2016 Hampshire Thread

[captaincolly]

He'll be out now I've said it but - Smith seems to have found some form lately.

[SaintPowelly]

He'll be out now I've said it but - Smith seems to have found some form lately.

Really hate to say it, but his form really isn't helping though, he is scoring too slowly in both formats.

From a team perspective, we NEED bonus points, its the only hope we have, so why the hell at 200-1 or whatever it was wasn't Wheater/Berg/Andrew sent in to play some shots, if they get out cheaply, who cares?

[st_brendy]

He'll be out now I've said it but - Smith seems to have found some form lately.

Yep. Painfully slow from him today, but if we make 500 (and ideally push on in the morning to get 350 inside 110 overs) then it will have been worth it.

Quite a few of them have started to find a little bit of form lately. As was the case last season too. I guess you can't all be awful with the bat all season.

[captaincolly]

I'd forgotten about batting points, probably because Durham have a habit of not getting many either!

[budgetmeansbudget]

It must be an extremely rare occurrence these days for a batsman to bat a whole day and not make a century.

Unbelievable, we aren't going to get more than 3 batting points from here.

[st_brendy]

I don' think you can rule out a 4th batting point just yet. 74 from 14 overs is 5 per over.

But either way, we've set our stall out now. Vital that we get to at least 500, and ideally you want 600. Set the FO target at 450. Then, as Surrey showed against us, even if the opposition bat very well, there will still be every chance of enforcing the FO. But if we set the FO target at 325 or 350, well then in all likelihood we're facing yet another draw. We don't have the bowling to knock a team over. And failing to win this game will do much, much more harm than failing to get one extra batting point.

[st_brendy]

Middlesex's lower order didn't put up much resistance, so there's every chance that we're looking a high scoring draw (with few batting or bowling points) for us whilst Somerset and Surrey both win. Points deduction for Somerset or not, that would be a bad week for us (and Notts).

[st_brendy]

Well that's one wicket with the new ball, but it needs to do a whole lot more damage than just that.

I said we should have played Tino ahead of Wheal. At least his pace would have offered us something to work with on this flat wicket. (Of course the other argument is that if you want to survive, stop preparing flat wickets!)

[westoelad]

He'll be out now I've said it but - Smith seems to have found some form lately.

Really hate to say it, but his form really isn't helping though, he is scoring too slowly in both formats.

From a team perspective, we NEED bonus points, its the only hope we have, so why the hell at 200-1 or whatever it was wasn't Wheater/Berg/Andrew sent in to play some shots, if they get out cheaply, who cares?

SP if you're not happy with Smith I'd take him back to Durham in a flash. Good reliable bat, horrible to watch I'll give you that,underused 1 day bowler, brilliant fielder and a good captain.Top bloke as well. Love him back at Durham in Stoneman's place

[SaintPowelly]

I like Smith and I rate him, his commitment is outstanding ( went and played for the 2nds last week, which I'm willing to bet was his idea ), but his scoring rate has been terrible, we need bonus points yet he only accelerated when he had 170ish on the board.

He did a similar thing in our last OD game and we lost by 10 or so, while Smith had 80 with a SR in the 70s

I wouldn't drop him or swap him, but a bit more match nous would be nice.

[st_brendy]

Two early wickets, and we have the smallest of small sniffs now. Still need another 14 wickets on this dead pitch, with the first 4 needing to come in the next 79 runs.

[haggishants]

Interesting afternoon in prospect .... assuming the follow-on is enforced.

[st_brendy]

Interesting afternoon in prospect .... assuming the follow-on is enforced.

Think you might be getting your hopes up there Haggis. 10 wickets in 58 overs (now 51 overs) would need a small miracle, even if it has started to turn a bit for Dawson and Crane. I'm expecting the complete opposite to interesting.

Surrey look to be heading to victory, and there's no sign of any points deduction for Somerset, so even though we've played really well in this game, it's actually turning into an awful week for us (and Notts).

[Arthur Crabtree]

Good effort on getting Lancs to follow on, but looks like the pitch will win.

[haggishants]

Yes , following the excitement at Edgbaston now!