*Official* English Domestic Season 2006

[luckyeddie]

Rikki takes Sidebottom apart - destroys his 4-3 figures with a sparkling boundary (probably through the slips but who cares?)

Go, Zitti Clarke.

 

[Haddin]

What have you all got against Rikki Clarke? I think he is a quality player.

 

[superkingdave]

What have you all got against Rikki Clarke? I think he is a quality player.

we all love trikki rikki. I see now they've had to take Sidebottom off after Clarke's assault

 

[Haddin]

I won't bother, if you want to be a bunch of idiots and make fun of him, fine with me. But its childish.

 

[luckyeddie]

I won't bother, if you want to be a bunch of idiots and make fun of him, fine with me. But its childish.

Neil and I formed 'Clarkewatch' a few years ago to publicise the player who many thought at the time was the future of English cricket - we even had a day out last year to watch our hero when he played against Gloucestershire at Brizzle, and plan to have a few this year.

So watch who you are calling 'childish idiot', you bread-stealing convict.

Rikki is twice the player Brad Haddin is.

Actually, no - Ian Blackwell is twice the player Brad Haddin is.

As I say that, his innings takes on an entirely different perspective - from game-saver, he switches into game-dominator mode and races on to 21*

 

[luckyeddie]

What have you all got against Rikki Clarke? I think he is a quality player.

Your choice of userid and avatar demonstrate admirably your soundness of judgement too, I might add

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Sidebottom to get three ODIs and 20-0-125-? against Sri Lanka this summer.

 

[marc71178]

Neil and I formed 'Clarkewatch' a few years ago to publicise the player who many thought at the time was the future of English cricket - we even had a day out last year to watch our hero when he played against Gloucestershire at Brizzle, and plan to have a few this year.

Give us Clarkewatch virgins plenty of warning please!

 

[Neil Pickup]

Umm do you mean the ground in general or a specific ground, Neil?

Its been quite dry recently, cold like the arctic, but dry. Taking the dog for a walk has been thankfully mud-free, and a lovely view of the estuary, and t'other side, across the town

Really only looking for ground in general - can remember wandering past the County Ground on Prince of Wales Road in February to see seagulls chasing one another through puddles on the outfield, and lost plenty of football games to the elements (same week as Stevenage went) - so I've still got that image in my head atm and I'm desperate for it to dry up ahead of 24/26/27 April for my first three matches of the season there.

 

[William]

Davies top scores with 42 off 37 balls.

How young is too young for an England wicket keeper?

 

[Neil Pickup]

What have you all got against Rikki Clarke? I think he is a quality player.

Long, long story. To several of us, Rikki symbolised pretty much everything that was wrong with English cricket when he got fast-tracked into the England side as nothing much more than a kid in 2003. Needless to say, he was about as successful as a cross between Mick Lewis and Adam Bacher.

Since then, for some unknown reason, we've found ourselves inexorably drawn towards him. I don't know if it's some kind of extra-terrestrial power, or whether we're simply beyond help, but - at least for me - he's now one of my favourite players. I guess trekking all the way to Bristol to watch the great man live had something to do with it.

I can't imagine Rikki had ever heard someone calling for him to be brought on to bowl before, and we were rewarded with his best performance, ever. ClarkeWatch's mission for 2006 is to a) get Rikki to know of our existence, and b) get our photo taken with him.

Long story short: It's all light-hearted banter. Lighten up, Ben

 

[DanielFullard]

Davies top scores with 42 off 37 balls.

How young is too young for an England wicket keeper?

I rate him very highly indeed. Funnily enough I was just thinking about this before. Now I for one am very much against rushing players into the England side as soon as they show a glimmer of potential just for the sake of trying them out and giving them experince. A good long season of domestic Cricket is far more beneficial in my view. But in all honesty Davies no matter what age deserves his chance as he is one of the best Keepers in the country at this point and can bat a bit too.

 

[DanielFullard]

Critics are divided over Durham. Some say they are relegation fodder and others say they are underdogs to sneak the title in the LVCC.

The truth lies between the two. We are too good to go down yet not good enough to challenge. Id love to see us challenege I really would, but I must be realistic. We dont have the depth of Bowlers to be a contendor at the top. Harmison will rarely play and same goes for Plunkett. With Gibson and Lewis likely to be the leaders of our attack in most games backed by Davies. Onions has been away working on his game in India and really looked great in the friendly this week but again Im not sure he will get much play and Killen in his benefit year is unpredictable. Mark Turner is a good up and coming bowler with genuine pace and accuary although he does give away a lot of extras and needs more time at 'A' level I think but I would be dissapointed if he didn't get at least 3-4 games at first-class level this season. Ben Harmison has come on leaps and bounds with the ball so hopefully he will be an assest.

Also, our spinners are unproven. Bridge and Breese will concede a heck of a lot of runs. Barrick looks like a great prospect as our third spinner but I fear he won't get his chance.

The more I think about it the more I worry about our bowling attack.

 

[marc71178]

Another Harmison.

Richard to write him off in 5..4..3..

 

[DanielFullard]

He is a cracking player and if he is brought into the side at any time during the season I would have faith he will perform and proove himself at the top level. But up to this point he is only a "prospect". He has always impressed as a Batsmen at whatever level he has played at but without a run at the top level its hard to tell how he will do. Against good bowling when others in the team have stuggled he has been the one to shine and the scorecards for the 'A' side last year are dominated by him outscoring everyone else with ease. His bowling has came on leaps and bounds and when I saw him bowl yesterday I was suprised how darn good he looked.

Regardless, its a big season for Harmison and if he continues to progress and prooves himself at the highest level of County Cricket, if given the chance, he may go all the way to the top for Durham and England.

I would give him the nod against Kent in the opener to be honest. Im not sure how the team will shape up but putting Ben in there at number 4 or 5 or even lower down the order to give some batting depth would be my choice. After all, what is the point of spending the season wondering if he is going to make it, wondering if he will live up to the potential. I say get him in that team next week and see how he does. If he bats poorly and is only in the lower orders then its worth the risk. If he bowls badly in his overs simply stop using him in the match. He has to be put in there at some point this season and why not make it the first game. Especially if Kent aren't expecting him

 

[DanielFullard]

R J Sidebottom 16.0 6 42 4
M A Ealham 14.0 7 26 3

Thats impressive bowling.

Latest update from the game...

Notts are 54-2 with Gallian and Hussey at the crease on 27 and 19 respectively.

Bresnan the young Yorkshire lad is having another good day with ball by the looks of things

 

[DanielFullard]

Westwood has reached 119* at tea in the Warwickshire game and with Knights 79 and Trott approaching his half-century they are 271-1 against Cambrdige UCCE.

Essex are 280-3 against Loughbrough UCCE. Pettini went out for 72, with G Flower creepingover a half-century. A Flower is currently on 66* with foster on 22*.

Derbyshire's CR Taylor is approaching his century going into tea with 89*. Di Ventuo got 88 but Birt and Stubbings failed to really get going getting 5 and 12. Hassan Adan is 33* giving a total of 23-3 for Derbyshire.

Durham UCCE (The Uni I attend) are down at Surrey who are 375-4 thanks to 89 from Newman, 67 from Ramprakash, 47 from Butcher and 23 from J Batty. Brown is on 73* and Benning on 39* but rain has stopped play for the moment.

I think rain must have effected the game between Sussex and Cardiff UCCE too as they only have 35 overs in reaching 118-3 with Mushtaq Ahmed on 6-3-9-2

Yorkshire are flying with 375-3 against Leeds/Brad UCCE with A McGrath retiring on 151 and Sayers notching up 116 and opener Matt Wood going strong on 64 not out

 

[Neil Pickup]

Looking forward to another summer of Exeter University beating UCCEs and making the system look daft once again.

 

[Langeveldt]

Those are absolutely sensational photos.

What's your gear?

Thanks eddie

As Neil said, Canon EOS350D with Canon EF100-400mm/f5.6 lens, Velbon Tripod and a gigs of Sandisk CF memory..

 

[luckyeddie]

Give us Clarkewatch virgins plenty of warning please!

let me get myself sorted out first then I'll talk to Neil about setting the first one up