Hampshire 2017 thread

[budgetmeansbudget]

Nope, 50 overs without a wicket.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Typical that McClaren should get a hundred against us.

You can see them declaring 200 runs ahead, and Anderson nipping out our top three before stumps!

[budgetmeansbudget]

Bloody hell a wicket.

A sympathetic umpire methinks!

[haggishants]

Here we go, down the ..... Anderson has found his mojo. Good for England but not so good for Hampshire!

[budgetmeansbudget]

You can see them declaring 200 runs ahead, and Anderson nipping out our top three before stumps!

My prediction just after lunchtime almost spot on!

I don't get many right, shame it's totally negative where Hants are concerned.

It seems when we lose this season, we lose badly. Can't expect the bottom order to do all the work again. After all they've been doing all the work in the field as well.

Heaven knows who you drop out the top three because they're all currently useless.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Mason Crane playing for England tonight at the Rosebowl.

Good luck to him, hope he does better than Hants have today!

[budgetmeansbudget]

Mason Crane playing for England tonight at the Rosebowl.

Good luck to him, hope he does better than Hants have today!

Same goes for Liam Dawson aswell.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Two excellent spells from the Hants lads.

[st_brendy]

I suspect it's two games and done for Matt Salisbury. We might not see him in a Hampshire shirt again.

Unfortunately a game where our two issues were magnified. A poor top order, and a lack of bowling support for Abbott and Berg. I think the latter is possibly the easier of the two to solve: if we can just get one of Fidel, Topley and Wheal fit and firing, then good job. They all have it in them, it's not like we'd be asking someone to step up a couple of notches. Alas keeping them fit, in particular, is proving problematic.

Top order more of an issue. Rilee has to be dropped down the order. We never should have promoted him to 3 in the first place. And unfortunately, Carberry probably has to make. Given that Dawson is unlikely to be available next game, I would be bringing Alsop in. Give Jimmy one more game, as he did get a score against Warks recently, But he'll have to make way if he fails again. Ultimately though, whether it's Dawson, Alsop or Smith coming into the top three, you wouldn't have too much confidence in any of them doing much better.

[budgetmeansbudget]

As you say I don't think the top order is going to improve much whoever plays.

At least it's cleared up any doubts whether we should be looking up or down the table going forward, and thankfully there is a decent cushion to the bottom two, at the moment!

[st_brendy]

Hmm, we should find out later today, but maybe Dawson will be available. I have just been reading that the ECB have allowed the 8 members of the Lions squad who are not fast bowlers to participate in the first two days of the county matches (ie tomorrow and Tuesday). This includes three members of today's t20 squad (one of whom is Crane). So if they are available for selection tomorrow (albeit only for two days), then presumably someone like Dawson may also be available?

The only potential difference I can see is that Crane, Livingstone and Billings won't have played in all three t20s, whereas Dawson - if selected today - will have done.

PS. If we do pick Crane, it will be very interesting who we announce as his substitute before a ball is bowler. Taylor would be the like-for-like selection, but given that we have this somewhat unknown position of using a pink ball - with the possibility of the game not going four days - might we be tempted to pick a seamer or a batsman as his replacement? Of course, we might well do that from the outset and not select Crane at all.

[st_brendy]

No need to ponder the Crane substitution any more. Topley has replaced him in the squad, whilst Dawson replaces Carberry.

Assuming that Topley goes straight back into the XI, then it's between Wheal, Salisbury and Holland for one slot. I would be going with Wheal.

[st_brendy]

Not bad, first ever county wicket: Kumar Sangakkara; first ever international wicket: A B De Villiers.

[st_brendy]

It is slightly weird that here is someone bowling in a t20 match for England, and yet when everyone is fit and on form for us, he doesn't get into my Hampshire t20 XI (Dawson, Afridi, Abbott, Wood and Topley are my five t20 bowlers).

It doesn't mean that I'm not proud to see him playing though. Delighted for him.

[st_brendy]

Just discovered that Elgar will be unavailable for the entire match (the match the Lions have starting on Thursday, is against SA, in preparation for the test series). Great news for us, big blow for them.