***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[Manee]

Harmison has taken 2/10 off 5, sticking two fingers (gun pun, itbt) up to the England selectors and pulling clear of Shreck as top wicket taker in Division One by 3 wickets, having played one less match.

 

[Richard]

Can't imagine Harmison would be doing all that much in the ongoing Test TBH.

 

[Goughy]

Can't imagine Harmison would be doing all that much in the ongoing Test TBH.

You wouldnt though would you?

 

[Richard]

Don't suppose anyone knows why Hamish Marshall has bowled so much this season?

Always thought of him as a net-bowler at best. In the current game has been given 6 overs (for 33) without Gidman even bowling, which seems odd TSTL.

 

[Richard]

You wouldnt though would you?

No, I wouldn't. I don't ever see his bowling causing good-quality batting problems, and SA have batted well so far.

 

[Richard]

Have Worcestershire got the best team in the country currently?

Certainly possible methinks.

Mitchell
Moore
Solanki
Smith
Hick
Davies
G Batty
Kabir Ali
Mason
S Jones
Imran Arif

 

[zaremba]

Have Worcestershire got the best team in the country currently?

Certainly possible methinks.

Mitchell
Moore
Solanki
Smith
Hick
Davies
G Batty
Kabir Ali
Mason
S Jones
Imran Arif

No.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

No.

Predictable.

 

[Richard]

Well Sussex's side certainly has more holes in it:
Yardy (still not convinced yet as an opener)
Nash (undoubtedly not an opener)
Adams (woefully out-of-nick this season)
Goodwin
Wright (who I don't rate as you know)
Prior
Hopkinson
Martin-Jenkins
Mushtaq (played a whole 5 games this season)
Lewry
Collymore

 

[Richard]

Essex are probably the only other contenders for mine:
Cook (Chopra when out)
Gallian
Bopara
Pettini
ten Doeschate
Foster
Middlebook
Napier
Masters
Palladino
Danish Kaneria

Even that has holes there and a notably short batting unit.

 

[zaremba]

Who's got the best team on paper? Maybe Durham, maybe Kent.

Which teams have proved themselves consistently the best as teams? Sussex (as any fule kno) followed by the Wet Boys and Durham.

Worcs do have a decent-looking side on paper and we may get the chance next season to see how they get on in Division 1 cricket.

edit: agree with you about Essex btw

 

[Richard]

I'm not talking about who's proven themselves best in recent times - I'm talking about which team appears best currently. Which team you'd pick to win a Championship "final" should such a thing exist and be played tomorrow.

Kent are certainly a fair bet too, forgot of them:
Denly (though he's been awful this year)
Key
van Jaarsveld
Walker (ditto Denly)
Stevens (ditto Denly and Walker)
Kemp (ditto Denly, Walker and Stevens)
G Jones
McLaren
Azhar Mahmood
Yasir Arafat
Saggers(\Joseph)

Not bad.

Durham, though, not at all.

di Venuto
Stoneman (still yet to convince at all)
Smith
Benkenstein
McKenzie\Chanderpaul (both went \ are going so far appallingly this season)
Ben Harmison (ditto Stoneman)
Mustard (worst wicketkeeper-batsman in the country)
Wiseman (what he's doing in the team is beyond me)
Stephen Harmison
Thorp
Should be Davies, but instead it's Onions or even Plunkett

Durham handicap themselves by continuing to pick a nothing fingerspinner. And there are many better batsmen keeping wicket for other counties' second or even third XIs or playing for their counties as specialist batsmen (Adshead, Klokker, Wessels, Cross, New, Nash, Hodd, Frost, Johnson) than Mustard, any of whom they could sign instead of him.

 

[Richard]

And looking at the above two teams, the number of players who for all intents and purposes are overseas is appalling. Not quite Northants\Leics-esque, but still very poor.

I mentioned the number of overseas players Durham have had in recent times and while it doesn't look as bad due to being packed with South Africans (it's more multinational), it's pretty much as poor as Northants and Leics.

 

[zaremba]

I'm not talking about who's proven themselves best in recent times - I'm talking about which team appears best currently. Which team you'd pick to win a Championship "final" should such a thing exist and be played tomorrow.

Notts are top of Div 1 so on that basis I'd say them.

That said, Div 1 is pretty close and the reigning champions have tended to finish seasons well in recent years.

The thing I like about Kent is the absurd length of their batting line-up. Arafat batted at number 11 against us this season IIRC which is ridiculous.

 

[Richard]

Yep, 'tis a great strength. Though Kent have a Broad of their own in Tredwell whose batting appears to be keeping him in the team as a bowler. I honestly think van Jaarsveld is at least as good a spinner as Tredwell, and Walker and Denly probably aren't much worse.

Anyway, yeah, Notts is worth a bet too actually...

Wood (poor form this season)
Wagh
Voges
Patel
Shafayat
Read
Swann
Ealham \ Broad
Adams
Pattinson
Sidebottom (Franks to stand-in when absent)

Pretty damn good bench-strength in the bowling if not the batting. The top-six is weak, even though there are plenty of all-rounders.

 

[zaremba]

Somerset are starting to look a little ominous this afternoon...

 

[Richard]

Hope de Bruyn can start scoring some.

 

[zaremba]

58 off 55 balls so far

 

[Richard]

Haha, yikes, hadn't noticed his SR.

And this isn't even Taunton!

 

[zaremba]

Well 77 and out, Banger looking set for a hundred and Sussex not safe despite scoring 419 in their first innings