***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[GIMH]

(Y) one of the best things about this thread this season has been the above double act, IMO

 

[bryce]

Couldn't have done it without the mesmeric talents of Wiseman

 

[fredfertang]

I thought Zaremba wrote his own material?

 

[stumpski]

Out most of yesterday, and had to be content with teletext updates, but really the matter was largely settled on Friday. Notts' failure to bowl Hampshire out then more or less sealed their fate.

Kent and Notts the two big chokers of the season, one losing two finals, the other pipped at the last in both league competitions. I feel a bit for the Durham lads as well, no doubt it was a pitiful attendance at Canterbury yesterday - and of course when they won the FPT last year it was only on the reserve day - but the journey back to the north-east must have been spirited, to say the least. I hope they at least had a team bus to celebrate on, as they must have been somewhere in Yorkshire when they heard Notts had lost.

Can't say I'm too sorry to reach the end of the season, it lasts the best part of six months now; now it's time to tackle all the jobs around the house that require my urgent attention.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Anyone else watching the Club Twenty20 finals day?

Will be supporting Stanmore here, (a) being the London/South East region, (b) they're playing a Cornish side and (c) their wicketkeeper is a former Exeter player, Will Hanson.

Cannot believe that Mark Fell is still playing for Bracebridge - must be nigh on fifty by now... he was old when he took my Level 1 coaching course six years ago...

 

[Richard]

Exciting. Rashid scores a ton and takes 7 wickets (9 for the match I think).

Remarkable that Rashid's bowling-figures now look semi-decent, when in reality he's bowled very poorly for much of the season.

Thank God he wasn't picked in the India tour-party.

 

[Richard]

Congratulations to Durham - what a fantastic performance, worthy winners and a thumping win to seal it. They've been the best team this season and their transformation from novices to also-rans to champions has been great to see.

It's pretty straightforward when you recruit nobody WAns with British parents who turn-out to be masterstroke signings, get Australians with Italian heritage and Kolpak-ing South Africans, plus one of the best overseas batsmen in The World, playing for you. Oh, and sign some nobody Kiwi spinner who barely bowls but plays every game of the season. Oh, and nick some no-one batsman from another county who has his first decent season at the 4th time of asking just as you've signed him.

Durham's only home-grown players who've played much of a part in the success have been Stephen Harmison and Mark Davies, both of whom are excellent county bowlers.

.... and all without a significant contribution from Plunkett or Onions ....

Is that a surprise?

(Let's note here, there are few if any counties in contention for honours this season who've developed their own players, but Durham are one of the most outrageous beneficiary of imports)

 

[zaremba]

but Durham are one of the most outrageous benefactors of imports

What's a benefactor of imports?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Remarkable that Rashid's bowling-figures now look semi-decent, when in reality he's bowled very poorly for much of the season.

Thank God he wasn't picked in the India tour-party.

That squad isnt announced till tomorrow. Unless you know something we dont Although i doubt very much Rashid will be picked. I'm going for Monty as first choice with Patel as 2nd / backup. Swann as 2nd choice wouldnt be too much of a shock either.

 

[Richard]

What's a benefactor of imports?

Meant beneficiary, of course.

 

[Richard]

That squad isnt announced till tomorrow. Unless you know something we dont Although i doubt very much Rashid will be picked. I'm going for Monty as first choice with Patel as 2nd / backup. Swann as 2nd choice wouldnt be too much of a shock either.

Really? Thought it'd been named and Vaughan had been excluded.

Swann simply has to be the 2nd spinner IMO. Be madness to go for anyone else.

 

[zaremba]

You're extremely harsh on Durham, imo, Richard. Yes they've used imports but they've clearly got them playing well which is not something that every county has managed at all (cf Leicesterhamptonkolpakshire), and no county has managed so well. Steve Harmison and Davies have been magic. Ben Harmison has also come on quite well. Overall I think that now is the time to praise them for what they've achieved, which is to come from nowhere in the space of a very few seasons to become the best team in the country.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Well if you class Pattinson as an Aussie then Notts and Somerset have more wickets from imports than Durham. In fact Somerset's two leading wicket-takers are imports.

While Durham rely a lot on runs from imports, they've been without the services of Collingwood virtually all season.

Notts bought in Sidebottom & Broad in the first place.

 

[Richard]

And if one were to actually read rather than being idiotic and using ignore-lists and only going on what they see quoted they'd actually notice that I've mentioned several times that Notts (EDIT: and Somerset) would scarcely have been more credible winners than Durham from the homegrown POV.

 

[Richard]

You're extremely harsh on Durham, imo, Richard. Yes they've used imports but they've clearly got them playing well which is not something that every county has managed at all (cf Leicesterhamptonkolpakshire), and no county has managed so well. Overall I think that now is the time to praise them for what they've achieved, which is to come from nowhere in the space of a very few seasons to become the best team in the country.

Undoubtedly so - but not to lose sight of the fact that they've done this for the most part by importing players, and mainly from overseas. I don't really think it's that much of an achievement to get di Venuto, Benkenstein and Chanderpaul (and for a whole 1 game Albie Morkel) playing well - they were all doing it for a long time long before they joined Durham.

Steve Harmison and Davies have been magic. Ben Harmison has also come on quite well.

You're kidding, surely? Harmison Jnr. has averaged 16. His best score of the season was 39. For someone who scored centuries in his first 2 First-Class innings', the rest of his career to date has been rather a major disappointment.

You have to think another import, Garry Park, has got rather a raw deal in getting just 1 game in the season while Harmison and Stoneman produced failure after failure.

 

[Swervy]

only Richard could take the sheen off a Championship title for a team who only a few seasons back were thought of as being not worthy of first class cricket.

 

[BoyBrumby]

only Richard could take the sheen off a Championship title for a team who only a few seasons back were thought of as being not worthy of first class cricket.

Kills an atmosphere quicker than a French kiss at a family reunion, our Dicko. For all the Kolpaks/EU passported players Durham have used they've also had 4 genuinely local lads move into the England sqaud of late and a lot more: Onions, Killeen, Muchall, Harmison minor, Stoneman & Scott are also locally born (if that matters) & raised.

 

[Richard]

Yep, and Mustard, Plunkett, Onions, Muchall, Harmison Jnr, Stoneman and Scott are all rubbish - the lattermost hasn't even played this season. Killeen is a decent bowler but has been forced-out of the Championship side by the Aussie\Kiwi-with-British-parent Wisemans, Thorps and Claydons.

Only a tiny number of local Durham players are any good whatsoever. If these players were the only ones playing (and yes, obviously that doesn't happen anywhere) Durham would be a bottom-ranking second-division team. Durham have gotten better in recent years by recruiting overseas-players, not by producing local players of calibre. Anyone can do that, with the right imports who perform well. Northants', Leics', etc. haven't. Durham's and Somerset's have. So they're the ones who are near the top.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Oh how I wish you were the overlord and dictator of county cricket.

 

[Goughy]

Congrats to Durham.

A real hotbed of cricket, of strong leagues and talented players.