Voll Blau

Was at Derby yesterday and Grace Road last Wednesday. Best crowds I've seen at either for ages for a non-T20. I think people are realising that if they want their counties to survive, they need to support this tournament. The decent weather and summer holidays will help a bit too, mind!

You're not showing both sides of the coin though. You're showing a fact against an unverified, speculative, anonymous comment. We all need to be dealing in facts right now. Our country would be miles better off if people did that just a little bit more.

That's not showing both sides. That's showing publicly-available birth registration data vs an anonymous, unverified Facebook comment. You can't give equal weight to both. Can we all just stop the speculation? I promise you all that everything will come out when it gets to trial. If the ridiculous amount of prejudicial information doing the rounds in the public domain continues, there's every chance his lawyer could argue he can't get a fair trial and collapse the case.

Is there any part of you in the slightest that might consider stopping sharing just any random shit you find online? Having just looked into it, the "source" of this info looks dodgy to say the least.

Because the scum out there tonight have no respect. "Off to a vigil for three murdered little girls, best get a crate in and wrap myself in a St George." Vermin.

Presumably just taking Friday as a blip then. He'd be useful to have in for bowling ability as much as anything, when Trevaskis is still recovering from injury.

I agree. But any journalist making an application to the court on that basis would still have a strong case that identification *could* potentially prevent wider public disorder.

Police have no choice. It's the law. I think there's a strong chance the defendant will be named as soon as he appears in court. Any judge with half a brain would see it's in the public interest to identify him so the absolute vermin out tonight will leave the poor people of Southport to grieve in peace.

Yvette Cooper is there this morning and Starmer's going up today.

A few on this thread ought to be ashamed of themselves too. They should try sparing a thought for the victims instead of instantly turning their deaths into a political football.

In the same boat. Had a career that I thought had numbed me to most of the evil shit that goes on in the world, but stuff like this hits differently now I'm a dad. Southport's such a lovely place for children too. We're hoping to take our daughter for her first day at the beach there soon. Grim beyond words.

I'll take this point of view seriously if we ever start winning regularly in the Caribbean.

Bottle of Cairngorm Trade Winds golden ale. I'm a sucker for owt with elderflower in it. Must get up to the Highlands one day.

Was a fvcking brilliant listen on the drive home after a stressful day at work last week.

I've found The Moorings alright at lunchtimes, if a little pricey for what you get. Three Crowns food always smells great. Shame they sacked off opening during the day.

Think it was after the two-day Test finished on a Friday, so Gough and Vaughan were available? Got my Kookaburra Bubble signed by both that day.

They must be seething. Always enjoy a good yellow and green WBA away number.

Yep. Top straight through to a home semi and the others playing off to ne their opponent.

That's the other thing. "It's made it more affordable and brought a new audience" is repeated as if it's fact. Even if it was true, it's true of seven cities in the whole country. In what world is the hundred more accessible for a 10-year-old kid from The Saff who lives a few minutes' walk from Grace Road? Or a kid from the Chaddesden estate by Derbyshire's ground. It's nonsense.

One interesting note mentioned on this week's Talksport county cricket podcast is that any new hundred owner would have the right to change everything about "their" team - name, colours, the lot. So much for want to build up fanbases loyal to team identities. I wish the ECB would just admit they want to flog off as much of our summer as possible to Indian interests and just be done with it.

One area where the club definitely lets itself down in terms of matchday experience. Derbyshire are doing a Shiny Brewery takeover against Middlesex. Helps that it's a Saturday game but it'll be interesting to see how many that pulls in.

Well yeah, but at least there's a logical pathway to getting someone into following a county in all formats. Get them hooked on the short stuff and long term, over the course of a lifetime even, it builds that loyalty. I've got quite a few mates who now follow all of our games from having taken them to Friday night T20s 10-15years ago. Playing some Championship cricket in the summer holidays also wouldn't hurt. A day at Grace Road used to be an annual tradition for me and my grandad. There just isn't that same logical pathway with the hundred. People turn up and then forget about cricket for 11 months of the year. There's no attempt to build that same loyalty.

It's a bit of a myth, that. Those same crowds would be watching county white-ball games if given the same prime scheduling, exposure and marketing budgets.

Felt we played like defending champions today. So pleasing to see every batter contribute and the weird scenario at the end was a good test for our bowlers and fielders under pressure. Feel for Sam Evans though. Helped to win the final for us and you just wonder where his next game's coming from, despite doing nothing wrong.

Need Trevaskis to shine today, I think. We've batted well but this deck's making it so easy against the seamers.