Notts q/f

[stewyww]

He missed the CC because he was ill.  Perhaps he's still not in the best of health.
[/quote]

Well if that is the case he shouldn't have damn well been captain. Incidentally if he wins the toss in the 50 over QF, please can some players with a tad more intelligence and cricketing nous, advise him to bat first. He might back the batsmen to chase a target, but no one else does.

[IlfordEagle]

Yet another 1/4 final bottled when we were in a decent position & plenty of attacking players to come, Ryder must be gutted after giving Essex such a good start, yet again too many got out to poor strokes as we got bogged down & became desperate. Felt sorry for Lawrence who really struggled even to walk whilst batting & surely Napes should have gone in before him, Walter had an over too many & I noticed after his second over when he went for 15 no one came & had a quiet word with him to settle/console him (poor captaincy).
Surely even on an away ground it is better to get your runs & then challenge the opposition to chase them bearing in mind all our recent 1/4 final defeats have resulted from batting second - will we ever learn?
I've said it before (for the last few seasons) that we need to seriously look at our 1 day strategy & method of playing as it clearly isn't working!!
One last thing - great credit to Notts bowlers & fielders geed up & roared on by a very passionate crowd>

[bwildered]

Difference between the two sides is a decent bowling attack has against mix & match, with Championship D1 team with strength of dept .
Ryder got his quota, but unthoughtful batting by the collective ( how many single figures ) did not get us nearly close .
Cannot play like that for 40 overs and deserve to win - fact .

[JasonP]

He missed the CC because he was ill.  Perhaps he's still not in the best of health.

Well if that is the case he shouldn't have damn well been captain. Incidentally if he wins the toss in the 50 over QF, please can some players with a tad more intelligence and cricketing nous, advise him to bat first. He might back the batsmen to chase a target, but no one else does.
[/quote]

We have batted second in every match so far in the 50 competition, twice chasing down scores of 300+.  I think he's very unlikely to change now.  20 overs is different I think we should probably have batted first.  Saying that we should have won the game anyway. 

[Andy]

Well, I get dragged round the shops after hearing Taylor say that 162 was a disappointing score. Glad I did, what a shambles.

What's wrong with Lawrence? Napes collided near the end so perhaps he was held back because of that.

I did wonder why Walter was given 3 overs whilst a much more experienced Zaidi gets one. Then I remembered: Zaidi is a spinner. Silly me. Does the fact we keep batting second indicate that it wasn't all Larrys fault, but presumably written into the constitution?

All a shame because there were some outstanding performances with the ball. Napes and RtD particularly.

[Mog]

It's becoming a bit of habit this. The following could have been written at any point over the past six years and longer, but hey, the Club love repetition;

Essex use the same inflexible tactics; win the toss, bat second. This was thus under Grayson and now Silverwood, it is clearly a Club policy, rather than an individual coach or captain's choice. They arrogantly underestimate the opposition and assume they'll win - meanwhile the opposition, have seen the telegraphed Essex tactics before they've even arrived at the ground and countered them effectively. This being No Change Essex they never learn, and always know best. Meanwhile medium pace is preferred whilst spin is never trusted. It's as good as it is ever likely to get as far as T20 is concerned with our clueless county. Now an ageing and arthritic side, with players who look very good on paper but when placed under any pressure, crumble and disintegrate.

[nat]

He missed the CC because he was ill.  Perhaps he's still not in the best of health.

Well if that is the case he shouldn't have damn well been captain. Incidentally if he wins the toss in the 50 over QF, please can some players with a tad more intelligence and cricketing nous, advise him to bat first. He might back the batsmen to chase a target, but no one else does.

We have batted second in every match so far in the 50 competition, twice chasing down scores of 300+.  I think he's very unlikely to change now.  20 overs is different I think we should probably have batted first.  Saying that we should have won the game anyway.
[/quote]

Correct. 162 was very gettable and a good start to the batting should have meant the later batsmen could knock the ball around. Browne showed what he is ...  a good but limited player who is unable to manipulate the ball around the field. Westley pressed the panic button and as for Zaidi...very disappointing. Seemed to believe his own publicity.

[JasonP]

It's becoming a bit of habit this. The following could have been written at any point over the past six years and longer, but hey, the Club love repetition;

Essex use the same inflexible tactics; win the toss, bat second. This was thus under Grayson and now Silverwood, it is clearly a Club policy, rather than an individual coach or captain's choice. They arrogantly underestimate the opposition and assume they'll win - meanwhile the opposition, have seen the telegraphed Essex tactics before they've even arrived at the ground and countered them effectively. This being No Change Essex they never learn, and always know best. Meanwhile medium pace is preferred whilst spin is never trusted. It's as good as it is ever likely to get as far as T20 is concerned with our clueless county. Now an ageing and arthritic side, with players who look very good on paper but when placed under any pressure, crumble and disintegrate.

I don't think they're arrogant they are just crap under pressure.  In big games they choke.  We generally get to these quarter finals with the tactic of bowling first a chasing a total.  These tactics get us there but for some reason when it comes to the knockout matches they continually fail to perform.

[Andy]

It didn't hit me just how old our side was tonight until I looked on cricinfo.

Presumably the music chosen is appropriate - 'who do you think you are kidding Mr Bopara?', 'there'll be yellow eagles over the white stilettos of Chelmer village' as well as that perennial favourite the Theme from Last of the Summer Wine...

[mawallace]

Not quite true! The average age of our squad was 30.6, theirs 30.4. Notts had two players aged 37, we only had one 38, then 36

[ytsejam]

What a complete and utterly pathetic horlicks of a performance from bottlers Essex, ONCE AGAIN (apart from Napes and Tendo's bowling).
Nothing else to add.

[Reddevil]

Reasons for all to see tonight, why Notts are in Division One and Essex are in Division Two. Inferior batting and inferior bowling, complemented by mental disintegration when pressure builds up and bottle is required.
The gulf was embarrassing, but was it really a surprise to many of the supporters who have seen the team play this season. I suspect not.

Very sadly utterly predictable. We just never seem to learn. The bowlers did a reasonable job. Was Ravi the only player to persist with Walter in the misguided belief, that he might actually buy him a wicket, albeit at about 15 an over. Once again Ravi must have forgotten that  Zaidi was playing and that Westley was not even trusted to bowl an over, when it was clear that pace off the ball was the way to go, ably demonstrated by Patel and Tahir, a formidable duo, and the difference between the sides' spin attack. Wake up Ravi.

No - it was the batsmen again who let us down, with the very honourable exception of Jesse Ryder. His dismissal turned the game, no doubt, but the lemming like rush to commit suicide, must have surprised even the most pessimistic Essex supporter. I now fully understand what deja vu means, only this time it was in sickening colour and did not stop. Horrible.

All the salient points and observations have been made already tonight, so there is no point in me merely repeating them, beyond the fact that Essex's unswerving desire to bowl first and supposedly enjoy chasing down a total, belies what many of us suspect, that Ravi has no faith in his side posting a competitive score. He hopes the opposition will mess up their innings, not knowing what a good score is, and we win by limping over the line.

The next month promises to be a very testing time for the team. Warwickshire look every bit as daunting as Notts were tonight. Even if we gained promotion, looking very suspect as a large amount of bottle is usually required for the run in, and ours is rather empty currently. Our chances of survival in Division One, given the likely strength of our bowling attack, can only be rated as minimal and that sadly, reflects loyal optimism.

We all love you Essex but you always give the supporters a very bumpy ride and tonight was no exception. Thank goodness I can delete tonight's horror recording.

[squarelegumpire]

Reddevil, that was another excellent post. Keep ‘em coming.

[afinetickletoleg]

Bottled a knock out game again.
Seeing as it is always the coaches fault it is all down to Silverwood and he has got to go.

[IlfordEagle]

Reasons for all to see tonight, why Notts are in Division One and Essex are in Division Two. Inferior batting and inferior bowling, complemented by mental disintegration when pressure builds up and bottle is required.
The gulf was embarrassing, but was it really a surprise to many of the supporters who have seen the team play this season. I suspect not.

Very sadly utterly predictable. We just never seem to learn. The bowlers did a reasonable job. Was Ravi the only player to persist with Walter in the misguided belief, that he might actually buy him a wicket, albeit at about 15 an over. Once again Ravi must have forgotten that  Zaidi was playing and that Westley was not even trusted to bowl an over, when it was clear that pace off the ball was the way to go, ably demonstrated by Patel and Tahir, a formidable duo, and the difference between the sides' spin attack. Wake up Ravi.

Agreed, another excellent post,mind you there won't be a job for you as ECCs  Press Officer as you are too honest & write the truth!!

No - it was the batsmen again who let us down, with the very honourable exception of Jesse Ryder. His dismissal turned the game, no doubt, but the lemming like rush to commit suicide, must have surprised even the most pessimistic Essex supporter. I now fully understand what deja vu means, only this time it was in sickening colour and did not stop. Horrible.

All the salient points and observations have been made already tonight, so there is no point in me merely repeating them, beyond the fact that Essex's unswerving desire to bowl first and supposedly enjoy chasing down a total, belies what many of us suspect, that Ravi has no faith in his side posting a competitive score. He hopes the opposition will mess up their innings, not knowing what a good score is, and we win by limping over the line.

The next month promises to be a very testing time for the team. Warwickshire look every bit as daunting as Notts were tonight. Even if we gained promotion, looking very suspect as a large amount of bottle is usually required for the run in, and ours is rather empty currently. Our chances of survival in Division One, given the likely strength of our bowling attack, can only be rated as minimal and that sadly, reflects loyal optimism.

We all love you Essex but you always give the supporters a very bumpy ride and tonight was no exception. Thank goodness I can delete tonight's horror recording.