Warwickshire the Oval

Kemar Roach, Rory Burns, Hashim Amla - take a bow. Even if we lose from here you have been brilliant today.

RB wrote:Kemar Roach, Rory Burns, Hashim Amla - take a bow. Even if we lose from here you have been brilliant today.

Add Ollie Pope to that list.

Jedrich wrote:

RB wrote:Kemar Roach, Rory Burns, Hashim Amla - take a bow. Even if we lose from here you have been brilliant today.

Add Ollie Pope to that list.

I jinxed him :-(

I can comfortably say without putting the mockers on that this is a brilliant win with a bit of luck thanks to some dubious umpiring.

Plenty of life in the old dog Hashim yet, and that spell from Roach this morning was class. This team's commitment to not giving up is exemplary

Jesus Christ, Will Jacks the finisher is fun

THE REEEEEEEEEEY

I made the mistake of not going to the Oval today, I was disheartened by the poor bowling yesterday and could not see a way we would do any more than play out a draw when Warwickshire declared leaving us an impossible target. O ye of little faith! What a great days cricket, this team find a way to overcome setbacks. We have seen some wonderful matches this season, light years better than the last few years. Credit to the playing staff and the coaches. You have to consider that of the seamers only Roach and Overton (for half a match) would be in our best team.

Incredible win today. We were in a position where we needed some magic to win and that came from Roach. The pitch was good but that spell was all about skilful swing bowling and they couldn’t cope. No other bowler came close to producing the movement that Roach got in that morning spell. Superb stuff.

Also nice that a Hampshire player was smoked for 6 for the winning runs.

What a difference a day makes.

We saw an entirely different Surrey today, which had nothing to do with the state of the pitch and everything to do with the state of mind. We had to go out  understanding that winning was of vital importance (Hampshire and Lancs both won) and believing that we could make it happen, rather than that we were at the mercy of a moderate team deciding to make a game of it.

Well done to everyone - not least the coaching staff and, as has been mentioned, groundsman Foosis.

We now have several weeks to get our key bowlers fit ahead of the final push.

Well I should learn by now how 4 day cricket just has these twists and turns. What a win - again! And not a spinner in site.
Looks like going down to the wire this year, Old Trafford here we come.

What a turn around . A different team seemed to turn up today! Brilliant performance from all today!

Brilliant win by the ‘Rey. There were several turning points, but the stand of 72 between Conor McKerr and a crocked Jamie O on the second day was pivotal

Chinaman wrote:Well I should learn by now how 4 day cricket just has these twists and turns. What a win - again! And not a spinner in site.
Looks like going down to the wire this year, Old Trafford here we come.

These sudden hours where a game kicks up a gear or switches direction are why I bloody love it, shorter formats just can't match that part imo.

The last day of international cricket is 12 September therefore I would expect Foakes, Pope and Curran (S) to miss the first of our remaining championship matches. I would hope that all our international players will be available for the last two championship matches. The ECB will probably decide to damage county cricket as usual and rest players for the critical run in.

I have been thinking about the sort of team we could put out with everyone available, very difficult, I suggest -

Burns, Patel, Amla, Pope, Foakes, Jacks, Curran (s), Overton, Roach, Worrall, Topley

There is a case for bringing in Smith and a spinner (Virdi or Moriarty). I would love us to be able to put a side like this out, the pace attack looks outstanding though there is a bit of a tail.

Cee Gee wrote:Also nice that a Hampshire player was smoked for 6 for the winning runs.

I wonder if those three sixes to win the match is a unique achievement in first class cricket. Has any player (or team) ever completed a final innings run chase with three consecutive scoring shots for 6?

offdrive4 wrote:The last day of international cricket is 12 September therefore I would expect Foakes, Pope and Curran (S) to miss the first of our remaining championship matches.   I would hope that all our international players will be available for the last two championship matches.   The ECB will probably decide to damage county cricket as usual and rest players for the critical run in.

I have been thinking about the sort of team we could put out with everyone available, very difficult, I suggest -

Burns, Patel, Amla, Pope, Foakes, Jacks, Curran (s), Overton, Roach, Worrall, Topley

There is a case for bringing in Smith and a spinner (Virdi or Moriarty).   I would love us to be able to put a side like this out, the pace attack looks outstanding though there is a bit of a tail.

Maybe I'm just too ingrained in Gaz-ball, but I think he'd play an extra all rounder over one of the pace bowlers

offdrive4 wrote:The last day of international cricket is 12 September therefore I would expect Foakes, Pope and Curran (S) to miss the first of our remaining championship matches.   I would hope that all our international players will be available for the last two championship matches.   The ECB will probably decide to damage county cricket as usual and rest players for the critical run in.

I have been thinking about the sort of team we could put out with everyone available, very difficult, I suggest -

Burns, Patel, Amla, Pope, Foakes, Jacks, Curran (s), Overton, Roach, Worrall, Topley

There is a case for bringing in Smith and a spinner (Virdi or Moriarty).   I would love us to be able to put a side like this out, the pace attack looks outstanding though there is a bit of a tail.

Unless Sam is recalled to the Test squad I really don't see why he should miss the Northamptonshire game. I wouldn't be at all surprised if various players are pulled out of the final two matches on the pretext of needing to rest ahead of the winter international fixtures.

A tail of Roach, Worrall, Topley is no weaker than the Morkel, Dernbach, Virdi tail that featured regularly in 2018.

This year's Championship fixtures are a farce. The top three teams only play each other once, while Hampshire and ourselves both play 4th placed Essex only once. That's only 7 fixtures between the best four teams when there should be 12. I think the 10/8 split is a mistake. Ideally it would be 9/9 again (with 16 matches but we all know that's not going to happen) but 8/10 was preferable for me.

Panther, I totally agree that we should go back to two divisions of nine, everyone plays everyone twice. That is the fair and proper way to do it.

Benmug, I just cannot see that any of the four pace bowlers could be dropped. Worrall and Roach have been outstanding, Overton adds real pace and his batting and fielding are needed while Topley has had an excellent season. We have to go for the win in all three games. As for Curran I thought he might well be in the squad for the test match, if not and he is available all September yipee!

offdrive4 wrote:Panther, I totally agree that we should go back to two divisions of nine, everyone plays everyone twice.  That is the fair and proper way to do it.

Benmug, I just cannot see that any of the four pace bowlers could be dropped.   Worrall and Roach have been outstanding, Overton adds real pace and his batting and fielding are needed while Topley has had an excellent season.  We have to go for the win in all three games.  As for Curran I thought he might well be in the squad for the test match, if not and he is available all September yipee!

I don't disagree at all, thats the bowling line up I'd love. The rule of Batty though...there will always be one more all rounder than you expect (and one less spinner).

Remember the T20 World Cup is in October. Both Currans and Tople y will be in the squad and therefore, following normal daft England procedure could be rested in the second half of September. The next match doesn't start until September 12th over 6 weeks away and therefore the last 3 matches are close to the WC.

Whilst it would be nice to have the suggested pace attack available for selection, if Jordan Clark is fit then I personally wouldn’t select a team for the last three games that doesn’t include him. He’s been excellent all season and in my view deserves to play rather than Topley.

Cee Gee wrote:Whilst it would be nice to have the suggested pace attack available for selection, if Jordan Clark is fit then I personally wouldn’t select a team for the last three games that doesn’t include him. He’s been excellent all season and in my view deserves to play rather than Topley.

I think Topley is edging back towards being a white ball specialist, which is more or less what we signed him as. He performed superbly in Championship matches, being picked only for alternate matches, but I suspect (like Jason Roy) he'll simply not be considered for Championship matches in future. It will be a shame if that happens, if he's got the fitness and stamina he really should be considered for the England Test XI.

Just a quick word of praise for Lee Fortis for producing yet another good cricket wicket. Without these pitches we wouldn’t have been able to bowl sides out twice,wouldn’t have been top of CC1. The only Road we’ve played on is the Kent match.

It's great to have the luxury of debating which of our squad of at least 15 viable options (I include the two spinners) we should field in the last two games. We can only assume that they will be (a) fit and (b) free from the tentacles of the ECB parasites.

For the penultimate game against Yorkshire, I would go something like: Burns, Patel, Amla, Pope, Foakes, S Curran, Jacks, Clark, Overton, Roach, Worrall

For the final game at Old Trafford, the selection should be influenced by whether we have got ourselves into a position where a draw would guarantee the title. If so, then I'd include Smith for either Clark or Overton. If (perish the thought) we are behind Hampshire at that stage, then we need to prioritise our most potent bowling attack, and I'd probably pick the potentially more lethal Topley ahead of the steadier Clark.