Zorrovolpe

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.

Eskinazi certainly shouldn't be in the team for the next match. What on earth does he bring to a powerplay? Scratching ones and twos and swiping aimlessly. He's a steady and valuable contributor to the four day side, but seems a fish out of water as a T20 opener.

No need for silly sarcasm. Anyone who watches an opening spell from Ben Mike in a T20 can usually spot from the first few balls whether he's spraying it all over the place and being clouted to the boundary, or whether he's focused and "on it" that evening. If the T20 team balance allowed it, I'd have Mike in as a middle order batsman to add some acceleration, and as 6th/7th bowler to "buy" a wicket around the 10-12th over if the game is slipping away from us.

I don't think anyone's questioning his batting potential; someone's just made the case for moving him up the order. There's just frustration at his inability to bowl economically, and at his ability to lose you a T20 match if he has a bad first couple of overs. You can normally tell within minutes if this is going to happen.

Utter lunacy on a day like this, when there are likely to be the best batting conditions of the four days, and a chance to rack up some batting points. I don't think anyone on this forum would say that the Leics bowling unit is stronger than its batting - do the coaches not recognise this? If Leics had 500+ on the board first and then bowled, who knows what effect a bit of scoreboard pressure might have...? Will we ever find out ?! 🙄

The BBC report suggests cramp, and that he'll be back tomorrow. 🤞 Hopefully we can score enough to give Glam some awkward sessions on the final day - though I don't know if the wicket will be doing anything by then.

Does anyone know how much of the season this rules him out for ? He's been somewhat underwhelming so far in the Championship, and I suspect he would have been pretty much undroppable given who he is. Wouldn't be too displeased with Tattersall replacing him as a batsman at this current point in time, given Rehan's lack of runs.

Had a really enjoyable afternoon at the football, watching a committed team make themselves almost mathematically safe from relegation. Obviously, it wasn't at the King Power. It's been said before on these threads, but I'll reiterate it: if you've not moved over to non-league yet, now's the time (for your mental health if nothing else). All of us will always have a bond with LCFC but now is the time to step back and go to watch one of the Step 3 / 4 / 5 teams on your doorstep. £8 to see Loughborough Students today, lovely staff, comfy bar / cafe, and total commitment from the players. The Swansea goalflash on my phone raised little more than a sardonic chuckle. Give it a try, it's really worth it.

I would be surprised if either Lewis or Rishi were dropped after a single game (unless there's some serious issue) because it generally just doesn't happen if you take man management seriously. That said, we can't be too indulgent, otherwise we could be looking at relegation even by mid-May. At least we now have some top order competition (Budinger) and another middle order option (Tattersall), compared with previous years.

This is a query about tax / finance rather than "investments", but this seems the best thread for it. I'd really appreciate any thoughts about hiring (tax) accountants regarding income tax returns. HMRC think that I should move from simple assessment to self assessment. I suspect that exceeding the 10K annual bank interest threshold has triggered this. My tax return shouldn't be that complex. Income from a (very) part-time job until July '26, then early retirement and an occupational pension kicking in at that point. Other income will be interest from around a dozen different building societies. Nothing remotely complex like shares, foreign assets, etc. I don't particularly want to try and do the return myself (I can see myself making errors / losing patience). But then again, some people who use tax accountants complain about the sheer volume of information that they request; if you're spending so much time digging up info and figures for them, mightn't you be better off doing it yourself...? 🤔 Any advice much appreciated - many thanks. 👍

Ian Holloway would be proud of that analogy !

Really pleasing to see a big hundred at long last (other Leics batters please take note). If we're to have a chance of staying up next season, we're going to need batsmen to adopt a different mindset and capitalize properly on their centuries.

Looks like a quality earcupper, so would fit in perfectly here.

I guess most of us would have accepted 7th place finishes in the white ball competitions in exchange for promotion in the four day game. But we've been fairly poor across the board since the end of June, culminating in today's dismal result, and that's a concern.

Yes... it's pretty obvious *who* should have the ball in his hand at this point.

I never want to see Kimber in the XI for a four day game again. His whole demeanour suggested that he wasn't going to last more than ten minutes. Regardless of the pitch, from a collective perspective, that's some of the most idiotic batting we've ever produced (and I include the era when Ned Eckersley was single handedly getting LCCC into three figures every innings).

Not sure we need an overseas "hitter". As shown yesterday, we need(ed) an experienced head coming in at 3/4 to anchor an innings with an assertive 60-70. Basically what we hired Masood for, if he'd done his job properly. We seemed short of batting options this year (and still do). Bowling was inconsistent all year; difficult to think of anyone who had two good, consecutive T20 games. People like Salisbury started well but then seemed to be sussed out by the opposition, and discarded. Hull has not yet shown much evidence of being an economical bowler in any format, and should not be bowling at the death.

Looks like Ben Mike is back in the squad... looking forward to some tight, controlled, miserly bowling 🤞🙂. Anyone know why Chris Wright doesn't seem to be an option for the Blast? I'd take four overs of nagging line and length over anything else right now, especially after yesterday. Rishi P. really needs a score too.

Budinger was mesmerising this evening, a real.privilege to be there to witness that; not aimless slogging either, a magnificent range of shots. Slightly strange to basically win a game in the first 7 overs of each innings... and then largely lose their way each time. I was hoping that Kimber would make a score tonight to firm up his captaincy credentials, but hopefully that will come.

Looks spot on to me. Cannot remember a Leics side with that depth of batting.

Outstanding session 👋. Given the weather forecast, I just hope we have enough time to put serious pressure on Lancs, and that they aren't saved by the rain as at Old Trafford. Monday is not looking good and there's a shower around early this evening too. So - assuming we get there - how soon should we declare after 350, with probably only 3 days' play available? While Harris is probably due a score in the 2nd innings, I don't see the rest of them causing much trouble.

Couldn't agree more over Kimber. He wouldn't have been an automatic pick (for me) in the T20 side, let alone as captain. He seems to have enormous credit in the bank with the coaches, but as you say, his recent form has been dismal. What is someone like Trevaskis going to make of this...? If people start to think that a meritocracy is being bypassed, that's damaging in any environment. For me, this is the only worry in what's otherwise been an impressive start by the team this season.

Quite a good move to put Lancs in, if you look at the weather forecast. Anyone batting first is likely to have the disruption of rain breaks, whereas whoever bats second is likely to see the best of the conditions (Saturday p.m. and Sunday).