CrawlingFox

A lot of wickets falling everywhere this first session. Big opportunity for Swindells and worst case Kimbo probably has another double ton at t20 pace in him.

Kimber was f***ing magnificent. He's not had a great season prior to this but on song he's absolute box office. Gutted we fell just short but absolutely brilliant we (Kimber) gave it one hell of a go instead of tamely trying to cling on for an unlikely draw like other sides would have.

Goldsworthy only here for the Blast and the 2 CC games currently. Be very surprised if we keep him for the One Day Cup as they lose about 8 players to the Hundred themselves.

Holland has opened for much of his career I think? Goldsworthy also spent much of his career in Somerset's seconds batting quite high up and I think was seen as a batting all rounder initially, though he's certainly had success bowling in recent times.

This is going well.

Currie has been great as has Goldsworthy. I saw we extended the loan deal of the latter to include the next couple CC games (I think) so that seems like good business.

Our batting has been very frustrating. Patel has been absolutely incredible and I think could be playing franchise cricket all winter if he keeps it up. Kimber and Budinger are the other hitters and haven't really come off yet aside from one knock from the latter. Mike can also hit a long ball and contributed some important runs against Yorks but other than that continues to frustrate by having all the talent but absolutely no consistency. Patel needs some more support from these three I feel.

I think we should look at Scotland’s McMullen as someone who could bat at 3 for the rest of the Blast. A serious hitter and can bowl as well.

Patel has blossomed into a really serious player across white and red ball. Great to see players like he, Hull and Ahmed developing into top county players with us.

Hull consistently over 90mph on the Yorkshire speed gun. Fastest ball in his first two overs was 93.8mph.

Now that Scotland are out of the World Cup we could do a lot worse than looking at Munsey or McMullen to add some top order firepower for the rest of the Blast.

Mike's economy at 9.68 this season is the clear weak link in our bowling. Next highest is Hull at 8.4 which isn't too bad. Currie is at 8.18 and Kimber at 8 then everyone else impressively lower than 8. Goldsworthy at 5.63!

Mike hits a long ball so could be worth a go. Can't imagine him being worse than Lilley who batted at 3 for years for us with sporadic returns. If Budinger is out then only Mike or Kimber are his equal in terms of strike rate in my opinion.

Prior to us signing Cox I've consistently see him described as a sort of old school wicketkeeper who is gloves first and bat second and one of the best glovemen in county cricket. So no doubt he'll come good but have to wonder if we'd have still signed him if it hadn't of been sorted prior to Swindells resurgence.

A properly dominant win. Great to see, especially against Yorkshire. Pleased to see Budinger go so well, his playing style means he's ideal for t20 and I hope that knock means his confidence is now sky high.

Lower than opening or lower than where he batted today? I'd not open with him but think he could be very effective further up than 7 or 8 in this format, he hits a long ball and other than Kimber I don't think we have anyone else who is likely to consistently score at a s/r around 150. I think these two are our only big hitters unless Budinger comes off so hopefully Mike has something of a breakthrough t20 batting season coming in at 5 or 6 and going big in the second half of the innings.

You only have 110 overs to go after the batting points. We were on 118 at the declaration I think.

Think it depends on what he plans to do in Australia. Can only play as a local in one test nation's league, for instance Nick Welch had to play as overseas in Zimbabwe until we released him and Charlie Hemphrey was released by Glamorgan a couple years ago after playing as a local player in Aus as he wasn't worth an overseas slot for Glam.

I feel like we have good power hitting in the middle/lower in Kimber, Mike and perhaps Trevaskis who I thought was good in the One Day Cup last season with the bat though his T20 record isn't great. Mulder and Handscomb are solid players in this format though not specialists like some other counties will have recruited. So I think there is a lot of pressure on Budinger, Patel and Hill at the top of the order if we're to be succesful but they're good players so we have a chance. We probably need all 3 to have their best t20 seasons though. My other concern would probably be our bowling. I think Ahmed and Trevaskis are solid in the spin department but beyond Mulder we don't have anyone with a good record when it comes to pace. Career t20 economy rates (23 Blast in brackets): Hull: 9.64 (9.64) Scriven: 9.22 (9.29) Salisbury: 9.39 (10.5) Walker: 9.07 (7 (1 game)) Currie: 8.70 (8.97) Mike: 10.40 (11.58) I'd be inclined to go with Currie who has solid experience for his age and Hull who I feel will continue to go from strength to strength with more games. Scrivo unlucky to miss out as I like him. Mike was actually pretty decent for us in his last season but reverted to outrageously expensive last season for Yorkshire so who knows with him but he's a potential fourth pace option. Budinger Patel Hill Handscomb Mulder Kimber Ahmed Trevaskis Mike Currie Hull My gut feel is that we don't have a big enough hitter in the top 5 unless Budinger comes good. Maybe Kimber could move up? Maybe even Mike could bat higher - he can certainly clear the ropes. Who knows what will happen this season, if lots of players have been watching the IPL and come out looking for 200+ as the par score then it could go either way! I feel like our side looks a bit solid but uninspiring if I'm honest but it's a group of players with the right attitude and work rate so hoping they can show up some other sides whom maybe have more fireworks on paper.

There can't be many better 10s than Scrivo with the bat. Great work from he and Handscomb.

Great news. I feel really confident in our batting with Harris and Handscomb in the side.

The return of 40 over cricket, especially with the 50 over One Day Cup in it's watered down 'development' state, would be an absolute no brainer to me and could be a great way to kick off the season.

I feel like a top 4 of Patel, Harris, Hill and Handscomb would be top quality and ensure we had a good platform. Then a middle order of Kimber, Mike and Ahmed/Trevaskis would offer the potential of rapid runs to take advantage though perhaps not much insurance if the top 4 didn't fire. Cox at 8 for his keeping with Scrivo at 9 means there would be batting to come though. Then two bowlers so still a 5 man attack.

Frustrating.

I think Kimber scored his first class ton at 3. Though it was on an absolute road if I remember. Budinger averages less than 20 with a high score of 70 odd so not sure he's the answer in the long format either. Worth a go if Kimber carries on his current form though.