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We were all very keen to get back into championship cricket after a break of over a month and it’s just a shame that the weather didn’t help us in our game against Durham at Chester le Street.
We lost the whole of the first day’s play and the first session of day two so it was a big ask to try and get a result but we very nearly did!
I have to admit that we started off a bit shakily and lost three wickets with not many runs on the board before Zander de Bruyn and James Hildreth shared a good partnership, which was followed by a stand between Pete Trego and Craig Kieswetter and in the end we were happy to score 350.
We the bowled well to get them at 140 for six before they mounted a bit of a lower order rescue, which was not expected because they are a good side and bat quite a way down with the likes of Liam Plunkett who can get runs. We didn’t help ourselves either because we dropped a couple of catches.
We then batted again and set them a total, which was never easy playing against a bowling attack that included Steve Harmison on his own home patch who was sending it down at getting on for 90mph, but we did set them a target.
They lost two quick wickets after which I don’t think that were ever really interested in chasing it down so in the end we had to settle for 11 points which takes us up the table a bit in addition to which we have still got a game in hand over most of the other teams in the top division.
It was good to see James Hildreth back in the runs during the Durham game and he batted really aggressively. He would be the first to admit that he hasn’t enjoyed the best of form in recent games so it was good to see him very nearly get 50 in each innings.
Our current match against Kent is another that we must try to win, but they are few and far between in this division. However we have targeted them as a team that we can beat so will be going all out to work towards getting that result.
As soon as the championship match against Kent is over on Saturday we set off by coach for Arundel where we play Sussex in our opening Pro40 match of the season and I have to admit that I am looking forward to it.
I have always liked the Pro40 it’s a good format of the game and I have enjoyed success playing against Sussex when I scored a century down at Hove a few years ago.
After the match at Arundel we fly up to Durham for a floodlit Pro40 on Wednesday night after which we are away at Lords on Monday the following week, so we have got a lot of travelling in our opening three matches.
However if we can grind out a couple of wins on our travels then we will have got our 40 over campaign off to a good start
Wednesday 16 July 2008
Thursday 10 July 2008
Time for a rest
Since I last played cricket a couple of weeks ago I have had a few days of complete rest which was very much needed because a lot of the niggling injuries that have built up have been getting on top of me so it was good for me to get away.
Last week I started back with Darren Veness doing two gym sessions per day for five days and now this week we are back working on our game and into the swing of things.
I have had a few hits in the nets this week and I have been very pleased with the way that I was striking the ball which is a good sign and put my mind at rest as to how I am now playing.
I was also pleased with the way the ball was coming out when I was bowling so it’s been a pretty productive time away for me and a good lead up to our return to championship cricket against Durham on Friday.
With 10 championship matches still to be played only six points separate the second team from the team which is third from the bottom of division one so it’s a pretty close thing and every game is going to be hard fought.
It’s been a while since we played a four- day game at Chester le Street because the last time we met it was at Stockton. The last time was probably soon after the Riverside wicket had just been laid and you could say that it was a little ‘fruity’.
Obviously the wicket has changed since those early days and we have played some one day games up there since and it is now a pretty good cricket wicket.
At the Riverside if the seamers put the ball in good areas early on it will help them, but the wicket also tends to spin after a couple of days so we should have an interesting game of cricket between two good teams.
Although we won’t have Andy Caddick back with us just yet there are several other bowlers waiting in the wings like Ben Phillips, Steffan Jones and Mark Turner as well as Pete Trego who missed out on the last championship match.
There are a lot of players who are waiting to come back into the reckoning and fight for his place.
I am sure that Durham will have a pretty tasty seam attack with the likes of Steve Harmison and Graham Onions but this is what first division cricket is all about- there are not many weak attacks at that level of the game.
This is a massive game I think because we know that the next three games after the break are going to decide whether or not we are going to be challenging for the title or just a middle of the table team.
We need to put in a couple of big performances and let other teams know that we are in the first division to stay by getting the results to prove it and I know that we are all certainly well up for it.
Last week I started back with Darren Veness doing two gym sessions per day for five days and now this week we are back working on our game and into the swing of things.
I have had a few hits in the nets this week and I have been very pleased with the way that I was striking the ball which is a good sign and put my mind at rest as to how I am now playing.
I was also pleased with the way the ball was coming out when I was bowling so it’s been a pretty productive time away for me and a good lead up to our return to championship cricket against Durham on Friday.
With 10 championship matches still to be played only six points separate the second team from the team which is third from the bottom of division one so it’s a pretty close thing and every game is going to be hard fought.
It’s been a while since we played a four- day game at Chester le Street because the last time we met it was at Stockton. The last time was probably soon after the Riverside wicket had just been laid and you could say that it was a little ‘fruity’.
Obviously the wicket has changed since those early days and we have played some one day games up there since and it is now a pretty good cricket wicket.
At the Riverside if the seamers put the ball in good areas early on it will help them, but the wicket also tends to spin after a couple of days so we should have an interesting game of cricket between two good teams.
Although we won’t have Andy Caddick back with us just yet there are several other bowlers waiting in the wings like Ben Phillips, Steffan Jones and Mark Turner as well as Pete Trego who missed out on the last championship match.
There are a lot of players who are waiting to come back into the reckoning and fight for his place.
I am sure that Durham will have a pretty tasty seam attack with the likes of Steve Harmison and Graham Onions but this is what first division cricket is all about- there are not many weak attacks at that level of the game.
This is a massive game I think because we know that the next three games after the break are going to decide whether or not we are going to be challenging for the title or just a middle of the table team.
We need to put in a couple of big performances and let other teams know that we are in the first division to stay by getting the results to prove it and I know that we are all certainly well up for it.
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Losing wickets in clusters cost us dear
It was hugely disappointing that we didn’t qualify for the quarter-finals of this year’s Twenty 20 Cup. We were very inconsistent in the competition and this was reflected in our results.
The key factors were losing wickets in clusters in a lot of the games, which you can’t afford to do when you have only got a short innings which I think was proven with the opposition who beat us.
We know we let ourselves down and we also know that this is something that we are going to have to rectify going into the Pro40, which starts for us on Sunday July 20th when we travel to Arundel to play against Sussex.
The massive game for us in the Twenty20 was up at Warwickshire where Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick got us off to a brilliant start, but then both got out in the same over, which is a cardinal sin in any form of cricket.
We then lost five wickets in a short period which really cost us dear. Even so we still managed to score 178 which we believed was enough runs to defend. I don’t think that our bowling kicked in that game. Everything went against us and they played some good cricket.
When you are top of the league those sorts of games go for you whereas when you are fighting to get a win you maybe try too hard.
In the first three games we got off to good starts but our batting let us down in the middle order and we couldn’t post big enough totals.
Looking back over the whole tournament I think we were probably not quite good enough in all of the games we played.
I have been disappointed with myself in the Twenty20 this year, which within a team’s disappointment as well, has probably highlighted that I haven’t done so well- but its just one of those things.
I have maybe tried too hard, looking at what the bigger picture is with the England Premier League coming on board, the IPL is very much to the forefront and there is an England Twenty20 tournament as well and they are obviously looking for players to pick for that.
Maybe I looked a bit too far ahead instead of the present stuff and what I should be thinking of, which is every individual performance for Somerset and maybe that has backfired on me thinking that I am better than I am in the Twenty20.
The IPL would be another challenge for me. Pitting yourself against the best in the world, in a league which is the best in the world because they are buying the best players, is something Id like to think that I could do a job in.
I am not saying that I would definitely go well out there but I am a confident guy and there is room for English guys to go out and play in that. Whether that is me or somebody else I don’t know but you have got to back that up with performances in the domestic Twenty20 which is something I haven’t done this year.
I have got a couple of niggles which haven’t disappeared, which have been a concern for this year and last year so I have been given a few days rest. The game against South Africa was targeted for me for a personal rest leading up to the Durham game to enable me to get myself more fresh after all the intense cricket during the first half of the season.
I am happy to have some time to re-charge the batteries before going up to Durham in a positive frame of mind, ready for the second half of the season.
The key factors were losing wickets in clusters in a lot of the games, which you can’t afford to do when you have only got a short innings which I think was proven with the opposition who beat us.
We know we let ourselves down and we also know that this is something that we are going to have to rectify going into the Pro40, which starts for us on Sunday July 20th when we travel to Arundel to play against Sussex.
The massive game for us in the Twenty20 was up at Warwickshire where Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick got us off to a brilliant start, but then both got out in the same over, which is a cardinal sin in any form of cricket.
We then lost five wickets in a short period which really cost us dear. Even so we still managed to score 178 which we believed was enough runs to defend. I don’t think that our bowling kicked in that game. Everything went against us and they played some good cricket.
When you are top of the league those sorts of games go for you whereas when you are fighting to get a win you maybe try too hard.
In the first three games we got off to good starts but our batting let us down in the middle order and we couldn’t post big enough totals.
Looking back over the whole tournament I think we were probably not quite good enough in all of the games we played.
I have been disappointed with myself in the Twenty20 this year, which within a team’s disappointment as well, has probably highlighted that I haven’t done so well- but its just one of those things.
I have maybe tried too hard, looking at what the bigger picture is with the England Premier League coming on board, the IPL is very much to the forefront and there is an England Twenty20 tournament as well and they are obviously looking for players to pick for that.
Maybe I looked a bit too far ahead instead of the present stuff and what I should be thinking of, which is every individual performance for Somerset and maybe that has backfired on me thinking that I am better than I am in the Twenty20.
The IPL would be another challenge for me. Pitting yourself against the best in the world, in a league which is the best in the world because they are buying the best players, is something Id like to think that I could do a job in.
I am not saying that I would definitely go well out there but I am a confident guy and there is room for English guys to go out and play in that. Whether that is me or somebody else I don’t know but you have got to back that up with performances in the domestic Twenty20 which is something I haven’t done this year.
I have got a couple of niggles which haven’t disappeared, which have been a concern for this year and last year so I have been given a few days rest. The game against South Africa was targeted for me for a personal rest leading up to the Durham game to enable me to get myself more fresh after all the intense cricket during the first half of the season.
I am happy to have some time to re-charge the batteries before going up to Durham in a positive frame of mind, ready for the second half of the season.
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