All things white ball 2023

[exile]

It wasn't a 350 pitch, although it had been in a previous match, but our bowlers were only going through the motions. Can't blame them.  The last thing we might have expected, having won the toss, is that we would repeat the mistake made by Notts on Tuesday but that's Lancs for you.  That said, if we had put Gloucs in and gone on to win, I would still argue that the integrity of the competition is undermined if the pitch doesn't offer both sides a reasonably equal chance.  This one certainly didn't and it hasn't been the only one in this competition in recent years.  

[Admin]

Being the sad anorak that I am often check who has been on the forum, yesterday had an astonishing figure of 498 guests which is the most I can remember over the few years it's been going

[sillypoint]

Another bad decision after winning the toss. The batsmen didn't seem to know whether to stick or twist after we lost a couple of wickets. Why didn't Wells slot in at no.3 rather than disrupt the Jennings/Bell opening partnership. The pecking order is alive and well at OT.

Looking at things more generally, we did better than I expected in this competition and there have been some encouraging performances by the younger players. It was the manner of the defeat rather than the defeat itself which was disappointing.

[anyportinastorm]

Aug 26, 2023 6:23:16 GMT Admin said:

Being the sad anorak that I am often check who has been on the forum, yesterday had an astonishing figure of 498 guests which is the most I can remember over the few years it's been going

Hundreds of disgruntled supporters I imagine. Something needs to change. On a positive note nice to see a couple of the young lads throw their hat in the ring. Aspinwall in particular giving me a bit of an Ian Austin vibe. If he reaches those levels I'll be happy with that.

[exile]

Not sure what changes would improve our ability to make the right decision when winning the toss, especially at an away ground on which we rarely play. You would think that whatever committee assesses the pitch in advance would learn from experience but it doesn't seem to happen.  It was also depressing to see that we didn't know what to do after losing early wickets.  That said, I do think that starting these games at 11.00 is questionable unless the pitch is an absolute road.

On the plus side, as others have said, we have some talented young players coming through.  On the down side, will they be continue to be given a chance to learn in the first team or will they be sent back to stagnate in the 2nds until they get fed up and decide to go elsewhere?

[man in the stand]

Aug 26, 2023 11:10:18 GMT exile said:

"Not sure what changes would improve our ability to make the right decision when winning the toss",                                                                                                                                                                         
In One day games it shouldn't be the case that the pitch is so biased towards to whoever bowls first.One of the issues is the over use of the central located pitches due to the increased coverage of cricket by TV. The cameras want be in line with the wicket meaning you end up with a recently used pitch

[sillypoint]

The website report of the match is taken from the ECB Reporters Network report, except it omits the following two paragraphs:

"Given that rain was forecast later in the day, Keaton Jennings' decision to bat first raised more than a few eyebrows inside the Seat Unique Stadium. Lancashire's captain must surely have been questioning his judgment when his side slumped to 90-7 inside 24 overs.

Although the slow nature of a pitch used 12 days earlier for the visit of Somerset offered a degree of mitigation, there was no excusing the lax manner in which the visitors contributed to their own downfall, too many batsmen falling to ill-judged forcing shots when the situation demanded circumspection."

[exile]

I don't suppose anyone on here will be surprised to learn that Lancs omitted these two paragraphs!  The senior batters ought to have realised that their only chance was to keep wickets in hand and launch an assault over the last twenty overs.  Had they adopted this strategy, they might have been able to set 300+ which would at least have given them something to bowl at.  However, I suspect that Gloucs would still have ben more likely to win because the pitch became much easier to bat on as the game went on.  I remember back in the day the Sunday League experimenting with 50 overs instead of 40 but the matches all started at 12.00 and the pitches did tend to be much the same for both sides. 

[chris]

Aug 26, 2023 11:10:18 GMT exile said:

Not sure what changes would improve our ability to make the right decision when winning the toss, especially at an away ground on which we rarely play. You would think that whatever committee assesses the pitch in advance would learn from experience but it doesn't seem to happen.  It was also depressing to see that we didn't know what to do after losing early wickets.  That said, I do think that starting these games at 11.00 is questionable unless the pitch is an absolute road.

On the plus side, as others have said, we have some talented young players coming through.  On the down side, will they be continue to be given a chance to learn in the first team or will they be sent back to stagnate in the 2nds until they get fed up and decide to go elsewhere?

Totally, agree, worst case scenario would be to be included in 1st team squads and carry drinks and miss 2nd team games aswell.

But would add to the downside that Boyden especially, but also Singh, didn't get a game in the One Day Cup.  They didn't disgrace themselves against Cumbria.

[exile]

The last three games offer an excellent chance for these guys to gain experience of Div 1.  We're not winning anything and we're not getting relegated so what's to lose?

[man in the stand]

Looking at the One day cup between Warks and Hants at Hants - Warks all out 93 in 25.5 overs...Dawson 7 for 15 runs....another dodgy wicket??!!

[exile]

If Warwickshire had posted any kind of a score, the match would be going into tomorrow as it's now pitch black in the West Midlands and absolutely bucketing down.  Gloucs doing badly at Leics: 89 for 5 in the 21st over.  Too many one-sided games in this tournament with the toss playing much too big a part (except for Lancs, who make the wrong decision when they do win the toss!)   

[lancsdes]

Spot on Exile. I like the chance for young players to get a chance but too many one sided games and what I’ve watched has been pretty boring ( entirely acknowledging my bias against modern one day cricket).

As we are on all things white ball, I was delighted to read in September’s Cricketer, Barry Richards who is probably my all time favourite bat, saying that he found the IPL a bore as it was not a contest between bat and ball.

[exile]

Barry Richards is dead right.  The development of cricket bats has mirrored that of tennis racquets and I think there's now a lot to be said for reverting to the fielding restrictions of 1st class cricket.  Having watched all of Lancs's games in this year's competition, I'm convinced that 50-over cricket can't go on as it is.  On a flat pitch it just becomes a prolonged version of T20 and the side batting first usually wins.  On a pitch with early movement (the usual kind in England) the side batting first is on a hiding to nothing.  If they bat properly, they are unlikely to achieve a competitive total.  If they go on the attack, they are more likely than not to get out cheaply and will then be lambasted for not batting properly.  Ironically, by far the best game was at Lord's, where our strange decision to bat first gave a much weaker side a sporting chance.

These are not new problems (remember the old Gillette Cup finals where the side batting first hardly ever won) but modern cricket bats have made them much worse.  Pitch preparation being far from an exact science, I can't see any easy answers except not starting games in the morning but I would like to see all the extra fielding restrictions done away with.