Northants away

I wonder if the team will look like this.

Burns
Patel
Amla
Geddes
Steel/Roy
Smith wk
Clark
Lawes
Roach
Worrall
Virdi/Moriarity

Atkinson could come into the mix if Batty
decided to use Steel as the spinner.

Burns
Patel
Amla
Geddes
Roy
Smith
Clark
Lawes
Roach
Worrall
Virdi

Is Jove fit?

Would be surprised to see Roy ? More chance Tom Curran?

An out-of-form and red-ball-rusty Roy is a gamble, but given the need to not only win but also bat sufficiently quickly to get at least 4 batting points, it is one I think we need to take. Getting 400-plus at 4-an-over without the likes of Jacks, Sam Curran and Pope will be a challenge. We need Roy's mercurial, albeit increasingly unreliable, talents at our disposal.

Even if we assume Jamie Overton is not fit, our bowling - with or without Tom Curran - looks stronger than the batting.

I think that if Roy was being lined up for a return to red ball cricket after so long away from it, he would have been included in the strongish seconds side that played at Guildford this week. He wasn't.

Stewie indicated he would be playing red ball cricket when available. No point in him playing a 2s game.

Given the time since Roy played a red ball there would have been every point in him playing for the 2s. Same goes for T Curran. Both are no goes to me. I think Steel may play at Northants as he can bat and would be a spin option, though Jacks he is not.

I would prefer it if we never saw Steel in the Championship again.

RB Steel is not someone who should play regularly, but he has some value. Given our huge tail it would be difficult to play the Professor and for this game Steel may be a sensible choice given the likely absences. He would help the batting and give some spin capability.

Whenever he has played championship cricket (including the equivalent game in Northampton last September) Steel has amounted to very little with bat or ball. However rusty Jason Roy may be, he has the potential to do what Steel simply can't coming in at 5 with the bat, where 5 bonus points are sorely needed. He may equally get out cheaply, but as I've said the result at Southampton last week and the remaining fixtures which favour Hampshire mean we have to get on the front foot in this match.

I'd be very surprised to see Roy anywhere near a red ball team. When did he last play red ball? Apart from that he looks mentally shot and probably needs a break from all cricket.

No Roy, but a stranger is back in the squad, Tom Curran! Details now on the Oval site. Moriaty, Virdi and Steel in the 15. Wonder who they'll pick

Chinaman wrote:No Roy, but a stranger is back in the squad, Tom Curran! Details now on the Oval site. Moriaty,  Virdi and Steel in the 15. Wonder who they'll pick

I'm guessing at Burns, Patel, Amla, Geddes, Smith, Lawes, Curran, Clark, Worrall, Roach, Virdi

Missing out: Steel, Blake, Atkinson, Moriarty

Maybe Atkinson is in ahead of Curran

Olympian2 wrote:

Chinaman wrote:No Roy, but a stranger is back in the squad, Tom Curran! Details now on the Oval site. Moriaty,  Virdi and Steel in the 15. Wonder who they'll pick

I'm guessing at Burns, Patel, Amla, Geddes, Smith, Lawes, Curran, Clark, Worrall, Roach, Virdi

Missing out: Steel, Blake, Atkinson, Moriarty

Maybe Atkinson is in ahead of Curran

Would have thought being in the squad Curran would play.?

Good to see Tom finally back and expect him to play given the absence of Overton and the obsession with all-rounders.

I struggle to see why Tom is any less red-ball rusty than Jason Roy. Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad he is in the squad and he has always had potential to be a great bowler in championship cricket if he wants to play it. But we will be going into this game a batsman light. All the all-rounders (Lawes, Clark, Curran) are 'bowling all-rounders'.

Jackers wrote:I struggle to see why Tom is any less red-ball rusty than Jason Roy. Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad he is in the squad and he has always had potential to be a great bowler in championship cricket if he wants to play it. But we will be going into this game a batsman light. All the all-rounders (Lawes, Clark, Curran) are 'bowling all-rounders'.

I think you answered your own question regarding Roy with the words ‘if he wants to play it’.

I would prefer Atkinson over Curran. Atkinson has played well this season and is a decent bat, he would also recognise a red ball when he sees it.

Why would you play Virdi above Moriarty? Not sure they will play either because neither can bat. Steel is more likely. But we will see soon.
Fine morning here at Northampton. Maybe an odd shower here and there.

I don’t see how there’s any strong argument for which of Virdi or Moriarty should get the nod. Flip a coin.

I know Jacks is missing, but Steel and Curran ahead of Lawes and a frontline spinner is pretty meh. Lawes in particular hasn't done anything to warrant being dropped

Looks like a pretty drab decision to bowl on a flat one

Rain break, after an underwhelming morning.

Lawes should of course have been selected ahead of both Tom Curran and Atkinson. Quite apart from the fact he has taken wickets every time he has played, he is a better batsman than either .Someone has suggested he has been managing a hamstring or groin niggle for a while. If that's the case then we are paying a heavy price for having to play him throughout the RL50 when had we been able to rest him he might well have been fit for this far more important match.

The pitch is pretty flat, as the Northants supporters tell me it has been all season. If we had a proper spinner in the team then we could have batted first and made use of Day 4 conditions. As it is, our seamers are getting no joy from the decision to insert.

So all in all, lots of questions to answer....

Why do we have to play Steel can’t bat can’t bowl.

Thank God for that