Gloucestershire - That Elusive Championship (Story)

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Sorry, Off topic question here

When should i bowl a bowler on very aggressive ? And should i only use F bowlers for this ?

I use full aggression when bowling against the tail - anyone with an average of less than 10

[Imager36]

Haha, sounds interesting! Trying to break away from my usual ground this year, just got to hope that the challenge is doable!

I look forward to it! You normally do well, so I'm sure you'll have no problems.

Sorry, Off topic question here

When should i bowl a bowler on very aggressive ? And should i only use F bowlers for this ?

Oooh... I never do, personally, unless I have a mass of runs to play with and a team to swiftly bowl out. I'd also be more likely to use it with a spinner, actually, on one of those day 4/5 pitches that is turning all over the place. I'm no expert though, so some other opinions on this would be great! Always happy to invade the thread with tips etc.

As well as this, I lied in my last post. I said no changes, but on a second look today I've decided to make a change to the XI, with William Porter, the 23 year old keeper, replacing the out-of-sorts Kieran Lynn at number 6, and taking the gloves from a heavily burdened Chris Dent. Irwin also moves to number 4, and ten Doeschate down to number 5.

Unfortunately, the changes didn't stop a rather abject performance.



We won the toss! HOORAY! And batted! HOORAY! Cockbain and Price went with the score on 13. NOT-SO-HOORAY! Dent and Irwin made a small recovery to 71/2, but the rest of the innings panned out that way... Those two got starts, and Tendo and Porter did as well, but none of them went on to post the 70+ score we needed to turn this into a half-decent innings. The tail fell away as Saxelby had to retire hurt, and we were falling away.

Essex were 72/2 at our best spell of their innings, but the fantastic Jaques rather took the game away from us, scoring only 61 less than our entire innings had mustered on his own. Half centuries from Westley and Malkin played supporting roles, with our seam attack one man down as Saxelby couldn't bowl. Pete Thomas actually coped fairly well with the extra responsibility, but only got one wicket for his efforts, as Dockrell had to send down 44 overs as the only man who looked threatening half the time. He managed good figures for his exertion though, picking up 6 wickets and being pretty economical to boot.

Second time round we did bat better, although having not managed to would have been more of a surprise. It didn't look like it for a while, as we fell to 59/3 without troubling Essex, but Irwin and Tendo put on 87 together, and Porter came in after that and really pushed his case for more common inclusion next year, especially batting with Thomas and the tail.

The total would never be enough, but we weren't expecting them to knock them off with such panache, Norwell going at 1.9 an over and the others being carted around for over 4.5 each!

Championship State	Well, we finish second, 34 points ahead of Glamorgan. I'll do this in more detail in the next post!
Batting Award	Will Porter - Top scored in both innings, made over 100 runs and was only out once!
Bowling Award	George Dockrell - Very good first innings performance. Also, everyone else was pants.

So, what's next? I... I don't even remember. Let me check back a few pages. AH!

Well, I'll do a season review, and then if I'm feeling brave, we'll progress into 2016 and Division 1! Probably with a less exciting contracts update than usual!

[Ranga]

Sorry, Off topic question here

When should i bowl a bowler on very aggressive ? And should i only use F bowlers for this ?

[DaveK93]

Haha, thanks... I think the next story will have a little more dramatic content in it, without being over the top silly like that one! I have an idea in mind, I'll just have to sim through a few seasons to see if it could work in a different game...

Haha, sounds interesting! Trying to break away from my usual ground this year, just got to hope that the challenge is doable!

[Imager36]

So glad I got the chance to read this. Keeping me going while I do all the background prep ready for my ICC14 story.

Edit: "The Event" is my favourite part. Love the reference!

Haha, thanks... I think the next story will have a little more dramatic content in it, without being over the top silly like that one! I have an idea in mind, I'll just have to sim through a few seasons to see if it could work in a different game...

[DaveK93]

I've just realised I didn't keep it on this forum... enjoy... http://www.planetcricket.net/forums/...-be-won.66521/

Reasons it's mad:

- The coach of Sussex has my name, but the story is written from a journalist's perspective. Why did I do that??
- It's set in the future, so it takes forever to introduce.
- I mainly wrote for jokes and story instead of description... some of those interviews...
- I wrote it over 4 years ago. I was more mental in those days.

So glad I got the chance to read this. Keeping me going while I do all the background prep ready for my ICC14 story.

Edit: "The Event" is my favourite part. Love the reference!

[Imager36]

I've just realised I didn't keep it on this forum... enjoy... http://www.planetcricket.net/forums/...-be-won.66521/

Reasons it's mad:

- The coach of Sussex has my name, but the story is written from a journalist's perspective. Why did I do that??
- It's set in the future, so it takes forever to introduce.
- I mainly wrote for jokes and story instead of description... some of those interviews...
- I wrote it over 4 years ago. I was more mental in those days.

EDIT - I forgot the maddest bit... I explained away the 12 years between the story and real life... http://www.planetcricket.net/forums/...2#post-1824170

[DaveK93]

I'll try and make things even more ridiculous until you do... although I think I already did that with Sussex2022.

Sussex 2022? What glorious piece of history have I missed? Also, congrats on the promotion!

[Imager36]

Sounds intriguing, I won't be complaining either way though!

I'll try and make things even more ridiculous until you do... although I think I already did that with Sussex2022.

Anyhow, on with the business.



In a kind of subversive way, I quite like it when a game doesn't make it to day four.

NEWSFLASH. We lost the toss and had to bowl first. Woahhh. A second surprise was that despite being a bit rusty, we did rather well at it. We got the first wicket for 21, as Norwell trapped Coop LBW, and then two more fairly solid partnerships including Kapugedera took them to 81/2 and relative comfort on a difficult pitch. Thankfully, Saxelby had just hit his straps, and he tore through the Glamorgan middle order, and with Thomas bowling Allenby and Norwell disposing of Wallace, they didn't have too much batting to offer. Safe to say, we were incredibly pleased with the results.

We knew the pitch was tough through, and it was all down to the returning captain that we managed to secure a first innings lead. His 91 was in no way beautiful, but it was amazingly gritty, and he looked like a man who wanted first division cricket for his county. It took him 50 odd balls to get to 15, but that didn't matter too much as time was something we had in spades. Almost everyone else got a start but failed to go on, and his was the only real innings of note until Thomas and Morris added 60-odd between them to take our lead to a good level, on a pitch that was looking increasingly dodgy.

They started... scarily well. When they passed our lead with only one wicket down, I felt like we may well be in trouble chasing the target on a wearing pitch. We took 3 more wickets quickly, but another good partnership of 78 between Dexter and Walters had us fearful again. Thankfully, the last 6 wickets fell for 33 due to a good all-round effort with the ball, with Saxelby picking up his second five-for of the match.

It may have seemed a modest target, but we struggled on the way. Reduced to 49/3, Tendo and Irwin battled us into a great position with a 50 partnership, but we had another wobble to 113/7 before Thomas and Saxelby saw us home with some nice cautious batting, and secured our promotion!

Championship State	WE'RE PROMOTED! Yeah, that. First in the table by 4 points, and ahead of Glamorgan by 37. One match to play.
Batting Award	Ian Cockbain - The captain returned with a very gritty innings indeed on a tough track. Deserved a century.
Bowling Award	Ian Saxelby - For the second game in a row, one of our seamers delivered a match winning performance! Saxelby this time!

We see no need to change anything, and keep the same eleven for our final match against Essex.

[DaveK93]

Tough! I'm thinking I may carry on with this for a little while, during the inevitable early database patches period, and then try something new... have a couple of ideas whirling around, but no idea if they're any good!

Sounds intriguing, I won't be complaining either way though!

[Imager36]

Nicely done mate!

You thinking of a new story for ICC14 (when it turns up) ?

Tough! I'm thinking I may carry on with this for a little while, during the inevitable early database patches period, and then try something new... have a couple of ideas whirling around, but no idea if they're any good!

[DaveK93]

Nicely done mate!

You thinking of a new story for ICC14 (when it turns up) ?

[Imager36]

Unlucky with that Leicestershire result mate. That is an excellent example of why i rarely enforce the follow-on on ICC when the opposition gets close the 150 deficit. They always seem to pull out an amazing 2nd innings display to put themselves right back in the game. Still, i'm sure you'll get yourself up to div 1!!

Yeah, I think my confidence had been knocked by the big 4th innings chase a couple of games before!

No chance of a repeat of that against Sussex, though.



We won the toss and batted, because we will take advantage of that streak while it lasts! Dent was LBW to Jordan after the openers had added 54, but the next blow was Chris Nash being hit on the arm by Jordan and having to retire hurt after suffering a fracture to it. Price had been playing quite well, and continued that with a fluent 61, with Tendo making 29. Irwin and Lynn also added to the score, Lynn responding to his ultimatum by smashing Jordan for 6 off his first ball, and before long we were 264/3+Nash, and looking for a good first innings score. We were pegged back a little from there, but Saxelby and Thomas managed to add a few each and post us a decent score of 339, especially where our top score was 61.

Norwell and Morris raced out of the traps to reduce them to 44/3 and have their top order in knots. Denly and Joyce, both classy players, managed to knock in a century partnership when they'd seen off the new ball pair though, as Saxelby, Thomas and Dockrell struggled and the batsmen were set by the time Morris returned. Eventually though, he managed to nibble out both, and Gatting to follow them. Luke Wright and Ali Khan played very well for a time, too, but Khan was caught behind off Morris and Dockrell bowled Wright before ripping through the tail, leaving us with a 89 run advantage with 40 mins of day 2 still to play.

With Nash gone, Price opened. He looked a lot less fluent against the new ball, but we were focussed on pressing our advantage. Thankfully, he stuck around a bit, and Dent and Irwin, who batted at 3 due to it being a possible future spot for him, took the score to 94. Tendo added more alongside Irwin as our lead grew and grew, although Lynn came and went to give us cause for concern at 182/4+Nash. Thankfully, the last few managed to scrape together a fair few more and we thought we had enough to seal the deal.

With 40 mins left in the day, we set out to attack. Before the close, they were 35/4 and the match was as good as over. Two wickets each for Morris and Norwell, and we were buzzing. 3 more quick ones for Morris in the morning gave him a 10fer and had them reeling at 63/7, but then they got a bit worn out, and it was left to Thomas to get rid of the stubborn Gatting and Jordan before Morris trapped Fry to grant us a simple victory.

Championship State	We're second, 19 points clear of Glamorgan and 17 behind Derby, with them having played one match extra.
Batting Award	Joe Irwin - The batting was largely a team effort, but he managed 100 crucial runs in total and looks set to be a star.
Bowling Award	Chris Morris - 12/77 in the match. I mean, what more does he need to do to win man of the match?

Chris Nash is out for a while, which necessitates change in personnel at the top of the order. Cockbain has been good in the seconds, and so he gets that chance to open the innings and captain the side. Price stays at 3 where he's comfortable! We play Glamorgan, knowing that a victory or draw would all but seal our promotion.

[lukaz189]

Unlucky with that Leicestershire result mate. That is an excellent example of why i rarely enforce the follow-on on ICC when the opposition gets close the 150 deficit. They always seem to pull out an amazing 2nd innings display to put themselves right back in the game. Still, i'm sure you'll get yourself up to div 1!!

[Imager36]

The vagaries of the follow on (and some poor bowling) have accounted for us here.



We won the toss and batted. Is this news any more? It seems to happen every match we play. Our start was, to be honest, very poor. Dent and Price fell as the score got to 17, and despite some valiant fighting by Nash (29) and Tendo (37), they both got dismissed and Lynn went quickly. Thankfully for us, the last two players we rely on with the bat got the job done. 174 runs was the total of the partnership, taking us from distress at 103/5 to relative comfort at 277/6. Thomas and Irwin were both excellent, and both the young players composed excellent innings, although Thomas was unlucky to fall on 81, before achieving his second first class century. Irwin's knock subsided not long after, but Chris Morris' 65 not out and Saxelby's 36 meant we actually achieved a very good first innings score.

They started well, with a decent opening partnership, but then the top two fell in quick succession and we had an in. It didn't last for long as Bopara and Sarwan got started though, and took their team to a more respectable 194/3. Thankfully though, the rest crumbled thanks to a sensational spell from the inconsistent Saxelby, as he claimed 5 of those 7 wickets to allow us to enforce the follow-on. Given our patchy record with knowing when to declare, we took up the option.

Unfortunately, this time they batted far better. A 94 opening partnership, and 180 between Marston and Bopara took them about 100 ahead with only 2 wickets down, but a collapse then to 317/6 had us sensing blood with a low target on the board and a full day of play left. Newlands, however, along with the rest of the tail, had other ideas. Saxelby didn't have the same effect he had previously, and Dockrell was lacking in impact as well. It meant that instead of the 170ish target we should have faced, we were looking at 270 with only just over 2 sessions to do it in.

Here, our downfall was probably that we started to attempt the chase. Dent and Price managed to bat well, making us think we had a sniff, but the rest of the side had no answer to the seamers of Buck, or the spin of Naik and Sarwan on a turning fourth day track. We were bowled out with over an hour to go. It was another embarrassment.

Championship State	We're in third, but only 3 points off Glamorgan with a game in hand (3 to play for us).
Batting Award	Joe Irwin - He's looking like a really fine player, and may be getting a promotion up the order soon!
Bowling Award	Ian Saxelby - Poor in the second innings, but that spell that let us enforce the follow on was sensational.

Lynn's given one more game to try and regain his form, as he's posted 4 scores in a row under 20. Norris, however, has only taken 2 wickets in 2 matches, and those both in his first innings, so Norwell comes back in in place of him!