Zorrovolpe

It's a peculiar situation for Jamie Clapham at Loughborough, losing 50-75% of his squad every summer as the lads graduate and leave; it's then a case of trying to get the new cohort up to speed without the team being cut too far adrift in the table. He'll occasionally take L1/L2 youth players on short-term loans if there's an injury crisis, but generally sticks with the youngsters he's got. They seem to be feistier and more direct this year (less tippy-tappy stuff that hasn't served them well in the past) and they aren't being dominated by the opposition's 30-something cloggers.

If we'd reached the One Day Cup final in the manner that Middx did (7 wins in the group stage), that might have strengthened the case for AT/CH, but we limped over the line after some turgid performances. As you say, the T20 was an utter disgrace. Another black mark for me is their choices of captain in some cases. Kimber and Green for the T20 didn't work, and Eskinazi would have been out of the One Day Cup side some time ago had he not been captain. Ben Cox, to me, is captain material; one or two interviews (e.g. after the home 4-day defeat v Sussex) suggest that he doesn't suffer fools gladly. Perhaps AT/CH aren't comfortable dealing with that strength of character. I think the Cox situation (plus others who are/seem to be leaving) is pivotal. We don't know the scale of fallouts between the coaches and squad; for example, I think it's the right moment for Rishi Patel to leave because he's not really kicked on (several others have also stagnated in terms of development), but I'd like to know more about why. I think it was Bert who said he chatted with RP, and he didn't seem that keen on leaving. The squad is not that big, and if AT/CH can't maintain a minimum of harmony, that's a fail in any manager's annual performance review. The other question is who else might be available to replace them...?

Frostbite was more of an issue for me until about 5 p.m. (on row Z of the Acrisure stand) but then a bit of sun finally struggled in even up there. A different story if you weren't under cover, I guess.

Exactly, which is why Polanski's lack of substance should be called out and mocked. If you purport to speak a language that you don't, you're setting yourself up for a fall. If a party can't get its act together to research which languages might have a resonance in a given constituency, they're not going to be able to cope with any real responsibility. Polanski and co. have had a very easy ride so far. It's not long ago that the Green candidate for the Manchester mayoral elections was crowing about how she'd reduced Labour's vote share (but seemed unconcerned that the Reform candidate had decimated hers), so I would expect Labour to be giving Polanski both barrels over the next few years.

Aside from the harshness of the deduction and the inconsistency of not applying punishments uniformly, this issue puts the spotlight on Henderson and Thomas again. We've somehow made it to the One Day Cup final (despite being far from impressive), but there's been the disgraceful T20 campaign (Derby's powerplay was probably the worst 30-40 mins of play I have seen at GR), poor choices of overseas bowler (anyone on here could tell you we needed a quick), starting the season with a competition winner taking the new ball, and countless stories of friction between players/coaches. And now this. Earlier on this thread, someone rightly said that we're more competitive under them, but then, with the extra resources we now have, and the contracts we can offer, that's an absolute minimum. Perhaps others disagree, but for me Henderson and Thomas have to go regardless of this weekend's result.

Given how many wickets went down on the first day, and in order to avoid a further points deduction for this match (because only Leics tend to get these punishments, of course), perhaps the safest thing to do would be to ensure that Hants get 500-600 on the board in this second innings. Just bowl gentle medium pace / part-time bowlers.

Yes, there need to be changes for the final games; would be good to see Budinger back in, especially after his innings for the reserves. Eskinazi seems totally out of form, and I'm not sure if we can wait/hope for Rishi's one great innings in 7 or 8.

We were probably always likely to have to bat for the best part of two days to be certain of getting something out of this game. At least we're more likely to start batting tomorrow now, rather than being 23-4 at close of play today.

Couldn't resist leaving a comment to that effect under the Glam/Hants match report on the BBC website. It's gone down as well as I had hoped 🙂.

Not a good sign if the match officials have called for there to be a post-match pitch inspection. What a golden opportunity for the ECB to give us a points deduction - making relegation odds on - and ensure that their beloved Surrey have a better chance of staying up. I bet they're drafting the charge sheet as we speak.

Ben Green is a massive loss in the CC with multiple wickets at about 25; some of the other bowlers need to step up at long last. I don't know if Davey has been carrying an injury; I was hoping for the sort of impact that Chris Wright had early on in his career here, but that's not materialized yet.

A strike rate of 41.56, and he's faced nearly 13 overs of bowling. All the hallmarks of someone out of form who is playing for himself to get any sort of score.

A really good stint from him today, which begs the question of why he was not signed for the T20 (where we needed some control in the bowling). Although there've been factors beyond the coaches' control as regards this year's overseas signings, this needs to be part of the post-season inquest, together with the underperformance of various players. Regardless of what we do in the One Day Cup, if we're relegated from the CC, then certain people's time should probably be up.

I'm not sure why Rishi Patel isn't getting a bowl as 6th bowler (or maybe 4th/5th). It's pretty obvious that spin is our strong suit, and he wouldn't be any worse than certain people who are *still* being given a bowl. Questions need to be asked about why the seamers are underperforming so badly / expensively.

Looks like there's a place for Ben Mike high up.the order (depending on Sol's health, perhaps as opener). Without his early impetus and runs we would have lost that. Kelly needs to buck his ideas up, and fast; I don't know if Ajaz Patel is/could be contracted for T20, but I would rather have him in the side at the moment, than Kelly. There's Tattersall if we need somebody to amble along at (less than) a run a ball; an overseas batter should be taking more responsibility. Bit worried about Ben Green's T20 batting and bowling and I hope this win gives him confidence.