll never get everyone bowling.
Glam have got Harry Podmore on loan at the start of the season from the Middle Saxons, so I’d be happy if – say – one of the Currans (I’m not picky which one), or Footit had to be loaned out to us during the end part of the season in order to ensure that they get enough cricket…
And all aboard the Sorgewagen.
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My final thought on the callowness/Sorgewagen issue is
“you can’t win anything with kids”…
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Not sure we’re quite the right side to complain about pillaging African cricketers, though.
On a lighter note, entertaining to see Geoffrey bringing his unique brand of fraternal harmony back to the Yorkists.
That said, there’s nowt that funny about £22m of debt. They’re pretty dependent on Graves by the looks of it. As a Wigan Athletic mon of long standing, it’s all very well being completely financially dependent on one man, but our chums from Bolton are feeling the bad side of that all too painfully right now. Yorkshire have got themselves into the mire before.
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I don’t like it when anyone does it, us included.
As with probably everyone on this board I love the Championship as it is, but the best argument for cutting Counties is probably their apparent inability to fill the teams with English players.
It looks like we could be a Saffer down at the start of the season if Alviro Petersen’s Twitter feed is anything to go by. He’s reported as being linked to the match fixing in the Ram Slam.
He’s been in great form with the bat but he comes across as really chippy and tough to like on Twitter. His attempted bullying of Firdose Moonda during the Eng v SA series made me consider unfollowing him (especially since her and her husband were already being treated really badly by Cricket SA).
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Martin Crowe. Knew it was coming, still gutted.
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Very, very sad.
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Lancs have pointed out he played just 2 games at OT.
Scored 2 centuries and 2 50s. Average: 133.
A Test average over 45 considering the bowlers he faced shows that he was a cricketer of the very highest calibre.
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I heard about Crowe on the radio going into work. Like you, I knew it was coming, but it still brings you up short.
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Much happier news as Lawrence Booth is reporting that Monty and TMN are in the process of finalising a contract and he’s on their pre-season tour.
Go Monty!
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Best thing that’s happened all day. Very pleased to hear.
Go Monty!
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My formative cricketing years growing up were the eighties and I had the pleasure of watching Richard Hadlee bowl for Notts.
During those years another Kiwi stood out for me, and whilst a number of batsmen who could claim to be his equal there were none better.
RIP Martin Crowe
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Of all the many heartfelt pieces about Martin Crowe that have come out today – it was clear that the man was deeply loved by many people – I have been most moved by Jarrod Kimber’s
http://cricketwithballs.com/2016/03/03/the-hero-who-wore-a-white-helmet/
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This video – the shot at 50 seconds
But watch the run-out (and the rest of the video in fact) – Gatting takes the wicket. Gatting!
Agreed HPG – Lovely piece by Jarrod
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Very sad. He was a great of the time he played – as many others have said.
Looking at that footage does remind me just how poor a ‘spin’ bowler Nick Cook was. I don’t think I remember him actually turning one.
Gatt wasn’t that bad a seamer in his younger days actually. The thing that amazes me is how a bloke can average less than 36 as a top order batter and play 79 tests. Allan Lamb only averaged just over 36 from exactly the same number of games. Just shows how bloody awful England were during that period.
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I seem to recall Mike Gatting as quite a useful bowler as it happens and one with a few tricks up his sleeve. Obviously not a front-line bowler, but a useful reserve. He did get 158 FC wickets! He’d probably bowl more these days – T20 looks like a format what would have suited him down to the ground.
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Yes, Gatt was decent with the ball, wobbled it around. Bit like Goochie as a bowler. At one point he was batting as low as 8 for Middlesex in his early days, playing as more of an all-rounder.
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Just checked and Goochie got 246 first class wickets at 34! Highly respectable!
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If someone can tell me why exactly JP Duminy has been playing ahead of David Miller for SA, I’d be interested to hear it. Its not for his bowling, his batting, or his fielding as far as I can tell (ok, his fieldings decent)
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Crash Test gets in the side coz he’s got the best nickname of current cricketers.
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Immortality:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/health-benefits-of-misery-suggests-people-from-yorkshire-should-be-immortal-20160304106830
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“But they admitted their findings are undermined by the fact that Yorkshire is not home to a race of immortal superhumans.”
Try telling Sir Geoffrey that…
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Fingers very much crossed for Tom Fell who has just discovered his cancer has returned. Good luck Tom.
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Crossing mine as well – best of luck Tom.
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….ricketalertCount
rycricketalertCountrycricketalertCountrycricketalertCountrycricketalertCountrycricketa….Warks just lost to the Windies in a T20 fixture in Dubai, where everyone in cricket is at the moment.
We’re nearly back!
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And, to celebrate, we’ll have a new page about inter-country cricketry tomorrow!
(The Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice wasn’t involved in the contest, and according to the OOP, Sam Hain kept wicket. That’s ‘partly’ why the WIndies won.)
5° here today. Cricket on ice, anyone? Footwork on skates?
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