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Hampshire CCC - 2015 Season


Halo Stickman

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We are two down and still about 100 behind - it's woeful. Both Adams and especially Carberry seem seriously out of form.

 

3 down now, Vince out cheaply again of course. Something is rotten in the state of Hampshire.

Surely a second resounding 4-day defeat in a row will see the bag seriously shaken.

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The Dawson situation is bizarre. Forced to open when he clearly isn't suited to doing it, inevitably fails and gets dropped. Yes, Gatting scored runs in the first innings but his career to date suggests he will do nothing for the next few games. If someone was going to be dropped, they could have at least replaced them with one of the younger players!

 

The batting on paper is pretty reasonable but has totally failed so far this season. The bowling hasn't been great either (although they toiled well yesterday) but it can't be easy going out to field with so little runs on the board.

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I will just comment on your dig at the coaches over Wood's decline. I did post it a few weeks ago

 

 

 

And they do have a batting coach. Tony Middleton

 

In which case, if they knew Wood wouldn't be able to play much 4 day cricket this year, why let Coles go? Ok, neither party was particularly happy but even with Berg being a success, we couldn't have done any worse with Coles in the side. It also doesn't account for the bizarre decision to let Dawson go on loan when our top and middle order can't buy a run. The signing of Andre Adams - what can I say, total waste. Bright spots have been Berg, Wheater (in patches), Edwards and Wheal. Tomlinson looks finished and Adams looks devoid of confidence.

 

I remember Tony Middleton, steady county opener although slow scoring ruled him out of progressing beyond England A despite being a handy player. Given how decent was defensively, it's amazing how poor technically the top order is this year, especially Vince.

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Poor again from Hants in the T20.

 

After bowling 3 overs for 13 I am amazed Briggs didnt bowl his fourth. Also why play 5 bowlers?

 

Yeah I was at this one. We were running away with it until they brought the spinners on. Which shows the madness of only bowling Briggs three overs...and letting Dawson go. This game would have been made for him.

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39-3. Bird on fire. I will say although we have played like drains this year, we haven't always had the luck. We always seem to be the team having to bat after a rain break and bowl in 80 degrees. Maybe the luck could be with us today.

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39-3. Bird on fire. I will say although we have played like drains this year, we haven't always had the luck. We always seem to be the team having to bat after a rain break and bowl in 80 degrees. Maybe the luck could be with us today.

 

Good start, same old, same old middle.

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Maybye not a disaster..who knows. Briggs 20 overs for 30 runs suggests it may be a bit of a stodgy wicket, possibly another game Dawson would have been handy?

 

Yes a dodgy pitch when we bat but not now Worcs 365/6 (111.5 ov)

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Well as usual we have collapsed to 148-8, another big loss on the horizon. Can't we be relegated now so as to get a bit of decent cricket for the last couple of months of the season. We don't have a first division side and it's embarrasing.

Edited by Window Cleaner
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Outclassed by the second worst team in the division. Time to verbally abuse the umpires to take the points deduction now?

 

it all comes down to the pîss poor bowling as it has done for a while now. The batsmen don't help but I guess they're just demoralised by facing 300+ just to avoid the follow on every time. We got it right just the once when Edwards had a good day.

What was the point of signing a bowler who was not available for a part of the season.

Edited by Window Cleaner
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What was the point of signing a bowler who was not available for a part of the season.

Problem is that most of the overseas players who are available for the whole season aren't of sufficient quality to be worth bothering with (see Bird as a prime example). Edwards was available for the vast majority, only missing a portion because of the Caribbean T20 competition, but then missed a chunk due to injury.

 

Looking at who the other Div 1 sides have had in as overseas players this summer in the County Championship:

Durham: John Hastings (AR)

Middlesex: Kyle Abbott (bowl), James Franklin (AR, mainly bat now), Adam Voges (bat)

Nottinghamshire: Vernon Philander (bowl), Ben Hilfenhaus (bowl)

Somerset: no first-class overseas player

Sussex: Steve Magoffin (bowl)

Warwickshire: Jeetan Patel (bowl)

Worcestershire: Colin Munro (bat), Sachithra Senanayake (bowl), Saeed Ajmal (bowl)

Yorkshire: Aaron Finch (bat), Kane Williamson (bat), Glenn Maxwell (AR, mainly bat), Cheteshwara Pujara (bat)

 

So there's no real big-name overseas players coming over here for first-class cricket anymore. The BCCI generally don't let Indian players do it at all these days, so it was seen as a massive coup for Yorkshire to get Pujara for a couple of games at the start of the season, and probably with the exception of Abbott and Philander, there's no fast bowler who you'd say would be a game-changer for us. Can't remember what happened with Abbott, why didn't we renew his deal from last year?

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Worcestershire: Colin Munro (bat), Sachithra Senanayake (bowl), Saeed Ajmal (bowl)

Yorkshire: Aaron Finch (bat), Kane Williamson (bat), Glenn Maxwell (AR, mainly bat), Cheteshwara Pujara (bat)

 

S

 

That would be the same Ajmal whose 5-28 led us to follow on in this current game then; Might be better than any we've signed.

Who now seems to have bowled Berg in the first over of the morning.

Edited by Window Cleaner
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Tom Alsop (opening) scored 195 for the seconds against Sussex seconds at Ageas Bowl yesterday. His opening partner Joe Weatherley scored 118

 

I thought most of our top 5 were just out of form but the longer the season goes the more I feel we have just not adapted to the better bowling in the 1st Division. there is a big difference.

 

Although depressing, we should not panic and throw the youngsters in. They need time to develop. If we go down this season, and it looks increasingly likely, it will give us time to develop the younger players.

 

Is it the coaching staff? They seem to be working hard with a lot going on behind the scenes. Maybe they lack experience but if they learn from this year it will set us up well for the future.

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How long before Weston tells us we were unlucky with the pitch, the umpires made obvious mistakes but we were the better team really

 

Not sure why you have to be so sarcastic. I have only pointed out facts.

 

I am lucky enough to have access to the Coaches, Players, Players families, (mostly Mums and Dads), Directors, Umpires and Media. I am careful what I post and only release what I know is not sensitive. Maybe I am leaning towards the club but hey, I support Hampshire CCC.

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That would be the same Ajmal whose 5-28 led us to follow on in this current game then; Might be better than any we've signed.

Who now seems to have bowled Berg in the first over of the morning.

No doubt that Ajmal is a top bowler, but is it worth having a top spin bowler as our overseas player to go with our already-perfectly-decent spin bowlers when our pace bowlers are nowhere near good enough? Not worth throwing the ball to a spinner with the opposition well set at 300/2 and saying "here you go, win us the game", no matter how good he may be.

 

Our batting lineup - on paper at least - is decent enough, but without any confidence in the bowling unit to ensure their work is backed up, and as a result their form has nosedived. We need two opening bowlers who can take wickets, not just "bowl dry". Spinners feed off of momentum built up by the seamers.

 

My point was that there are no real headline names available for the whole summer, and most of the overseas players tend to be batsmen.

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Not sure why you have to be so sarcastic. I have only pointed out facts.

 

I am lucky enough to have access to the Coaches, Players, Players families, (mostly Mums and Dads), Directors, Umpires and Media. I am careful what I post and only release what I know is not sensitive. Maybe I am leaning towards the club but hey, I support Hampshire CCC.

 

You are a committed Hampshire fan - and so am I. You are much closer to the staff etc - but there is a real danger of just being an apologist for the current regime when in fact a better friend and fan would point out their shortcomings. They really do need some radical action in my view - two or three of the batsmen would be better off in the seconds getting some confidence back and that would mean bringing in the youngsters - could they be any worse?

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Whole thing is sad and reminds me of the season Saints had in 2008/9 - a fluke win at Reading but lots of poundings and men against kids most of the time. Sadly with Hants, it's struggling with older players but although I do think Weston could be more critical in his views on the club, I can see what he means, the quality of bowling in D1 has gone up over the years - most sides have some fairly potent quicks like the Overtons, Harris, Brooks, Mills, Finn, Shazhad, Wood (before England), Gregory and Rushworth.

 

Better for them to get used to the dobbers of D2 first. How many Cat A players are we allowed to sign in one off season? Would imagine a lot will leave - J Adams, Carberry, Berg, Gatting, Tomlinson, Wood and possibly Dawson, which would be a shame. Question mark over Ervine's fitness. I'd build around Vince, who isn't ready for top flight bowlers yet, Wheater, Terry, Wheal and Briggs plus the emerging talents with the bat. Has anyone seen Basil Akram bowl? In terms of signings, Edwards would be a great overseas signing next year and domestically Fuller of Gloucs would be a great opening bowling partner, lively. Footit might be prepared to move from Derbys if he can't get a D1 move? Need to build a team and squad and stop all the short-term signings.

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You are a committed Hampshire fan - and so am I. You are much closer to the staff etc - but there is a real danger of just being an apologist for the current regime when in fact a better friend and fan would point out their shortcomings. They really do need some radical action in my view - two or three of the batsmen would be better off in the seconds getting some confidence back and that would mean bringing in the youngsters - could they be any worse?

 

Although the batters seem out of form the main problem is that Hampshire have failed to produce many really good quality bowlers over the last 50 years and it is bowlers that win matches.

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Although the batters seem out of form the main problem is that Hampshire have failed to produce many really good quality bowlers over the last 50 years and it is bowlers that win matches.

 

Although before year round international cricket we did manage to get our fair share of top class overseas bowlers.

Roberts, Marshall, O'Sullivan, Warne.....now those were bowlers and I'm sure I've forgotten a few. Still going back in time a bit now I suppose.

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