Middx at Lords

[IlfordEagle]

Great that T20 is back in front of a near full house but it was very one sided with AB de V showing his class & batting superbly although he didn't have much quality bowling to worry about.Our bowling attack (if that is the right word!) looked very weak & so it proved, we dropped 2 dolly catches , Stirling on 5 when Snater dropped a dolly c&b then on 6 Delport juggled for what seemed an eternity before putting it down, the fielding wasn't that bad but they were up against it & Middx won with time to spare as I thought they would , we got roughly what I thought we would, thanks largely to Tendo who played magnificently , finally in the right position in the order, & Westley who did well but the rest contributed little.
This may be a one off & things may well improve but if not we will again finish in the bottom 3, Harmer wants to lead us into the Finals which is all well & good but he won't do it with that team out there. If we still win CC1 then fine as long as any losing run in T20 doesn't have a knock on effect.

[Niel01]

We have been brilliant at Championship cricket, but hard to believe that we are taking the T20 seriously which in turn will impact upon players attitudes. Cant believe that there is no better option than Shane Snater plus only one overseas player. Difficult to see us making much progress in this competition anyway, but Club would do well to remember how much money is generated from T20 Full Houses at Chelmsford - not to be taken for granted if we are so poor for another Season.

[ytsejam1]

Poor, very poor!!....sadly though, not a surprise in the least.
Hope someone has pulled their finger out from their bottom today and made sure that Amir can play tomorrow!

[JasonP]

Poor, very poor!!....sadly though, not a surprise in the least.
Hope someone has pulled their finger out from their bottom today and made sure that Amir can play tomorrow!

When he signed it was announced he'd miss the Surrey match and the Kent match next week due to "family commitments".  So he's not due to play tomorrow.

[Can the Can]

It was clear to see that Wheater was obviously in pain at times with the gloves on. It is imperative that he is fit for the red ball game against Kent and the three games in September. What I've seen of the back ups is not convincing.

Nobody wants us to do as well as we can in the T20 as me, I'm fool enough to only be missing one away game this year, but it would be a tragic if we miss out on Div 1 because of this competition.

Careful player management is needed.
I am not sure if we are capable of that.

As for tonight's game? Two dropped dollies in power play in this format will cost the game on 95%+ occasions.

If we progress out of the group it will be a massive overachievement.

[SirChef26]

Progress out of the group? If we don’t finish bottom it will be a massive achievement. That bowling attack tonight is the worst we’ve ever had in white ball cricket. Snater and Quinn should be opening the bowling for a Essex Prem side, not the Eagles at a sell out Lords against international stars!!!

Middlesex’s oversees batsman wins the game whilst Essex’s oversees bowler gets tapped around the park. Standard.

[ytsejam1]

Poor, very poor!!....sadly though, not a surprise in the least.
Hope someone has pulled their finger out from their bottom today and made sure that Amir can play tomorrow!

When he signed it was announced he'd miss the Surrey match and the Kent match next week due to "family commitments".  So he's not due to play tomorrow.

Thanks for the info, wasn't aware of that. I will therefore assume that Walter will be swapped for Snater tonight.

[mawallace]

Great that T20 is back in front of a near full house but it was very one sided with AB de V showing his class & batting superbly although he didn't have much quality bowling to worry about.Our bowling attack (if that is the right word!) looked very weak & so it proved, we dropped 2 dolly catches , Stirling on 5 when Snater dropped a dolly c&b then on 6 Delport juggled for what seemed an eternity before putting it down, the fielding wasn't that bad but they were up against it & Middx won with time to spare as I thought they would , we got roughly what I thought we would, thanks largely to Tendo who played magnificently , finally in the right position in the order, & Westley who did well but the rest contributed little.
This may be a one off & things may well improve but if not we will again finish in the bottom 3, Harmer wants to lead us into the Finals which is all well & good but he won't do it with that team out there. If we still win CC1 then fine as long as any losing run in T20 doesn't have a knock on effect.

I was at the match. Why did we lose:-

1. We lost two early wickets. Both were our big hitters - Chopra and Delport
2. There were some bad fielding issues - as noted above Delport's juggling act was bizarre!
3. AB was on the other team. To be honest, unless a team can get him out cheaply I can't see anyonw being able to win against him!


Positives:-

1. Quinn - I know he has been criticised but he was the most economical bowler and he did get a wicket!

[afinetickletoleg]

I was there last night and it was a pleasure to watch ABdV bat.  The bowling might not have been the best but he smashes the bad short ball a mile, and some not bad ones as well.

Just think, if we had taken one of the dropped Stirling chances we would have seen more of him.

[Valentines Park]

. Snater and Quinn should be opening the bowling for a Essex Prem side, not the Eagles at a sell out Lords against international stars!!!

Not saying much admittedly but Quinn was our best bowler last night.

[nat]

Our team tried its best but is/was under powered both batting and bowling with the honourable exception of RTD.

Where Middx had;

One of the best batsmen of all time
One of the best current limited overs spinners

Essex had;

Cameron Delport
A midget Aussie leg spinner who is not even a distant relative of Shane Warne
An overseas bowler who could not get even get on the park due to a paperwork cock-up

Not a surprise we lost.

[Reddevil]

The human minefield that AB represents will do far more damage to teams much better than us.

Sounds as if he he has just run straight from one of his typical mesmeric innings for Bangalore in the IPS, smashing the ball in a 360 degree arc, to gracing Lords with a masterclass in destruction.

Certainly wish I had been at Lords.

Such a shame he has retired from mainstream cricket, for he is still the best  most versatile batsman in the world, as he demonstrated tonight, even if it was not the strongest of bowling attacks.

If he stays fit, Middx look a strong well balanced side and worth a bet to win not just the south group but the T20 this year.

Could be a painful month or so ahead.

[SirChef26]

. Snater and Quinn should be opening the bowling for a Essex Prem side, not the Eagles at a sell out Lords against international stars!!!

Not saying much admittedly but Quinn was our best bowler last night.

Exactly mate! When Matt Quinn is your best bowler, you know you’ve got a sh**te bowling attack. ABD will be in for a mini shock when he realises it’s not like this against every opponent.

But at the end of the day, as so often in the Blast, the oversees big hitting batsman won the day for his team. Can someone remind me who our oversees big hitting batsman is to go with Amir? Wait a minute.....

[afinetickletoleg]

The Essex bowling was far from impressive last night but you have to take in to account the ABdV factor.  He came in with 125 needed and scored 88 of them.

I don't know how many others appreciated it as it seemed that the vast majority there were a load of city tossers on a corporate night out more interested in quaffing champers, sharing food around, chatting and fiddling with their phones than watching the cricket.

Plank next to me asked one of his colleagues if the fielding restriction markers was the boundary!!

[IlfordEagle]

The Essex bowling was far from impressive last night but you have to take in to account the ABdV factor.  He came in with 125 needed and scored 88 of them.

I don't know how many others appreciated it as it seemed that the vast majority there were a load of city tossers on a corporate night out more interested in quaffing champers, sharing food around, chatting and fiddling with their phones than watching the cricket.

Plank next to me asked one of his colleagues if the fielding restriction markers was the boundary!!

Agree with all the above emphatically, to be fair Quinn didn't bowl badly at all but as has been alluded to the bowling attack was the weakest I have seen & as someone said we should be aware that we need to be at least competitive or maybe in future years even Chelmsford won't be full. As long as we still do the business in CC1 then this can be 'forgiven' but as someone who is going to 8 more T20 games I am worried!