Gloucestershire - That Elusive Championship (Story)

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Kent - Away - 2013

Kent	Gloucestershire
S. Northeast	C. Dent
R. Key	T. Price
B. Nash	I. Cockbain (C)
M. Powell	H. Marshall
A. Blake	A. Gidman
L. Simmons (K)	C. Herring (K)
B. Harmison	P. Thomas
M. Coles	E. Young
J. Tredwell (C)	D. Payne
M. Davies	I. Saxelby
C. Shreck	L. Norwell

Kent! We played them in a dull draw not too long ago, and they've prepared a spinner's pitch to assist captain Tredwell this time. Lendl Simmons plays as their overseas, leaving his switch for Jones the only one made by Kent.

We make 2 more changes to our side, this time out, one of them rather drastic! Liam Norwell has been in awful form recently, and despite being our leading wicket taker in the competition (by 1!) we choose to replace him with James Fuller, who's been working hard in the second XI and head and shoulders above the rest of our replacements. The more severe one is the dropping of the captain, Michael Klinger, still without a century this year. He's replaced by the 22 year old, in-form, wicketkeeping opener Chris Dent, although Cameron Herring keeps his place and the gloves. Ian Cockbain, 26, is the man I've chosen to captain the side, and he'll keep that role until at least the end of the season regardless of Klinger's presence.

Anyway, Cockbain has lost his first toss, and Kent have chosen to bat first.

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One of my finest moments on the (virtual) grass. I apologise in advance for this match report, which will ramble on about how excellently I did things.



We started poorly, and let them seize the advantage on the opening day. Northeast and Key both fell quickly, but their middle order really punished our spells of average bowling, and whilst wickets did come, they did so rarely. Blake made 163 in the previous game against us, and he really took a liking to our bowlers again this time out, helping their run rate along as well! We got them to 322/7, but Coles came out and predictably started whacking it. The next blow for Kent changed the course of the game though, probably. Tredwell had to retire hurt with a fracture after a steepling bouncer from Fuller. It might have been vital for us. Mark Davies then came out and somehow hit 52 from 48 balls, and they were bowled out for 415 in 103 overs.

By the time we were 68/6, I'd given up most hope of the match. Thankfully we wrestled this innings back a bit. Thomas and Young put on a strong 84 partnership, with both scoring at almost a run a ball, before Peter was out and Young built with the tail. In his 38 partnership with Ian Saxelby, which lasted 17 overs, Saxelby scored 1 and faced only 13 balls. Great controlling of the strike by the young spinner, and whilst it was still only his second highest score of the campaign for us, it really felt deserving of a second First Class century. We still missed the follow on target by a good 40 runs, but it was far more respectable than it should have been!

We were made to follow on, and this time tried to do things right. Dent and Price hit an opening stand of 49, and Dent went on to his first half century of the CC season after Cockbain joined him. Unfortunately, as Ian, Chris and Hamish Marshall all fell at about the same time, we went from 87/1 to 105/4 and really fearing the worst. Now was Gidman's time to come to the fore, as he hit a 75 partnership with young Cameron Herring (41), and then stuck around through Thomas' cameo 32 from 39. Gidman eventually went for a respectable if slow 67, but Young stepped up again, hitting a 56 partnership with Payne that was mainly his doing, before falling for 43 as we were all out 130-odd ahead.

I gave Thomas the new ball after he created a lot of chances in the first innings, and he finished day 3 with 7 overs, 1-7. They were 35/2. When he and Young had mashed through a couple more to leave them 87/6 the following morning, we had begun to believe. Unfortunately, Matt Coles ruined everything with 31 from 35 balls, and Lendl stayed with him to make it 126/6 and more comfortable, 9 away from victory... then Simmons was caught at 2nd slip by Payne... and Coles went at the start of the next over to Young. This was where the retired hurt of Tredwell count double, effectively making them 9 down with 9 still needed! 2 balls later to Young, Shreck caught behind for 0 and Davies unable to repeat his first innings heroics. Young and Payne had combined to pull of something great!

Championship State	Promotion isn't really a realistic possibility any more, so I'll stick with my light experimentation and technique training!
Batting Award	Ed Young - Not often I get to give this to a number 8, but his 91 and 43 were top notch.
Bowling Award	Ed Young - Yeah, he didn't get a first innings wicket, but when it really counted, he pulled out the goods. Double award!

Note - Wow. This match will keep me going for ages!

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Essex - Home - 2013

Gloucestershire	Essex
C. Dent	H. Rutherford
T. Price	T. Westley
I. Cockbain (C)	R. ten Doeschate
H. Marshall	J. Foster (K) (C)
A. Gidman	O. Shah
T. Sherbourne	M. Pettini
C. Herring (K)	B. Shafayat
P. Thomas	G. Napier
E. Young	D. Masters
D. Payne	T. Craddock
I. Saxelby	R. Topley

Next up, we welcome top of the table Essex to Bristol. They don't have the world class Cook or Bopara to call upon this time around, with both in the England squad for the Australia ODIs. That doesn't mean I don't fear the team they have got, though, far from it. Rutherford is a fantastic batsman in all formats, as is Tendo. And Shah. And Foster's not too bad. And Westley's been good this season. Etc. You can do the same with the bowlers really, Topley, Masters and Napier are top quality seamers, and they might be enjoying Div 1 like they deserve next year.

We make one change, as we like to do, and decide to go in with only 4 bowlers for the first time this season... even though Will G never really counted, having only taken 2 wickets! We give young Tom Sherbourne a chance at number 6, with Herring, Thomas and Young forming a formidable lower order beneath him! Fuller is the bowler to miss out - he did well in the last match, but he was the most recent player to join the unit and therefore should be the first out. We've won the toss, and therefore been able to select to bat first. If we win, we may still have a chance of promotion. Who knows.

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The first two innings were awful, and thus we got beaten.



We started okay, with a partnership of 64 between Dent and Price, but both fell soon after each other, leaving Cockbain and Marshall in a recognisable environment for them both. Marshall could only make 7 this time though, including being dropped before getting them, and Alex G struggled to only 8, but Cockbain carried on with his team struggling at 109/4. Débutante Sherbourne joined him, and they put on 44 together, Tom only making 16 but sticking around for a little while. Payne was the only other man to really make a stand, and he did with his late 37, compiled alongside a confident Cockbain and then a tentative Saxelby to take us almost to a second batting point.

We bowled prettyyy terribly the time after that though, to the point where, with the first ball, only Young managed any wickets at all. He actually managed a 5-for with that ball, which showed impressive bowling from him, but nothing from anyone else. Even after that, Shafayat and Napier put on a 138 partnership for the 7th wicket, the latter especially thrashing us to all parts, with 92 from 102 balls.

We didn't look like we were going to bat too much better second time out, but whilst wickets were tumbling quicker than a young child in a gymnastics class at one end, at the other Chris Dent was playing sublimely. None of the rest of the top 6 scored above 21 as we were reduced to 146/5, but then young Cameron Herring came in. He also played brilliantly, firstly getting a 119 partnership with Dent, who recorded his top FC score and 3rd century, and then building and accelerating with Thomas (35) and Payne (17 from 85 balls) to make us think we had an outside chance of winning the match with a lead of almost 150.

It was only the most outside of chances, and we didn't get it our way. Rutherford and Westley put on 91, basically killing our hopes, before Young, Payne and Thomas took a wicket apiece. Never mind!

For the last three games I won't do dedicated intro posts, cause we don't really have much to play for, I'll just stick Team News on the bottom of the table.

Championship State	Now 38 points off 2nd with 3 matches left, dreams of promotion are a distant memory. We're 6th, 2 points off 5th and 11 points off 4th, so that extra prize money is our only remaining goal!
Batting Award	So tough to call this one, but I'll go Chris Dent. He was fluent, even when everyone else was throwing wickets away.
Bowling Award	Ed Young - Not really hard when a man takes 7 in an innings, but that was mainly due to the other 3 being distinctly mediocre.
Team News	We're now at home against Leicester - Fuller comes back for Payne, and we persist with Marshall despite 5 consecutive single figure scores.

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A rather good victory, now that it doesn't matter.



We lost the toss and had to bowl first, but started really well! They did get away after we removed O'Brien, through Thornely and Sarwan, to 99/1, but from there we bowled really well, with Fuller taking 4 great wickets and the other 3 taking 2 each to dismiss Leicestershire for only 210.

Price went for a duck, which isn't something he does often, but Dent (46) and Cockbain shared a 106 partnership to put us back on top. Marshall was scratchy again, and was lucky to get past 10 as he edged down to fine leg, but eventually made 52, his 6th half-century of the year. Gidman and Sherbourne went very quickly, but Cameron Herring was again utterly excellent. I'm not entirely sure how he managed to make a century out of the 154 scored after he came in, but he certainly controlled late partnerships of 64 and 38 with Saxelby and Fuller, who scored 12 and 6 respectively. Cracking.

Apart from Boyce's exquisite 131* and Naik's 54, no-one in the Leics second innings scored more than 17! We did have them 148/6, but we somehow lost our way a little when Naik came to the crease. Thankfully though, when we brought Alex G on after getting a bit desperate, he took Naik and then Williams in consecutive balls, and Thomas got the last couple of wickets.

The total was a small chase, but when we got got reduced to 116/6 we felt like we might conspire to lose! Thankfully Cockbain kept going, and Thomas hit 29* to make sure we won the match.

Championship State	We move up to 5th! Wahey!
Batting Award	Ian Cockbain - That second innings performance really won the match for us, and he played well in the first too.
Bowling Award	Ian Saxelby - 6 wickets, standard but really decent for Ian this match.
Team News	Roderick gets another chance and comes in for Sherbourne... 3 keepers! Herring bats above him though.

Aside - Watched Luke Wright hit a stunning century against the Netherlands at Hove last night. Cracking player, him.

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Let's rush through these last two then, shall we?



This was a good game, but I'm not going to spend too long on it anyway! Our first innings 284 was totally down to the brilliant 4th century of the year by Ian Cockbain. Lancashire's first was a weird affair, again dominated by a centurion, this time Katich, but the wickets were shared equally between Saxelby and Young. Our second innings seemed like a disaster, reduced to 94/5 and only fighting back to 179 all out... but we romped through them, Pete Thomas especially impressive as we notched another victory!

Batting Award	Ian Cockbain - Decent player. He's vital to my chances!
Bowling Award	Saxelby/Thomas - Both performances were brilliant, and led to our victory!
Team News	Roderick out, Howell gets a chance.

This match though, we were always behind in.



We lost this pretty comprehensively, even though we fought back well in our second innings. Meh. Doesn't really matter in the long run!

Batting Award	Alex Gidman - His 97* in the second innings was our best of the match by miles.
Bowling Award	Ed Young - He's a good player, and if I can't get a better spinner in the contracts section, I won't complain too much.

And that is season one completed! I'll review it in a second.

[Imager36]

2013 Season Review

Final Championship Division 2 Table

Pos	Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
1	Worcestershire	9	2	5	245
2	Essex	9	5	2	242
3	Lancashire	7	3	6	206
4	Hampshire	7	3	6	205
5	Gloucstershire	7	2	7	198
6	Northamptonshire	5	4	7	178
7	Glamorgan	6	2	8	170
8	Kent	5	2	9	165
9	Leicestershire	4	3	9	146

So, looking at that table, we were exactly midtable and I feel like that's a decent result. Next term out it looks like we'll be needing 9 or 10 wins from our 16 matches to get promotion. We managed to beat Worcester and Lancs twice each, but failed to make it pay against the slightly weaker sides as we lost twice to Glamorgan!

Top 3 batsmen (Matches/Runs/Ave/100s/Awards)

1 - Ian Cockbain - 16, 1405, 45.32, 4, 6
2 - Hamish Marshall - 16, 1207, 40.23, 2, 4
3 - Alex Gidman - 16, 1100, 35.48, 3, 3

Pretty clear gulfs between the batsmen on this list. Cockbain was the 2nd highest scorer in the second division, but he was almost 300 runs behind Simon Katich, who was instrumental in Lancashire's strong campaign. Marshall was also very good, but on the batting side only those two really impressed, with Dent and Herring also looking good, so I don't think we'll need any more keepers! The openers spots worry me, although it might be that Dent steps in there full time, with Herring still playing if I can't get a better batsman to replace him.

Top 3 bowlers (Matches/Wickets/Ave/5fors/Awards)

1 - Ed Young - 16, 72, 31.10, 6, 6
2 - Ian Saxelby - 14, 57, 31.67, 4, 5
3 - Liam Norwell - 11, 45, 29.67, 3, 2

Our bowling was actually pretty good, and ordering this top 3 was incredibly difficult! All 3 will play large parts again next year I'm sure, although whether Ed Young will be number 1 or 2 spinner is still up for discussion! Saxelby and Norwell will very much be part of the picture, while Thomas will probably get more chances and Fuller and Payne have done decently.

Tomorrow - CONTRACTS!

[Imager36]

2013 Contracts

Well, this will hopefully be a busy section for us! We have to start somewhere, so let's examine the players who will be out of contract if we don't renew, how much they want, and what my decision is!

• Michael Klinger - 27k - Was pretty poor, after starting as my captain! We need more from our overseas player really, and so he'll be let go.
• Tom Price - 29.5k - Played all 16 championship fixtures this year, scoring 944 runs at an average of just under 30. Not too promising, and he's asking for a lot more than I'd expect. I'll offer him 24k to start with, and we'll see how he takes it and what else is on offer.
• Hamish Marshall - 26.5k - He's getting on a bit now, but as our second best batsman last year he'll be re-signed on a rolling one year contract.
• Benny Howell - 23k - He scored decently in the seconds did Benny, but I don't fancy him at FC level and I think the money would be better spent towards a better player.
• Tom Sherbourne - 22.5k - The youth player didn't make any real impression, and so misses out on a pro contract.
• Gareth Roderick - 45k - This is a very difficult decision, possibly the hardest of the lot. He is an impressive young player, but ultimately it's simply too much money for me to spend on someone who would start next season as our third choice keeper.
• Will Gidman - 47k - He's a good player, but again it's a lot of money to ask for. I'll make him a fairly derisory offer or two and scour the market.
• Dan Christian - 30k - He was a T20 player this year, so we won't need him!
• Peter Thomas - 28k - Looked very promising to me, and who knows how much he could improve. 3 year deal handed out.
• Jack Taylor - 26.5k - Well he made a good first class début, but his 2nd team performances have been rubbish! Gone!
• James Fuller - 47.5k - Another hard one... he didn't perform to that amount of money when he was in the team, but his second XI performances did impress highly as he averaged just over 16 with the ball. Again, I make him a lesser offer and scour the market.
• Graeme McCarter - 15.5k - As much as I like Ireland, he didn't impress anyone by averaging 37 in the seconds. Gone.
• Craig Miles - 24k - He did well in the university match, but his season really tailed off, and I can't see him progressing to the standard I need to win the title ever.
• Paul Muchall - 22.5k - Similar story to the previous two, but he's already 26! Gone.
• Ian Saxelby - 34.5k - He's bowled really well for me this year, so he gets what he asks for on a 3 year deal.

I've also, callously, decided to cancel the contracts of 3 players who had years remaining. Coughtrie is unneeded as a keeper who can barely bat, Housego is never going to get a go in the team, and 19 year old seamer Taylor is unlikely to make the grade. We made about 40k from the 3 together, so that's another toppish-notch player for next season.

Retained	Maybe	Axed
H. Marshall - 26.5k	T. Price	M. Klinger
P. Thomas - 28k (Y)	W. Gidman	B. Howell
I. Saxelby - 34.5k	J. Fuller	G. Roderick
		D. Christian
		J. Taylor
		G. McCarter
		C. Miles
		P. Muchall
		D. Housego (T)
		R. Coughtrie (T)
		M. Taylor (T)

Okay. Right. That's a lot of axed players. In fact, excluding my maybes, we have 10 contracted players at the club! That leaves us needing 7 more (+ a reserve overseas) to sign, with a total budget of roughly 340k. How to divide that money is an interesting quandry... to splash out and sign big players and a few younguns, or sign a squad of averageness. The 10 are 4 seamers, 1 spinner, 2 keepers and 3 batsmen. Will G's talents now seem a bit wasted in FC cricket, so we release him, and make second offers to Fuller and Price. Ravi Bopara is in the section on the first round, and he immediately becomes my main target, attracting an offer of 80k, while a Sussex favourite of mine, Mike Yardy, gets an offer of 27.5k.

Bopara unfortunately decided on Leicstershire instead, whilst Fuller was lured away by Hampshire. Price and Yardy both signed though, leaving us with 12 players but a little bit of a dearth of quality. This round is where I make my moves! To make up for the loss of Bopara, we approach Paul Stubbs, a ridiculously prodigious 18 year old batsman, for 65k. He'll probably become an England regular, but it may be worth that amount for 3 years even to have him irregularly. I also offer Ed Joyce, Yardy's former teammate, 37k to continue his long career with us for a year, Ryan ten Doeschate 40k for 2 years and George Dockerell 42k for 3 years. Those total up to 183k and would leave me with about 100k left in the kitty.

Stubbs unfortunately plumped for Worcestershire, and Joyce back to his old club Sussex, but Tendo and Dockerell were important signings and give us a real allrounder and someone to challenge Ed Young as a spinner. The options left in the domestic pool are now fairly underwhelming and probably most likely to be backups, but with this purpose in mind we offer James Vince 25k a year for 3 years, and Mark Footitt 27.5k for 1 year. We also offer youth batsman Kieran Lynn 17.5k a year for 3 years to join our reserves.

Footitt signed first time, and we offered Lynn and Vince a little more each to bolster our batting ranks. It's clear that we'll need to look for an opener as an overseas player, and going on performances this season and how much I like the chap, I offer Hamish Rutherford 64k to fill that slot up for us.

All 3 players sign, leaving us with a squad of 18 and 73k yet to be spent. Reliable Chris Rogers is my choice as reserve overseas player, while Worcestershire reject seamer Charles Morris joins us to add to our battery of quicks. Both players sign, I put the remaining 50k into making my coach and physio budgets full and my youth team budget at 30k, and we have our squad for the second season!

Summary (if you can't be bothered to read the rest)

In	Out
M. Yardy	M. Klinger
R. ten Doeschate	G. Roderick
G. Dockerell	B. Howell
M. Footitt	D. Christian
K. Lynch	J. Taylor
J. Vince	G. McCarter
H. Rutherford (Overseas)	C. Miles
C. Rogers (Reserve)	P. Muchall
	D. Housego (T)
	R. Coughtrie (T)
	M. Taylor (T)
	W. Gidman (R)
	J. Fuller (R)

Whew. So a whopping 13 players left the club, and we signed another 8 to fill their places. I think we're sorted in most areas, and this is how I envisage us lining up in the first games of next season, after a preview!

1. [*=left]H. Rutherford
   [*=left]C. Dent (K)
   [*=left]I. Cockbain
   [*=left]H. Marshall
   [*=left]M. Yardy
   [*=left]R. ten Doeschate
   [*=left]A. Gidman/C. Herring
   [*=left]P. Thomas/D. Payne
   [*=left]E. Young/G. Dockerell
   [*=left]I. Saxelby
   [*=left]L. Norwell

All those last positions are a bit hard to judge until I've seen the team in action, not really knowing the strength of RtD's bowling. If it's weak, I may even play 5 bowlers, including Thomas and Young for lower order batting. Anyway, there's no point speculating too much! Thanks for sticking with this massive post til the end!

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

2013 Contracts

Well, this will hopefully be a busy section for us! We have to start somewhere, so let's examine the players who will be out of contract if we don't renew, how much they want, and what my decision is!

• Michael Klinger - 27k - Was pretty poor, after starting as my captain! We need more from our overseas player really, and so he'll be let go.
• Tom Price - 29.5k - Played all 16 championship fixtures this year, scoring 944 runs at an average of just under 30. Not too promising, and he's asking for a lot more than I'd expect. I'll offer him 24k to start with, and we'll see how he takes it and what else is on offer.
• Hamish Marshall - 26.5k - He's getting on a bit now, but as our second best batsman last year he'll be re-signed on a rolling one year contract.
• Benny Howell - 23k - He scored decently in the seconds did Benny, but I don't fancy him at FC level and I think the money would be better spent towards a better player.
• Tom Sherbourne - 22.5k - The youth player didn't make any real impression, and so misses out on a pro contract.
• Gareth Roderick - 45k - This is a very difficult decision, possibly the hardest of the lot. He is an impressive young player, but ultimately it's simply too much money for me to spend on someone who would start next season as our third choice keeper.
• Will Gidman - 47k - He's a good player, but again it's a lot of money to ask for. I'll make him a fairly derisory offer or two and scour the market.
• Dan Christian - 30k - He was a T20 player this year, so we won't need him!
• Peter Thomas - 28k - Looked very promising to me, and who knows how much he could improve. 3 year deal handed out.
• Jack Taylor - 26.5k - Well he made a good first class début, but his 2nd team performances have been rubbish! Gone!
• James Fuller - 47.5k - Another hard one... he didn't perform to that amount of money when he was in the team, but his second XI performances did impress highly as he averaged just over 16 with the ball. Again, I make him a lesser offer and scour the market.
• Graeme McCarter - 15.5k - As much as I like Ireland, he didn't impress anyone by averaging 37 in the seconds. Gone.
• Craig Miles - 24k - He did well in the university match, but his season really tailed off, and I can't see him progressing to the standard I need to win the title ever.
• Paul Muchall - 22.5k - Similar story to the previous two, but he's already 26! Gone.
• Ian Saxelby - 34.5k - He's bowled really well for me this year, so he gets what he asks for on a 3 year deal.

I've also, callously, decided to cancel the contracts of 3 players who had years remaining. Coughtrie is unneeded as a keeper who can barely bat, Housego is never going to get a go in the team, and 19 year old seamer Taylor is unlikely to make the grade. We made about 40k from the 3 together, so that's another toppish-notch player for next season.

Retained	Maybe	Axed
H. Marshall - 26.5k	T. Price	M. Klinger
P. Thomas - 28k (Y)	W. Gidman	B. Howell
I. Saxelby - 34.5k	J. Fuller	G. Roderick
		D. Christian
		J. Taylor
		G. McCarter
		C. Miles
		P. Muchall
		D. Housego (T)
		R. Coughtrie (T)
		M. Taylor (T)

Okay. Right. That's a lot of axed players. In fact, excluding my maybes, we have 10 contracted players at the club! That leaves us needing 7 more (+ a reserve overseas) to sign, with a total budget of roughly 340k. How to divide that money is an interesting quandry... to splash out and sign big players and a few younguns, or sign a squad of averageness. The 10 are 4 seamers, 1 spinner, 2 keepers and 3 batsmen. Will G's talents now seem a bit wasted in FC cricket, so we release him, and make second offers to Fuller and Price. Ravi Bopara is in the section on the first round, and he immediately becomes my main target, attracting an offer of 80k, while a Sussex favourite of mine, Mike Yardy, gets an offer of 27.5k.

Bopara unfortunately decided on Leicstershire instead, whilst Fuller was lured away by Hampshire. Price and Yardy both signed though, leaving us with 12 players but a little bit of a dearth of quality. This round is where I make my moves! To make up for the loss of Bopara, we approach Paul Stubbs, a ridiculously prodigious 18 year old batsman, for 65k. He'll probably become an England regular, but it may be worth that amount for 3 years even to have him irregularly. I also offer Ed Joyce, Yardy's former teammate, 37k to continue his long career with us for a year, Ryan ten Doeschate 40k for 2 years and George Dockerell 42k for 3 years. Those total up to 183k and would leave me with about 100k left in the kitty.

Stubbs unfortunately plumped for Worcestershire, and Joyce back to his old club Sussex, but Tendo and Dockerell were important signings and give us a real allrounder and someone to challenge Ed Young as a spinner. The options left in the domestic pool are now fairly underwhelming and probably most likely to be backups, but with this purpose in mind we offer James Vince 25k a year for 3 years, and Mark Footitt 27.5k for 1 year. We also offer youth batsman Kieran Lynn 17.5k a year for 3 years to join our reserves.

Footitt signed first time, and we offered Lynn and Vince a little more each to bolster our batting ranks. It's clear that we'll need to look for an opener as an overseas player, and going on performances this season and how much I like the chap, I offer Hamish Rutherford 64k to fill that slot up for us.

All 3 players sign, leaving us with a squad of 18 and 73k yet to be spent. Reliable Chris Rogers is my choice as reserve overseas player, while Worcestershire reject seamer Charles Morris joins us to add to our battery of quicks. Both players sign, I put the remaining 50k into making my coach and physio budgets full and my youth team budget at 30k, and we have our squad for the second season!

Summary (if you can't be bothered to read the rest)

In	Out
M. Yardy	M. Klinger
R. ten Doeschate	G. Roderick
G. Dockerell	B. Howell
M. Footitt	D. Christian
K. Lynch	J. Taylor
J. Vince	G. McCarter
H. Rutherford (Overseas)	C. Miles
C. Rogers (Reserve)	P. Muchall
	D. Housego (T)
	R. Coughtrie (T)
	M. Taylor (T)
	W. Gidman (R)
	J. Fuller (R)

Whew. So a whopping 13 players left the club, and we signed another 8 to fill their places. I think we're sorted in most areas, and this is how I envisage us lining up in the first games of next season, after a preview!

1. [*=left]H. Rutherford
   [*=left]C. Dent (K)
   [*=left]I. Cockbain
   [*=left]H. Marshall
   [*=left]M. Yardy
   [*=left]R. ten Doeschate
   [*=left]A. Gidman/C. Herring
   [*=left]P. Thomas/D. Payne
   [*=left]E. Young/G. Dockerell
   [*=left]I. Saxelby
   [*=left]L. Norwell

All those last positions are a bit hard to judge until I've seen the team in action, not really knowing the strength of RtD's bowling. If it's weak, I may even play 5 bowlers, including Thomas and Young for lower order batting. Anyway, there's no point speculating too much! Thanks for sticking with this massive post til the end!

Really enjoyed your update mate - great reading !

[Imager36]

Really enjoyed your update mate - great reading !

Cheers! Pleased anyone read any of that post, it is just a wall of text, but I wanted to be thorough.

Edit - This looks ridiculously long, but that's the formatting, there is minimal actual content. Enjoy!

2014 County Championship Division 2 Preview

Glamorgan

Last Year - 7th

Overview - Glamorgan are an okay side with a good seam line-up of Allenby, Waters, Wagg and Hogan, but they lack the batting line-up and spinner to really have a chance this season.

Overseas - Chamara Kapugedara - A solid Sri Lankan batsman, but 8 centuries in 100 FC innings doesn't suggest he'll make too many matchwinning contributions. Sunil Narine is their reserve, and would probably have served them better.

Key Player - Jim Allenby - This guy would be a very good player for most teams. For Glamorgan, he's statistically their second best batsman and second best bowler. He really will be key in both disciplines.

One to Watch - Robin Coop - The 24 year old opener might be facing a season that decides whether he's to have a future in the game. Will be dangerous.

Prediction - 8th

Gloucestershire

Last Year - 5th

Overview - A decent all round squad for the gladiators, but they lack the stand out players that would make them favourites for promotion. The overseas openers will need to perform for them this year.

Overseas - Hamish Rutherford - The New Zealander has a fantastic FC record, and will be expected to score big as he did last year for Essex. Chris Rogers is his stand-in, and would do roughly the same job, but with less flair.

Key Player - Ian Cockbain - Settled as number 3 batsman last season, and added the captaincy to that for the end of the season. He keeps that for this year, and if he can pile on the runs they might have a chance.

One to Watch - The whole bowling attack! - Most likely to bowl for Gloucs this year are Thomas, Payne, Norwell, Saxelby, Young and Dockerell. None of them are over the age of 24. Can you win anything with kids?

Prediction - 2nd

Hampshire

Last Year - 4th

Overview - The Hampshire squad is a strong one, but as with Gloucs it looks like it might lack that star player or two to tip them over the edge to promotion. Again.

Overseas - None.

Key Player - Michael Carberry - The one test wonder had an average year in 2013, but his career record is good and he'll be looked to as an experienced head in this side.

One to Watch - Harry Maupin - The 23 year old opener averaged over 50 in 7 matches at the back end of last season, and Hants will be hoping his weaknesses aren't exposed in his first full year on the staff.

Prediction - 5th

Kent

Last Year - 8th

Overview - A poor squad, all told. They haven't added much from the 2013 season, and they'll be relying heavily on a few key players. The loss of James Tredwell to retirement makes that number even smaller.

Overseas - Lendl Simmons - With Geraint Jones retiring, Kent needed a keeper, and having had Simmons for a period last season, he seemed the obvious choice. Solid player, but not anything to be afraid of in the longer forms. Australian Dan Smith is his stand-by.

Key Player - Mark Davies - The only real gun they have left. He's a banker to get wickets in pretty much any conditions, even when the ball isn't swinging.

One to Watch - Matt Coles - He is a very good player already, and at 23 his best years are still ahead of him.

Prediction - 9th

Lancashire

Last Year - 3rd

Overview - The addition of Gareth Roderick from Gloucs gives Lancs a real keeper-batsman, which improves the squad of last year, but the loss of Simon Katich, their best batsman last year by a mile, means I think the squad's gone downhill.

Overseas - Shaun Tait - He's been signed as their main overseas player, but is retired from FC and OD cricket. Nice work, Lancs. Elton Chigumbura is the reserve, and will play for them early season while Tait's at the IPL.

Key Player - Ashwell Prince - With the loss of Katich, Prince becomes an even more valuable wicket in the Lancs top order. The 36 year old will need one last big season if they're to get the runs they need to challenge.

One to Watch - Gareth Roderick - With a point to prove after Gloucs released him, he has more than the talent required to prove it.

Prediction - 6th

Leicstershire

Last Year - 9th

Overview - I'm not entirely sure how Leics finished bottom last year, but I doubt they'll do it again this time! Their bowling does look like it lacks a bit of real firepower, but their top order of Thakor, Bopara and Sarwan should be enough to score runs against anyone!

Overseas - Ronnie Sarwan - A great player, but his first class record is far down on what it should be. The shorter forms are his stronger suit. Indian allrounder Sachin Rana could act as cover for him.

Key Player - Ravi Bopara - Signed to provide runs, he's a class act and will do a very good job for them I imagine. Useful with the ball as well!

One to Watch - Shiv Thakor - One of the brightest prospects in England, the 20 year old could get into the England setup with a strong season here.

Prediction - 4th

Northamptonshire

Last Year - 6th

Overview - A fairly decent squad. Little else to say about them really. No notable spinner in the squad will probably disadvantage them.

Overseas - Trent Copeland - A fairly decent Australian pace bowler. A fairly decent West Indian all rounder, David Bernard, is his reserve.

Key Player - Azharullah - The Pakistani seamer has been a bit of a revelation in county cricket, he's just come out of nowhere and bowled very well, accurately and fast enough. Picked up 75 wickets last year, and will want even more this time out.

One to Watch - Peter Jenkins - The 19 year old is yet to make his first class début... and he might not do so this year, because I can't predict things. If he does though, he's being talked about as a top talent.

Prediction - 7th

Surrey

Last Year - 8th (Division 1)

Overview - One of the richest clubs in county cricket, being in this division will not please them. Their batting lacks strength in depth, but their bowling unit will probably be the finest in the division.

Overseas - Faf Du Plessis - A very good batsman who will add runs to their top order... but he starts at the IPL, and his replacement, Saeed Ajmal, whilst a brilliant player, will not add to the batting.

Key Player - Stuart Meaker - 25 years old, an out and out pace bowler. The longer form of the game is where he plays his best cricket, and he'll be looking to show the England selectors what he can do.

One to Watch - Rory Burns - Doubt many other youngsters will get a look in, but the 23 year old keeper is currently averaging over 40 in FC games.

Prediction - 3rd

Sussex

Last Year - 9th (Division 1)

Overview - Look to have a strong bowling lineup, and whilst the batsmen played badly last year, they're all good and I expect them to come a lot better in the second division.

Overseas - None.

Key Player - Chris Nash - Will likely open the batting, and have an important role as the second spinner in the side. Good at both those jobs, a very useful man.

One to Watch - Luke Wells - Didn't have a great 2013, but he's a very solid player and should excel at this lower level.

Prediction - 1st


I'd consider the top 4 or 5 to be ridiculously close, and I have no idea how the promotion race will pan out! We just hope we're involved.

Before our first CC match of the year, against Leics, we have our university match against Cambridge. We put out an experimental XI to see how they all go. Tendo and Rutherford have both escaped to the IPL, so will be unavailable for our first set of matches.

1. Tom Price
2. Chris Dent (K)
3. Mike Yardy
4. James Vince
5. Kieran Lynn
6. Cameron Herring
7. Peter Thomas
8. Ed Young (C)
9. David Payne
10. Mark Footitt
11. Charlie Morris

Dent keeps wicket to see how good he is with the gloves, Ed Young captains the side, and Cockbain, Gidman, Marshall, Rogers, Norwell, Saxelby and Dockerell are the players to be rested. Lynn makes his first class début.

[DaveK93]

Love the transfers and season reviews, would you mind if I used a similar format when I eventually get there?

[Imager36]

Love the transfers and season reviews, would you mind if I used a similar format when I eventually get there?

Of course you may! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.

I think it's fair to say the Uni match didn't go exactly to plan.

• In our first innings, we didn't bat well at all. 5 20-40 scores, but no-one went on.
• Our bowling was poor. Thomas and Morris failed to get a wicket between them.
• Payne bowled okay, but only really got a five-for due to how poor everyone else was!
• Both Footitt and Payne went at over 5 an over.
• Our second innings went much better, with Lynn's maiden first class ton being impressive, and coming at a strike rate of over 70.
• Dent kept well, and his 64 second innings will earn him the keeper's berth.

Overall, despite being outplayed, it has focused my mind on what my best team might start as.

[DaveK93]

Of course you may! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.

Haha, much appreciated

[Imager36]

Leicestershire - Home - 2014

Gloucestershire	Leicestershire
C. Rogers	M. Thornely
C. Dent (K)	N. O'Brien (K)
I. Cockbain (C)	R. Bopara
H. Marshall	S. Thakor
M. Yardy	R. Sarwan (C)
K. Lynn	N. Eckersley
A. Gidman	M. Boyce
I. Saxelby	J. Naik
D. Payne	R. Williams
L. Norwell	A. Ireland
G. Dockrell*	A. Wyatt

Past Meetings

2013 - Away - Irish Eyes Smile on O'Brien
2013 - Home - Cockbain and Herring Wrestle Gloucs to Victory

I'm not entirely sure how Leics finished bottom last year, but I doubt they'll do it again this time! Their bowling does look like it lacks a bit of real firepower, but their top order of Thakor, Bopara and Sarwan should be enough to score runs against anyone!

Knowing how I operate, both teams should therefore be bowled out for about 150 in the first innings.

Seriously though, that batting line-up does look very scary to me. I (fairly) picked out Bopara as their key player, but the other two can add valuable runs, and O'Brien and Boyce also managed to score centuries against us last season! I don't really fancy playing them first up in this season, without an idea of what our best team is.

In the end, I've gone for including Yardy as another experienced head, as well as Lynn, making his County Championship début due to an excellent university match. Dockerell and Rogers will play their first matches in a Gloucs shirt. One thing I prefer about this season's squad is our strength in depth. I could parachute Herring, Vince, Thomas, Young and Footitt into this team without a massive dip in quality, so we have options when players do become out of form, unlike last year's... dearth of talent. We've prepared a spinner's pitch, and hope Georgie D gets more out of it than Jigar Naik.

Unfortunatley, we lose the toss, and are told to field first.

Note - It's interesting that I've been spelling Dockrell as Dockerell for ages without even thinking about it, and it's not even his name. I just presumed I knew it was. :P

[Imager36]

A more than solid start to the season.



As expected with my praise of their batting order, it was a low scoring encounter that lasted until the last over of the third day!

We got our season off to the best possible start by removing Thornely with the first ball of the season, caught second slip off Norwell. Left armer Payne came on as well, and quickly removed Bopara and Thakor, despite leaking runs after that. O'Brien, Sarwan and Eckersley took their team from 31/3 to 140/4, but from there it was the Dockrell show. He made a sublime début, as he took all the last 7 wickets, for only 35 runs! If the seamers hadn't been expensive, we'd have bowled them out for under 150, but we were still pleased.

We started almost as poorly as they had, with Dent and Rogers both going for single figure scores to Wyatt, and Marshall only making 9 too. The revival was led by Mike Yardy, who vindicated his selection somewhat with a solid 76 from 155 balls, albeit including a few lovely shots in amongst 10 boundary fours. Cockbain struck 38 with him and earlier, and then Lynn (24) and Gidman (47) also made sure we got over that 200 mark, and ahead in the match. Yardy got run out, and the tail didn't wag at all apart from 17s from Saxelby and Georgie D.

Saxelby was back out, and pretty soon O'Brien was back in the pavilion for 1, caught and bowled. Bopara and Thornely added half-decent scores, but it was the 95 partnership between Thakor and Sarwan that threatened to make us pay for some poor bowling. Thankfully, Dockrell removed both of them, and then we ran through the rest, and they only made 3 more than we had in our previous innings. Chasing 179 to win, we felt we really should!

And we really did. Dent and Cockbain made only 12 apiece, but Chris Rogers' 84 was very good, until he was run out by Yardy (theme coming, here?!) and he and Lynn dashed off the remaining few.

Championship State	Having won our first match, we go third, 2 points off top.
Batting Award	Mike Yardy - His innings was more crucial than Rogers' for my book. A good start for him.
Bowling Award	George Dockrell - 11 wickets on début? For 100 runs? Averaging 9.09? Nahhhhh.