Gloucestershire under GrahamB (story)

[DaveRobbo]

Great stuff here Graham, remarkable turnaround against Sussex. Hope you manage to get promotion over the line!

[GrahamB]

We're off to second-placed Worcestershire for the next FC match.

Chris Dent comes back into the playing eleven, with Jack Taylor dropping out.


Gloucestershire: M.Hammond, C.Dent, B.Howell, G.Roderick (wk), G.van Buuren, T.Hellawell, I.Cockbain (capt), B.Charlesworth, R.Higgins, D.Payne, D.Worrall.

[GrahamB]

Wow! The FC match against Sussex finished in a remarkable manner. We came back from the dead to take the win and move into the top three.

The pitch was a road at the start, and Sussex won the toss.
Our bowlers toiled manfully, but success was scarce.
Ben Brown and Michael Burgess tormented our attack on their way to well-deserved centuries, and with the score surpassing 400, any winning chances looked gone. It might be a miracle to hold a draw even.
Ryan Higgins and David Payne were the pick of our bowlers, finishing with four wickets apiece.

In reply, we looked completely lost at 98/7, before Ben Charlesworth got good support from Ryan Higgins and David Payne to get us past 200.
Mir Hamza, Jofra Archer and Oliver Robinson all bowled magnificently.

The follow-on was enforced and we were hoping for a resilient fightback.
Miles Hammond led the way with his fourth century this season, while Ian Cockbain posted a half-century and Ben Charlesworth ended on 49no.
Oliver Robinson was again impressive with the ball.
By achieving 357, we hoped to avoid a loss that could be embarrassing..

However, our bowlers had other ideas!
Dan Worrall and Ryan Higgins ripped out the top order with the new ball, and then when Harry Finch and David Wiese were building a menacing partnership, Graeme van Buuren took over on the sharply turning pitch to humiliate the visitors.

A win for us by 20 runs. Truly remarkable!


Sussex - 430 (M.Burgess-108, B.Brown-104, L.Wells-67, D.Wiese-65, D.Payne-4/100, R.Higgins-4/113)

Gloucestershire - 216 (J.Archer-4/45, O.Robinson-3/44, M.Hamza-3/59)

Gloucestershire (following on) - 357 (M.Hammond-116, I.Cockbain-51, O.Robinson-4/84, M.Hamza-3/93)

Sussex - 123 (G.van Buuren-4/19, D.Worrall-3/48)

Win to Gloucestershire by 20 runs.

[GrahamB]

Good stuff Graham, must be nice to get all those T20s out of the way!

From what I understand, you are still well in the hunt for promotion? That would be some achievement in your first season! Then bring on the end of season signings
I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the squad.

Cheers. Appreciate your interest.

Yes - still in the FC promotion hunt, which is astonishing really, as the squad isn't overly marvellous.
More good luck than good management I suspect (makes up for the rotten luck in the shorter forms I guess).

The contracts stage is always a big highlight!

[bryce87]

Three FC matches to wrap up our first season.

The first of these matches is a home match and we'll be hosting the Sussex lads.

Good stuff Graham, must be nice to get all those T20s out of the way!

From what I understand, you are still well in the hunt for promotion? That would be some achievement in your first season! Then bring on the end of season signings
I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the squad.

[GrahamB]

Three FC matches to wrap up our first season.

The first of these matches is a home match and we'll be hosting the Sussex lads.

Chris Dent has been omitted from the playing eleven in favour of Benny Howell.


Gloucestershire: M.Hammond, B.Howell, G.Roderick (wk), G.van Buuren, T.Hellawell, I.Cockbain (capt), J.Taylor, B.Charlesworth, R.Higgins, D.Payne, D.Worrall.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 14

Our far from startling total almost looked good enough for the win, but Joffra Archer and Bradley Wadlan had other ideas.


Gloucestershire - 132/9 (I.Cockbain-42, M.Hamza-3/27)

Sussex - 133/6 (J.Archer-33no, P.Salt-30, B.Howell-3/24)

Win to Sussex by 4 wickets.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 13

Kent posted a challenging total, mainly thanks to Sam Billings, whom was dropped early in his innings and made us pay big-time.
Benny Howell and Gareth Roderick set us up nicely for a run at victory, but Darren Stevens and Adam Milne bowling at the death were just too crafty for us.
In hindsight, it might have been worth the risk to go all out an over or two earlier.


Kent - 171/8 (S.Billings-79no, D.Bell-Drummond-41, R.Cullin-36, R.Higgins-3/22)

Gloucestershire - 147/3 (B.Howell-64no, G.Roderick-46)

Win to Kent by 24 runs.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 12

After restricting Somerset to what seemed a poor total, we soon found out ourselves that batting was not easy. We achieved victory with just one ball to spare.


Somerset - 127/9 (A.Copperfield-52no, D.Payne-4/16)

Gloucestershire - 128/6 (T.Hellawell-43no)

Win to Gloucestershire by 4 wickets.

[GrahamB]

Our FC match against Derbyshire turned out to be a real battle.

We got put in to bat and could only manage 239 all out.
Ian Cockbain led the way with a well-crafted half century, while Ben Charlesworth added valuable runs towards the end.
Medium pacer Luis Reece was particularly difficult to handle in the overcast conditions.

At 101/4, the home side seemed to be struggling just as much, but the experienced Wayne Madsen and young gun George Warner helped their side to establish a useful lead. Daryn Smit hit a quick few runs later in the innings as well.
Ryan Higgins and Dan Worrall each bagged four scalps.

Our second innings got off to the worst possible start, with Miles Hammond falling to Palladino for a duck.
Chris Dent and Gareth Roderick dug in to steady the ship, with both going past 40. However, when they both fell in quick succession, we were in trouble at 99/3.
Graeme van Buuren had had a poor season so far, so it was time for him to stand tall in partnership with Tom Hallawell. By the time both had been dismissed, we were fairly safe at 253/5.
Ian Cockbain and Ben Charlesworth added further runs before we declared, leaving Derbyshire 280+ at close to 5 runs per over.

Derbyshire made no effort to go after the win and batted out the final two sessions for the draw.


Gloucestershire - 239 (I.Cockbain-60, L.Reece-4/21, T.Palladino-3/61)

Derbyshire - 309 (W.Madsen-112, G.Warner-70no, D.Worrall-4/70, R.Higgins-4.73)

Gloucestershire - 353/6 declared (G.van Buuren-87, T.Hellawell-65, I.Cockbain-55no)

Derbyshire - 122/1 (B.Godelman-60)

Match drawn.

[GrahamB]

Our T20 campaign is interrupted by a FC game at Derbyshire.

With many of our batsmen out of form, we're hoping that this will give some of them much needed time in the middle.
Ben Charlesworth showed immense promise in the T20 matches, so I've decided to give him another run.
With both Chris Dent and Gareth Roderick struggling with their form, veteran Ian Cockbain will captain the side for this match.


Gloucestershire: M.Hammond, C.Dent, G.Roderick (wk), G.van Buuren, T.Hellawell, I.Cockbain (capt), J.Taylor, B.Charlesworth, R.Higgins, D.Payne, D.Worrall.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 11

It seems as though we might be better chasing a target, rather than setting one. A much needed win over Somerset.


Somerset - 149/6 (J.Hildreth-50no, S.Davies-37, R.Higgins-3/30)

Gloucestershire - 154/6 (I.Cockbain-54no, B.Charlesworth-34no, M.Klinger-33)

Win to Gloucestershire by 4 wickets.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 10

We were put into bat under very difficult conditions, and struggled to get any momentum.
In contrast, the Hampshire top order coped much better and were relatively untroubled in getting their side through to victory.


Gloucestershire - 99/8 (M.Klinger-38no, K.Barker-3/16)

Hampshire - 100/2 (J.Vince-50no)

Win to Hampshire by 8 wickets.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 9

The good news was that we were able to welcome Miles Hammond back from injury, but this was embarrassing. Our batsmen just can't cope with the Middlesex bowling attack.


Gloucestershire - 89 (M.Klinger-35, R.Topley-4/14, E.Banber-3/19)

Middlesex - 93/2 (P.Stirling-47no, S.Eskinazi-30)

Win to Middlesex by 8 wickets.

[GrahamB]

T20 Match 8

In a bottom of the table clash, we prevailed against Surrey.


Gloucestershire - 168/6 (B.Howell-58, G.Roderick-31, G.Batty-4/25)

Surrey - 154/4 (J.Roy-52, B.Foakes-37)

Win to Gloucestershire by 14 runs.


Now 3 wins and 5 losses.