Essex Outfielder : The Unofficial Essex CCC Forum
Cricket => Essex Eagles T20 => Topic started by: Can the Can on August 05, 2018, 08:54:31 AM
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Surrey looking exceptional good value at 4/7 for this game looking at it at 10 in the morning.
Having been in Canterbury and Taunton I truly fear this game is something of a foregone conclusion already and if Surrey bat first there is every danger of records being broken if it's a good batting track.
I hate seeing Essex lose in any format and those who say that this doesn't matter because it's not proper cricket are deluding themselves because form and momentum are contagious and we still have to play Surrey home and away in the championship and we could easily find ourselves in big trouble if we don't get out of this T20 rut soon.
I do hope I am wrong about my fears for today.
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I bet the players are secretly absolutely dreading this afternoon. They know that, at the moment, they are second best by a "country mile" I can see nothing other than a complete thrashing and another humiliation. Hope I am wrong !! Maybe the magic cricket fairy will come to our aid.
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The only thing entertaining about that rubbish was watching Zaidi make an absolute fool of those two useless individuals we have running our team. Him not playing in such a poor side has been a joke and leaving him so late today was so poor it was untrue. I hope they were embarrassed watching his innings today.
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Well no surprise, we have lost and lost comfortably.
What has intrigued me is the inclusion of Zaidi, and his immediate batting success, albeit unbeaten which is even more frustrating as he should have been batting higher, as has been suggested in the past.
Fact - He scored 24 off 8 balls, two sixes and two fours.
Could someone from Essex Management explain why he has gone missing from the Essex squad, for no apparent reason.
The view would be most interesting, especially if Mr Mascarenhas was the spokesman.
Team selection again is baffling.
No Porter. Has he been called up for England again? If so then his exclusion is understandable, but given the Test is not until Thursday, I would have thought he could have played.
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T20 has been a shambles.
Said before it started we needed a batsman, we didnt get one. we have not scored anywhere near enough runs.
Bowling has not been as bad but, we have not had the runs to defend or the ability to chase down.
The captaincy and selection has been strange. Odd bowling changes, the insistence that certain bowlers bowl their quota, even when getting tonked. No real game plan it seems. I have been sure that at times RTD has gone, "erm, ok mate, you have a bowl" you watch the good sides and you know (unless conditions dictate) what they are going to do, the plan. We look a shambles. I am sure that we could have kept sides more in check when bowling but the awful captaincy has let them go.
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Yes Porter in the England squad. No point playing him or Sam Cook in this tournament with the championship run in only a fortnight away
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Agree
I would now go with the likes of Pepper, Walter, Taylor, Nijjar, Patel, Beard, Plom. Not all at once but give them a chance, a game or two will do them good
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Agree
I would now go with the likes of Pepper, Walter, Taylor, Nijjar, Patel, Beard, Plom. Not all at once but give them a chance, a game or two will do them good
Why not all at once though?...the tournament is "officially" over now (although of course most of us knew it was "unofficially" over before it even started, as this is the weakest T20 side we've ever had) so chuck them all in and see what happens. They cant be anymore of a shambolic embarrassment then the "first choice" players have been.
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Agree
I would now go with the likes of Pepper, Walter, Taylor, Nijjar, Patel, Beard, Plom. Not all at once but give them a chance, a game or two will do them good
Why not all at once though?...the tournament is "officially" over now (although of course most of us knew it was "unofficially" over before it even started, as this is the weakest T20 side we've ever had) so chuck them all in and see what happens. They cant be anymore of a shambolic embarrassment then the "first choice" players have been.
Let's hope not although Walter looked awful today.
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Patel can certainly strike the ball well and Plom looks a good prospect
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With playing an expiremental side, you have to look at the opponents position. Although Essex CCC's position is over apart from trying to avoid the wooden spoon. Their opponents still have something to play for and their rivals would not like them meeting weaker opposition.
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Playing youngsters might not be such a bad idea, look at Glamorgan's youngsters in T20 who are holding their own & they will learn from this. Essex now have to accept our T20 is definitely over & blood some of these youngsters & see how they shape up - frankly they couldn't do worse. Mascarenhas should be a bit more honest & realistic in his assessments of games - they haven't generally been close & we aren't that near to victory as he suggests, we are poor & that is the truth, we don't score anywhere near enough runs so our bowlers never get anything to defend.
I have said it a lot but next year we HAVE to sign an experienced high scoring (& fast scoring)) O/S batsman for all formats.
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There is something not right at ECCC this season, don’t know exactly what but it’s evident to us supporters. It’s perhaps a mixture of things rather than just one.
As for the t20, it’s obvious if Westley hadn’t been injured Paul Walter wouldn’t have got in the side - we have no imagination to change the batting order instead bringing in a number 7/8 for a number 3!
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I fear you are right. IT seems that all is not well at the club - not sure if it's management, coach, captain or what.
It's a combination of them all I fear!
For the record - Chopra does not seem to know who we could bring in.
https://essex.ukcricket.tv/varun-chopra-reflects-on-surrey-loss/
(at around 2 mins in)
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Patel can certainly strike the ball well and Plom looks a good prospect
Agree. Both counts.
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Another pretty pathetic effort where we did not look remotely like winning. However not quite the thrashing that I had expected.
Some may like to see youngsters blooded, but I would suggest that a lot of people have paid a lot of money to see the remaining two home matches and want to see a competitive game even if we cannot progress in the competition.
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The only reason the thrashing was not more severe was that Surrey did not bat first.
Does anyone know how the Club’s finances stand?
Is it possible that we cannot afford marquee players, as we were able way back in the eighties and nineties.
Finch for example must be costing Surrey a packet,but they are the wealthiest Club I believe, and he is repaying their trust in him in spades.
Rashid Khan at Sussex is another example. How do our finances ad membership numbers compare with other counties?
Chelmsford may be packed on Friday nights and T20 matches but the ground only hold between 7000-8000, I believe.
There must be good players available at reasonable prices. It is up to the Club tofind them, and find them before they are snapped up by other Counties.
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There always seem a lot of Aussies & Kiwis over here for our T20, surely we should be able to find a decent bat among those 2 countries.
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Another pretty pathetic effort where we did not look remotely like winning. However not quite the thrashing that I had expected.
Some may like to see youngsters blooded, but I would suggest that a lot of people have paid a lot of money to see the remaining two home matches and want to see a competitive game even if we cannot progress in the competition.
Bit of a catch 22 that - the current crop aren’t exactly giving spectators value for money so watching home grown and hungry to impress youngsters is surely better??
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The only reason the thrashing was not more severe was that Surrey did not bat first.
Does anyone know how the Club’s finances stand?
Is it possible that we cannot afford marquee players, as we were able way back in the eighties and nineties.
Finch for example must be costing Surrey a packet,but they are the wealthiest Club I believe, and he is repaying their trust in him in spades.
Rashid Khan at Sussex is another example. How do our finances ad membership numbers compare with other counties?
Chelmsford may be packed on Friday nights and T20 matches but the ground only hold between 7000-8000, I believe.
There must be good players available at reasonable prices. It is up to the Club tofind them, and find them before they are snapped up by other Counties.
The planning and execution this season have been bizarre - last season we had 2 x overseas left arm
quicks to complement Harmer, excellent planning you’d say and boy did it work!
This season we’ve had a right arm quick for the championship early and now late season although we still have Harmer!
In the t20 it’s clear we needed another big hitting batsman - we signed Matt Coles who could fill that role except we’ve barely played him and when he has played he’s had about 3 overs to bat max! Some games we’ve played neither Coles or our other big hitter Zaidi and we expect to get late runs??
The overseas situation again is bizarre - we signed Zampa when we already have two excellent one day spinners (as well as Zampa has done in the main) and then with Wagner going back early we didn’t exactly have a backup and instead re-signed Siddle. Even without hindsight we’d have been better finding an overseas batsman who could have filled the role nicely in both the remaining t20 and championship matches given we’ve got a quick bowling attack of Porter, Sam Cook, Quinn, Walter and Plom (not even include new Beard and Dixon).
We knew before last season started we’d have Alastair Cook for more than half a season so we didn’t need to get an overseas batter and the left arm quick with Harmy worked a treat! This season surely those in charge should have realised an overseas batter is required for this part of the season now Waggy has sadly gone and given we probably won’t have A.Cook around for any of the remaining championship fixtures?? I don’t know how close or not we came to signing Northeast but perhaps we put our eggs in one basket and when it didn’t happen had no plan B ??
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Chelmsford may be packed on Friday nights and T20 matches but the ground only hold between 7000-8000, I believe.
Capacity is around 5,500 according to the Club, personally I would suggest that is an overestimation. It never ceases to make me snigger when ECCC boast how they've sold out a game...as Chelmsford, an eighties relic, is amongst the smallest ground capacities on the first class circuit.
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Could we please delete the ridiculous "Fortress" logo on the website?
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Someone told me that out of HQ grounds Worcester and Northampton have smaller capacities. I've never been to either so don't know myself. I get the sense that Derby might not be that big either - perhaps someone who's been to those grounds could enlighten me.
We seem to do quite well crowd wise - especially in four day cricket. I was amazed how few people seemed to be at Edgbaston for the televised championship match last September. Also, I tuned into a Leicester v Lancs T20 game on TV the other week and was astounded how few people were there.
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I can report that Northants and Derby would have similar ground capacities to the ECG, perhaps they are a little smaller. Derby and Northants' grounds have greatly improved in recent years and the ECG could benefit from a spruce up, as we all know.
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the current crop aren’t exactly giving spectators value for money so watching home grown and hungry to impress youngsters is surely better??
You're confusing the people who attend T20 with cricket fans.
You could have the cast of TOWIE at the crease & they would still turn up.
Probably have to turn a few away even.
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The only reason the thrashing was not more severe was that Surrey did not bat first.
Does anyone know how the Club’s finances stand?
Is it possible that we cannot afford marquee players, as we were able way back in the eighties and nineties.
Finch for example must be costing Surrey a packet,but they are the wealthiest Club I believe, and he is repaying their trust in him in spades.
Rashid Khan at Sussex is another example. How do our finances ad membership numbers compare with other counties?
Chelmsford may be packed on Friday nights and T20 matches but the ground only hold between 7000-8000, I believe.
There must be good players available at reasonable prices. It is up to the Club tofind them, and find them before they are snapped up by other Counties.
The overseas situation again is bizarre - we signed Zampa when we already have two excellent one day spinners (as well as Zampa has done in the main) and then with Wagner going back early we didn’t exactly have a backup and instead re-signed Siddle. Even without hindsight we’d have been better finding an overseas batsman who could have filled the role nicely in both the remaining t20 and championship matches given we’ve got a quick bowling attack of Porter, Sam Cook, Quinn, Walter and Plom (not even include new Beard and Dixon).
Who are they??
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The planning and execution this season have been bizarre - last season we had 2 x overseas left arm
quicks to complement Harmer, excellent planning you’d say and boy did it work!
This season we’ve had a right arm quick for the championship early and now late season although we still have Harmer!
In the t20 it’s clear we needed another big hitting batsman - we signed Matt Coles who could fill that role except we’ve barely played him and when he has played he’s had about 3 overs to bat max! Some games we’ve played neither Coles or our other big hitter Zaidi and we expect to get late runs??
The overseas situation again is bizarre - we signed Zampa when we already have two excellent one day spinners (as well as Zampa has done in the main) and then with Wagner going back early we didn’t exactly have a backup and instead re-signed Siddle. Even without hindsight we’d have been better finding an overseas batsman who could have filled the role nicely in both the remaining t20 and championship matches given we’ve got a quick bowling attack of Porter, Sam Cook, Quinn, Walter and Plom (not even include new Beard and Dixon).
We knew before last season started we’d have Alastair Cook for more than half a season so we didn’t need to get an overseas batter and the left arm quick with Harmy worked a treat! This season surely those in charge should have realised an overseas batter is required for this part of the season now Waggy has sadly gone and given we probably won’t have A.Cook around for any of the remaining championship fixtures?? I don’t know how close or not we came to signing Northeast but perhaps we put our eggs in one basket and when it didn’t happen had no plan B ??
DT.
Wagner wasn’t very good this year, but we had Amir replace him for a couple of key matches last year, when Wagner was OK but apart from the odd match not that great - Porter was better and we had Quinn early season as well.
Harmer does a very good job with the red ball, not so much in white ball matches and doesn’t make the runs that even Wagner makes.
Siddle was quality early on. I’d rather he stayed and we didn’t have Wagner. If we need a leftie to make some rough for Harmer, then we should pick a youngster.
Zamora is quality. We’d be even worse off without him.
Coles should play more and maybe bat higher but fitness and attitude may be an issue here as he wasn’t pulling up trees with his previous club.
Indeed the same could be said about Wheater and Chopra. Whilst it’s great to see them back, having both back was somewhat of a gamble - as if a player leaves us they usually return because there’s no place for them there: just compare Wheater with Foakes, although my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move, although this depends upon the career path of Ollie Pope (and other home grown bats coming through).
We clearly need Lawrence to overcome this (not unusual) early career slump as RtD and Fossie are not the players they were and can’t compensate for the top order weaknesses. Browne’s slump is worse because he’s older and more experienced. Hopefully he’ll turn things around latter season. If Browne and Lawrence were playing to par, along with Westley, we wouldn’t be needing an overseas bat in BOTH red and white ball.
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my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move
Maybe to Hants for a bumper pay day.
I doubt he'd want to come back to Essex unless the captaincy was dangled.
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Then dangle it!!!! I would take him back in a heartbeat.
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my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move
Maybe to Hants for a bumper pay day.
I doubt he'd want to come back to Essex unless the captaincy was dangled.
Of course he "says" he wants a move.
Contract up at the end of the season and he is hoping to get a pay rise.
Why would he want to leave a championship winning side?
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my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move
Maybe to Hants for a bumper pay day.
I doubt he'd want to come back to Essex unless the captaincy was dangled.
Of course he "says" he wants a move.
Contract up at the end of the season and he is hoping to get a pay rise.
Why would he want to leave a championship winning side?
It's not. His contract has two more years after this one.
https://www.kiaoval.com/main-news/england-four-extend-surrey-contracts/
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Well, "no change" Essex have certainly lived up to their name by rewarding the continually failing squad of 13 with yet another chance at Glamorgan tomorrow! !!.....Guess the cupboard must be totally empty then when it comes to any alternatives worth giving a chance!
Having said that, the law of averages says that we must win a match again soon and i reckon we will win this meaningless one.
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my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move
Maybe to Hants for a bumper pay day.
I doubt he'd want to come back to Essex unless the captaincy was dangled.
Of course he "says" he wants a move.
Contract up at the end of the season and he is hoping to get a pay rise.
Why would he want to leave a championship winning side?
It's not. His contract has two more years after this one.
https://www.kiaoval.com/main-news/england-four-extend-surrey-contracts/
Well spotted Jason.
So his three year contract was improved after just two years in 2017.
I expect he is trying to do the same again, to get another pay rise to keep him at the club.
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my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move
Maybe to Hants for a bumper pay day.
I doubt he'd want to come back to Essex unless the captaincy was dangled.
Of course he "says" he wants a move.
Contract up at the end of the season and he is hoping to get a pay rise.
Why would he want to leave a championship winning side?
It's not. His contract has two more years after this one.
https://www.kiaoval.com/main-news/england-four-extend-surrey-contracts/
Well spotted Jason.
So his three year contract was improved after just two years in 2017.
I expect he is trying to do the same again, to get another pay rise to keep him at the club.
It’ll depend ultimately as to whether Foakes gets a central contract or whether the younger players force their way into the England set-up. Can’t see BF coming back to us, unless it’s on a loan, for the foreseeable future. By then eccc might’ve ceased to exist.
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Well, "no change" Essex have certainly lived up to their name by rewarding the continually failing squad of 13 with yet another chance at Glamorgan tomorrow! !!.....Guess the cupboard must be totally empty then when it comes to any alternatives worth giving a chance!
Having said that, the law of averages says that we must win a match again soon and i reckon we will win this meaningless one.
The batting has been the major problem. Even if it's been forced with the Westley and Lawrence injuries they have brought in Walter, Pepper and Zaidi over the last week. Who else is there to bring in? Patel is he a T20 player? Taylor only just back from injury The balance of the side looked a bit better yesterday with atleast batting up until 7 this time. If you put Coles for Harmer from yesterday you do have a better balanced side. You'd hope then the top order can take a few more risks and we can be a bit smarter with the batting order as well.
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My only thought about Patel is that if we have to play him at Taunton because of injuries I'd rather he'd already made his competitive debut albeit in T20.
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The planning and execution this season have been bizarre - last season we had 2 x overseas left arm
quicks to complement Harmer, excellent planning you’d say and boy did it work!
This season we’ve had a right arm quick for the championship early and now late season although we still have Harmer!
In the t20 it’s clear we needed another big hitting batsman - we signed Matt Coles who could fill that role except we’ve barely played him and when he has played he’s had about 3 overs to bat max! Some games we’ve played neither Coles or our other big hitter Zaidi and we expect to get late runs??
The overseas situation again is bizarre - we signed Zampa when we already have two excellent one day spinners (as well as Zampa has done in the main) and then with Wagner going back early we didn’t exactly have a backup and instead re-signed Siddle. Even without hindsight we’d have been better finding an overseas batsman who could have filled the role nicely in both the remaining t20 and championship matches given we’ve got a quick bowling attack of Porter, Sam Cook, Quinn, Walter and Plom (not even include new Beard and Dixon).
We knew before last season started we’d have Alastair Cook for more than half a season so we didn’t need to get an overseas batter and the left arm quick with Harmy worked a treat! This season surely those in charge should have realised an overseas batter is required for this part of the season now Waggy has sadly gone and given we probably won’t have A.Cook around for any of the remaining championship fixtures?? I don’t know how close or not we came to signing Northeast but perhaps we put our eggs in one basket and when it didn’t happen had no plan B ??
DT.
Wagner wasn’t very good this year, but we had Amir replace him for a couple of key matches last year, when Wagner was OK but apart from the odd match not that great - Porter was better and we had Quinn early season as well.
Harmer does a very good job with the red ball, not so much in white ball matches and doesn’t make the runs that even Wagner makes.
Siddle was quality early on. I’d rather he stayed and we didn’t have Wagner. If we need a leftie to make some rough for Harmer, then we should pick a youngster.
Zamora is quality. We’d be even worse off without him.
Coles should play more and maybe bat higher but fitness and attitude may be an issue here as he wasn’t pulling up trees with his previous club.
Indeed the same could be said about Wheater and Chopra. Whilst it’s great to see them back, having both back was somewhat of a gamble - as if a player leaves us they usually return because there’s no place for them there: just compare Wheater with Foakes, although my colleague who supports Slurrey reassures me that BF might be looking for a move, although this depends upon the career path of Ollie Pope (and other home grown bats coming through).
We clearly need Lawrence to overcome this (not unusual) early career slump as RtD and Fossie are not the players they were and can’t compensate for the top order weaknesses. Browne’s slump is worse because he’s older and more experienced. Hopefully he’ll turn things around latter season. If Browne and Lawrence were playing to par, along with Westley, we wouldn’t be needing an overseas bat in BOTH red and white ball.
Wagner was better than OK last year - won us at least one match (Somerset away) and always gives 110% effort. Quinn was missing most of the season so not sure how that stacks up with what you’re saying? Sam Cook benefited from Quinn not being able to play and boy did he benefit!
Harmer has bowled well in a couple of t20 matches and the one day cup also - yes red ball clearly is his strength but signing Zampa when we already had Harmer and Zaidi was probably not that great an idea - we won’t qualify so that closes that case. It’s also meant our best hitter of a ball in Zaidi has mostly been left out and it’s cost us big time.
Ref Siddle, he clearly wasn’t signed all season given how well Wagner did last season and the tactics used as already mentioned.
If what you say about Coles is true then why did we sign him?? Furthermore, why are we barely using him in one day cricket?? It makes no sense...
I’m not sure I agree with your thoughts about Chopra and Wheater. With Wheater he’s done as much as can be asked certainly at the end of last season why he played as a bat instead of Westley and this season keeping and batting in all forms. Chopra’s championship form since returning is very disappointing but given he’s a one day regular he has clearly justified the decision to re-sign him, he must average close to 50 in all one day cricket since he returned to us?
I’m not sure Browne is in a slump given his last game yielded a 50 and a 100!
But the point is last season the club knew Alastair Cook would be around for more than half a season so we signed a quality offy and thus went for a left arm quick overseas to create the rough for Harmy to bowl into. This season we knew we wouldn’t have Ali for anything like last season so we could have gone for an overseas batter at least for this coming end to the championship season and the t20. Whether it would have been the same player or two players doesn’t really matter. Ali playing the amount of matches last season was the batting cover we needed, the solid starts allowed the others to come in and make hay - this season the guys you mention have been coming in at 20-3, 30-4 and it’s a different game.
It’s been obvious since Napes retired we haven’t had the big hitter in one day cricket - we signed Coles who is a similar player but barely been used...it just doesn’t make sense!
(PS: As for Zamora, are you a West Ham fan with the auto correct??😀)
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110% effort eh? That's a lot of effort.
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What a great observant you are 😂
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DT, yes I can’t understand Coles being underused, ditto with Zaidi. As for Zampa/Zamora I don’t know why my spell checker did that. What a mistakea to makea!
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This is not directly linked to yesterday but once again I note Essex had only 1 Sunday home T20 whereas most other Counties have had at least 2, do we just get what the ECB allocate to us or do we get a say, if so surely an extra Sunday wouldn't come amiss or is it that Sundays are more family orientated & presumably we would sell less alcohol etc etc. Can anyone shed any light please?
I have to say the atmosphere on a Sunday is far more relaxes ie a lot less yobbish etc.
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We’ve been utterly crap at T20 Cricket for 2 seasons now. The common denominator is that we have no sloggers. We lost Napier and Ryder our two biggest hitters. Jessie had his issues but if he stayed for a few overs he’d always have us going at a fast rate, allowing the players below more wiggle room. We’ve also not had Foster this year who is far better than some have given him credit for on here. Always full of innovation and tries to go at a fast pace, has come with some very important T20 knocks for us.
We have a team full of stroke players but no big hitters (as we refuse to Zaidi or bump Coles up the order) and it’s those players who win T20 games, not to have one with a home ground like Chelmsford is criminal. Next season we need one if not two big hitting oversees players for T20. Chris Gayle should be the first person we phone. We could also consider a separate coach for T20 as it’s plainly obvious Mags doesn’t have a clue and don’t keep me started on “T20 specialist” Dimi. We could do a lot worse than Donovan Miller and Foster.
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Alex, that’s actually a great shout - Miller (who was and perhaps still is Essex based having played for Woodford Wells) and Fozzy as our t20 coaches - they’ve just won a global t20 event, get them in!!!
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This is not directly linked to yesterday but once again I note Essex had only 1 Sunday home T20 whereas most other Counties have had at least 2, do we just get what the ECB allocate to us or do we get a say, if so surely an extra Sunday wouldn't come amiss or is it that Sundays are more family orientated & presumably we would sell less alcohol etc etc. Can anyone shed any light please?
I have to say the atmosphere on a Sunday is far more relaxes ie a lot less yobbish etc.
No idea but I notice Yorkshire have not had a single Sunday home t20 match this season whereas they usually have 1 or 2.
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Alex, that’s actually a great shout - Miller (who was and perhaps still is Essex based having played for Woodford Wells) and Fozzy as our t20 coaches - they’ve just won a global t20 event, get them in!!!
Foster should still be in the team!
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As for Zampa/Zamora I don’t know why my spell checker did that. What a mistakea to makea!
😂
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Well, "no change" Essex have certainly lived up to their name by rewarding the continually failing squad of 13 with yet another chance at Glamorgan tomorrow! !!.....Guess the cupboard must be totally empty then when it comes to any alternatives worth giving a chance!
Having said that, the law of averages says that we must win a match again soon and i reckon we will win this meaningless one.
The batting has been the major problem. Even if it's been forced with the Westley and Lawrence injuries they have brought in Walter, Pepper and Zaidi over the last week. Who else is there to bring in? Patel is he a T20 player? Taylor only just back from injury The balance of the side looked a bit better yesterday with atleast batting up until 7 this time. If you put Coles for Harmer from yesterday you do have a better balanced side. You'd hope then the top order can take a few more risks and we can be a bit smarter with the batting order as well.
The bowling has been pretty rubbish too (with the odd exception on occasions) . As i said the cupboard must be empty if there are no alternatives to the same old failing 13 again. Would have thought that although no specialist T20 player, Browne would have been worth a go at least by now (when you consider how crap our batting has been ) likewise Fossie. Maybe Patel isnt a T20 player but maybe he is!! and there wont be many more meaningless games than this one to find that out, ditto again for Plom. I also assume that the likes of Beard, Taylor and Nijjar who have all been about for some time now are never going to be either good enough or considered good enough for T20 as again surely now would be the perfect time to give them a go.
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Alex, that’s actually a great shout - Miller (who was and perhaps still is Essex based having played for Woodford Wells) and Fozzy as our t20 coaches - they’ve just won a global t20 event, get them in!!!
I agree, but Hasn’t Miller gone on to big things with the Windies?
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For me there are 3 main factors:
In my opinion Westley has been a big factor in our T20 slump. He has been brilliant in the T20 format in the past and has been very disappointing this season.
Matt Coles has so far been a poor signing. Only gave him a two year deal at the time which gave the impression the club were not sure on him. Talented cricketer but has been poor, (could do with loosing some weight). Considering he was brought in for the one day format only (wasnt even picked in the 4day squads at the start of season).
Overseas has been an absolute shambles. Zampa has been excellent. As for Wagner, who ever decided to bring him in for the T20 format needs a talking to. He was not even picked in the staring xi for the start and was carrying the drinks instead. When he was in the side, he was more useful for his batting than bowling ! Every year we have always had one overseas batter and one bowler. Why we changed it and brought in two bowlers is baffling. (Iqbal and Amir) (Ryer and Riaz) (Ryder and Tait) (Rutherford and Tait)
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For me there are 3 main factors:
In my opinion Westley has been a big factor in our T20 slump. He has been brilliant in the T20 format in the past and has been very disappointing this season.
Matt Coles has so far been a poor signing. Only gave him a two year deal at the time which gave the impression the club were not sure on him. Talented cricketer but has been poor, (could do with loosing some weight). Considering he was brought in for the one day format only (wasnt even picked in the 4day squads at the start of season).
Overseas has been an absolute shambles. Zampa has been excellent. As for Wagner, who ever decided to bring him in for the T20 format needs a talking to. He was not even picked in the staring xi for the start and was carrying the drinks instead. When he was in the side, he was more useful for his batting than bowling ! Every year we have always had one overseas batter and one bowler. Why we changed it and brought in two bowlers is baffling. (Iqbal and Amir) (Ryer and Riaz) (Ryder and Tait) (Rutherford and Tait)
I think Westley has two issues affecting his batting, firstly the long standing injury which can be managed but must be off putting when batting, secondly being messed about by England - should have been on The Ashes tour instead of Malan.
Ref Coles, a one year deal would show not having faith, two years is the standard. Problem is we’ve hardly picked him, why?? When he has actually played he’s done fairly well, problem is he’s not played enough nor is batting high enough.
Agree on the last point, as much as I like Waggy the club got it wrong with regard having him for some of the t20’s - basically moving on from the point I made the other day - the whole overseas strategy was excellent last year in all cricket but poor this. I’m still uneasy about Zampa - yes he’s had some good games (some poor) but his selection has basically meant Zaidi has hardly played and thus we’ve lost one of our best if not best late order hitters! No reason Zampa, Zaidi and Harmer couldn’t all play as they did on Sunday but clearly those in charge think differently...
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Agree on the last point, as much as I like Waggy the club got it wrong with regard having him for some of the t20’s - basically moving on from the point I made the other day - the whole overseas strategy was excellent last year in all cricket but poor this. I’m still uneasy about Zampa - yes he’s had some good games (some poor) but his selection has basically meant Zaidi has hardly played and thus we’ve lost one of our best if not best late order hitters! No reason Zampa, Zaidi and Harmer couldn’t all play as they did on Sunday but clearly those in charge think differently...
Maybe they just got lucky last year - the only problem was losing our overseas batsman prematurely, but Amir could've broken down in his first match and Waggy's 'tactics' seemed to take opposing batsmen by surprise early season.
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Agree on the last point, as much as I like Waggy the club got it wrong with regard having him for some of the t20’s - basically moving on from the point I made the other day - the whole overseas strategy was excellent last year in all cricket but poor this. I’m still uneasy about Zampa - yes he’s had some good games (some poor) but his selection has basically meant Zaidi has hardly played and thus we’ve lost one of our best if not best late order hitters! No reason Zampa, Zaidi and Harmer couldn’t all play as they did on Sunday but clearly those in charge think differently...
Maybe they just got lucky last year - the only problem was losing our overseas batsman prematurely, but Amir could've broken down in his first match and Waggy's 'tactics' seemed to take opposing batsmen by surprise early season.
Didn’t get lucky, the club properly planned - was said by Silverwood how they looked at what they needed to win division one - a top class spinner then with Cooky being around for 3/4 of the season they looked at a left armer to compliment Harmy - getting Amir as a like-for-like replacement was top drawer!
In terms of t20, yes we had the overseas batsman/bowler combo, just seems this season the planning for all comps has been poor...
Just touching on last seasons t20, with Iqbal only playing one game and then the club generally struggling (albeit not as much as this season) surely the alarm bells should have dictated the club get another overseas bat for the t20 this year?? Perhaps they tried and failed, perhaps they banked on getting Northeast and failed??
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Didn’t get lucky, the club properly planned - was said by Silverwood how they looked at what they needed to win division one - a top class spinner then with Cooky being around for 3/4 of the season they looked at a left armer to compliment Harmy - getting Amir as a like-for-like replacement was top drawer!
In terms of t20, yes we had the overseas batsman/bowler combo, just seems this season the planning for all comps has been poor...
Just touching on last seasons t20, with Iqbal only playing one game and then the club generally struggling (albeit not as much as this season) surely the alarm bells should have dictated the club get another overseas bat for the t20 this year?? Perhaps they tried and failed, perhaps they banked on getting Northeast and failed??
Possibly right re Northeast, although I suspect that the club were blindsided by Spoons leaving - not that they should've been but that's No Change Essex, they tend to move very slowly and take the easiest option. To be fair, no-one knows what's happening viz The One Hundred competition anyway but just one more season of continuity with Spoons in charge would've made a heck of a difference.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it was all luck last year - but the decisions with overseas worked and key bowlers like Porter stayed fit and we lost Westley at a time when others stepped up which hasn't happened this year.
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Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is Westley’s injury and when is he likely to return?
Also, ditto for Lawrence.
With the gaping hole caused by the absence of our two most promising(not really applicable to Westley)if not best batsmen, it is no great surprise we have struggled so badly this year.
Agree totally, we do not have one aggressive world class batsman in our ranks(I see Ingram our bete noire is once again running amok), and the shout for Gayle is a goodish one, althoughI fear we could not afford him.
Given his prodigious hitting, the small boundaries would be very attractive to him.
I fear though that we might have seen the best of him. He was only picked up in the IPL at the very last minute, after RCB has discarded him. He is certainly not getting any younger.
I see Zaidi is playing again tonight. Too little too late, but hope he finds the boundary a few times tonight.
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Westleys issues are his own making. He changed his technique (tweaked in winter his words) to make him more consistent at the highest level.
Its had the opposite effect and what talent he eventually showed in the last couple of seasons has gone and hes looked awful in all formats all season.
He needs to undo those changes and revert to waht made him a success in the first place as he aint gonna get back in the england side.
a few criticesed the signing of zampa on the clubs twitter feed when his signing was announced, and said a batter was needed. they were shouted down by the moronic noisy brigade, some who frequent this forum, that its was a masterstroke as stats say bowlers win t20s and leggoes inparticular...rollseyes...absolute garbage. stats can prove anything. if you have a team of weak hitters its clear you need at least one big hitter. likewise leggies on postage stamp grounds that you get a lot over here (not least our own ground) benefits are negated. they may prosper on the big grounds of the big bash, but not here. especially when the club had 4 ok t20 spinners...harmer, zaidi, lawrence, westley. zampa was a pointless luxury signing, but i assume he was cheap.
it was basic common sense that he wouldnt be very useful for us (i accept hes done well at times, but 4 overs doesn't make much difference to a t20 if you have no run getters) and that the aforementioned big hitters were needed.
we should have gone with 2 o/s batsmen, or at the very least 1 and a batting allrounder.
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I agree that Gayle isn’t the player he once was, but that could help drive his price down and surely he would still have no trouble hitting sixes at Chelmsford. Either that or let’s throw the cat amongst the pigeons and make a cheeky offer for Ingram with the captaincy as a carrot. Something has to be done, because this can’t go on. Losing every few days is a very dangerous habit to get into both physically and mentally regardless of format.
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Ingram is already captain of Glamorgan who actually do ok at 20/20 so I do not think an offer from Essex would be of interest.
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Talented cricketer but has been poor, (could do with loosing some weight).
He has lost weight.
You should have seen the size of him when he was at Kent.
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I agree that Gayle isn’t the player he once was, but that could help drive his price down
He was playing in that Canadian T20 so I doubt he's commanding a King's ransom these days.
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I don’t get the anti Zampa attitude. I agree we desperately need hitting power but AZ has done his job. If we could get a big hitter that would do a similarly good job then perhaps yes, but I doubt we would - and the absence of Zaidi, the misuse of him and Coles reflects muddled thinking all around the side this season.
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I don’t get the anti Zampa attitude. I agree we desperately need hitting power but AZ has done his job. If we could get a big hitter that would do a similarly good job then perhaps yes, but I doubt we would - and the absence of Zaidi, the misuse of him and Coles reflects muddled thinking all around the side this season.
Not a slant on Zampa, just as you say the muddled thinking - we knew we had spinners in Harmer and Zaidi and picking Zampa has seemingly meant Zaidi has been the one to mostly miss out which is not a good thing! We already had Wagner before we signed Zampa so yeah muddled thinking!
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Westleys issues are his own making. He changed his technique (tweaked in winter his words) to make him more consistent at the highest level.
Its had the opposite effect and what talent he eventually showed in the last couple of seasons has gone and hes looked awful in all formats all season.
He needs to undo those changes and revert to waht made him a success in the first place as he aint gonna get back in the england side.
a few criticesed the signing of zampa on the clubs twitter feed when his signing was announced, and said a batter was needed. they were shouted down by the moronic noisy brigade, some who frequent this forum, that its was a masterstroke as stats say bowlers win t20s and leggoes inparticular...rollseyes...absolute garbage. stats can prove anything. if you have a team of weak hitters its clear you need at least one big hitter. likewise leggies on postage stamp grounds that you get a lot over here (not least our own ground) benefits are negated. they may prosper on the big grounds of the big bash, but not here. especially when the club had 4 ok t20 spinners...harmer, zaidi, lawrence, westley. zampa was a pointless luxury signing, but i assume he was cheap.
it was basic common sense that he wouldnt be very useful for us (i accept hes done well at times, but 4 overs doesn't make much difference to a t20 if you have no run getters) and that the aforementioned big hitters were needed.
we should have gone with 2 o/s batsmen, or at the very least 1 and a batting allrounder.
Spot on.