***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[zaremba]

Wonder if Will Beer's performances - should he keep them up - will manage to get him a game or two for Sussex in the last part of the season?

Beer will be 3rd or even 4th in the pecking order at Sussex, behind Mushy (when he returns from injury), Rayner (OB) and possibly Tom Smith (SLA). However he is a good prospect and played in the MCC v Champion County fixture at the start of the season.

His match figures of 58-22-99-8 are pretty impressive, even if only in the U19s.

BTW I would agree that playing in a County Championship match would always be preferable to playing U19s cricket.

 

[Richard]

Beer will be 3rd or even 4th in the pecking order at Sussex, behind Mushy (when he returns from injury), Rayner (OB) and possibly Tom Smith (SLA). However he is a good prospect and played in the MCC v Champion County fixture at the start of the season.

Can understand Mushtaq (obviously) and Rayner (who's had a few good games recently) but it'd seem a bit odd if Smith was ahead of a wristspinner, should he go well in the under-19 stuff.

Mind, I haven't taken any notice of how they've gone for Sussex 2nds, presuming both have played regularly.

 

[zaremba]

Smith is potentially a high-quality left armer, captains the 2nds and bats in the lower-middle order (although Rayner and Beer can both bat too). He is very highly rated at Sussex. I've hardly seen him bowl myself but when I have he's been very impressive.

I agree, of course, that you'd always want a top-class wrist spinner over a top-class finger spinner. But put it this way, I'd rather have Monty Panesar than Chris Schofield bowling for my team.

Time will tell how good these three are, and which of them make it.

 

[Goughy]

Its amazing, it doesn't sound like there is a bad cricketer in Sussex

 

[zaremba]

Its amazing, it doesn't sound like there is a bad cricketer in Sussex

At last, the penny is starting to drop!

This year's championship triumph will make it a hat-trick of titles.

Actually the real weakness of the Sussex team is the opening partnership which has been very poor this season, and the seam bowling - in particular the lack of any bowlers of real pace.

 

[Manee]

Kabir Ali with 3/55 off 12 continues his role as the Worcestershire spearhead by sending his strike rate this season in CC down to 31.6. Incidentally, Simon Jones' strike rate this season, albeit off two less matches, is 28.0.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Kabir Ali with 3/55 off 12 continues his role as the Worcestershire spearhead by sending his strike rate this season in CC down to 31.6. Incidentally, Simon Jones' strike rate this season, albeit off two less matches, is 28.0.

And they've still drawn half their games. Baffles.

 

[Perm]

Why hasn't Kabir Ali played more Test cricket? He has a couple of matches under his belt doesn't he....?

 

[PhoenixFire]

Ramps misses out on his 100th 100 yet again....

 

[Manee]

My wild, out of the blue spotting of talent comes to some sort of fruition as Chris Wright takes 4/30 off 13.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Why hasn't Kabir Ali played more Test cricket? He has a couple of matches under his belt doesn't he....?

One match, in 2003 I believe. He took five wickets in the match, but bowled pretty shockingly. They were all tail-enders or bad batting. Was never picked again, and his poor ODI performances didn't really push his case much.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

One match, in 2003 I believe. He took five wickets in the match, but bowled pretty shockingly. They were all tail-enders or bad batting. Was never picked again, and his poor ODI performances didn't really push his case much.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/engine/match/64041.html

Wasnt that bad tbh. Very bowler friendly conditions in the first innings though if i remember correctly.

 

[Richard]

Kabir Ali bowled far better than plenty of debutants have done in that match, though obviously still fairly poorly. But it seems Vaughan simply got a bee in his bonnet about him, and there's little point picking bowlers who a captain rates so little that he hardly bowls them. Hence he's never been selected again.

I doubt he ever will be either. Though he's patently three or four times the bowler Sajid Mahmood or Liam Plunkett have ever been.

 

[GIMH]

I think his abysmal ODI bowling really did put a nail in the coffin

Hey Rich, you not posting in the Eng-SA thread, not seen you there since this morning

 

[Richard]

Was playing earlier today (somehow!) TBH, so hence no posting.

Same thing tomorrow, too. First session only for me.

If of course that is we don't call off tomorrow as we should have today.

 

[Furball]

Broad 3-40 for Notts today.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Ali becomes the first bowler past 50 wickets this season with a 6-for.

Comfertably outbowling Jones!

 

[Richard]

Of all the bowlers mentioned as having a right for "WTF"-ing when Pattinson was picked, Kabir Ali really is perhaps as much one of them as Hoggard and Tremlett.

Pattinson hasn't even been as impressive this season as Kabir has.

 

[Richard]

Oh, and I see Adam Shantry's found a third county. Truly inexplicable how someone who has done as extraordinarily well as he has in his career, which started a few years ago now, hasn't managed to nail-down a place.

Sums-up everything that's wrong with the English game that countless utterly rubbish bowlers (and not just the Chris Whelans, Chris Wrights, Mark Turners and Gareth Andrews) get long or long-ish stints in teams. Then you get the likes of Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett playing for England when they're not even county-standard bowlers and very possibly never will be. And someone who's done as well as Shantry has near enough every time he's stepped on the park can't even get a run.

Hopefully in a weak side like Glamorgan he can actually get a good few games on the trot.

 

[Richard]

Why on Earth did Robert Croft open in the First-Class game for Glamorgan?!

Not surprisingly, falling to Napier for 7.