Voll Blau

Some trifecta, that! Always feel sorry for The Alex in Derby. In most cities it's hands down the closest good pub for anyone changing trains and enough time to kill. There, it loses out on that by about 10ft!

The way this is written makes it look like a Trump tweet. "Jasprit Bumrah, very smart guy."

Pleased he got to see Gloucestershire win the Blast last year. Think a lot of the players had a special bond with him.

How can any Leicestershire fan say that after what was achieved two years ago? Can't believe the weird football obsession with finding silverware "meaningless" now extends to county cricket clubs like ours ffs.

People have been voting with their feet in recent years. And rightly so. A day like T20 Finals Day is miles better value for your cricket day out each year.

Dave Fletcher said a few mins ago on the Derbyshire stream that us and them going up would be "the ECB's worst nightmare". Good on him.

In all formats, these days. Probably the most underrated member of our current squad - and he looks decent with the bat if he gets the chance. Always rated his batting over his bowling, but the latter's really improved.

Link here: https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/county-cricket-premium/new_men_domestic_schedule_options_how_work.html?t=638857613609057916 Only a quid for a month to read it, always more Leicestershire interviews and reports on there than anywhere else on there too. Not surprising seeing as they're the only national publication who ever bother to actually go to Grace Road.

The couple who've run The Shires at Peatling Parva for years are moving on. Sold to a chain, but not sure which one - hope the carvery doesn't suffer!

Some Pomona Island (very) pale in the Two-Tailed Lion yesterday doing pub golf for my brother's birthday, followed by some unnecessarily high abv cider in the Blue Boar that his mate bought. Had declared myself out of the game at this point, having already necked a Guinness in Duffy's to prove I'm still a big man. Then had a Thornbridge Melba peach pale at the Old Bell in Derby today. Nice Father's Day treat to round off a solid weekend of drinking in moderation.

Great spell. Bowlers came back well from that start.

Feels like such an obvious Cricket Dad thing to say, but we should be hitting the top of off more. Worcestershire have been great against anything angled into them.

Should be a knockout involving all 12 Test-playing nations. Four groups of three, maybe with group stages played in four top seeds' nations. County Championship bonus points used to help break ties. Then, a finals tournament with group winners playing semis and a final. Bonus points again used to break ties in the event of draws.

Yeah, but even he strays a bit too much into "Somerset Fan TV" mode for me when he's on their stream.

Assume this is all still accurate. Take cash if you want to do The Laurieston too - had to miss a pre-gig pint in there which was gutting.

Budgets differ for different places though. Easy for Lancs when it's funded by Emirates ads, though it is an excellent watch. Somerset's is best watched on mute. Feel you get the best commentary with the Beeb reporters, who might follow one side but at least offer balance when it's required.

Watched the end on YouTube. Must have hammered it down down there, lots of slipping in the outfield. Commentators said it had ultimately been pointless going out there as a no-reault would have been 2 each too.

Probably the biggest mardy I ever threw as a kid was when me and my dad turned up to an FNF against Grimsby to find out it had been postponed. Used to get tickets from everywhere - school, cubs, vouchers in the Mercury. Used to feel like proper matches.

Great effort from Markram. Reckon Bavuma's runs are worth more, given his injury, though.

The deck hasn't had too much about it? From what I've seen the bowling and fielding has just been high quality. It's such a flawed format but an event like this every couple of years is so good for Test cricket, especially with a non-Greedy Three nation putting up a fight.

Derbyshire move the fixture with our agreement. Makes both counties more cash than a home game would. It'll never happen while they're in the same group as Yorkshire, but I'd love our game against them to get moved to Chesterfield one year. Great ground.

Discussion on the possible future Championship structure. Be sod's law if we win the division at a canter and it ends up meaning nothing...

It's a T20. They're all padded up early.

I do wonder if there's a case to be made for Kimber to float in the order and come in when Budinger gets out?

75% win ratio so far and he's contributing personally with bat and ball. Give the lad a break. People act like comebacks and recoveries never happen in T20, but they do. Peter Trego made this point when arguing against the hundred, because the extra three-and-a-bit overs do give you space and time for that. Yes, there were some suspect bowling changes but Durham fought back well too. They deserve credit for running us close.