Hampshire OT 4 days 29/8/2024

[lancsdes]

On the bowling side , a disillusioned Lancashire member was speculating that the loss of Chapple and Onions was behind the regression of the bowlers. I said on here a few years ago that I thought Chapple would be an excellent bowling coach though not a head coach. Between Chapple and Onions, there can be very little they do not know about seam bowling. I would have thought that Craig White would be decent, however.

I think it’s probably more fundamental than that. At this stage last year, Somerset members weren’t very happy despite the 2020 win as the team struggled in the championship. I wonder whether the appointment as CE of Jamie Cox, a real cricket man steeped in the club has had a big influence . I may find out a bit more from spectators on my visit for Somerset v Surrey next week. We have a board of businessmen , under which we have a weak director of cricket and head coach neither of whom have any ability to inspire. Together with poisonous characters like Allott still hanging around ( I believe he is still a consultant) , it is a really noxious concoction.

Speaking to one of the indoor school staff, the feeling is that there is just no money to sign decent players. Even when we do , they seem to be unable to change the culture. What on earth was a world class off spinner doing with three men back on the midwicket boundary in the Kent match ?

[alanw]

It’s the apparent lack of available money to recruit a quality DOC, coaching staff, players which I find frustrating. We posted a profit of £5.3 million this year, I just googled Surrey profit and the latest figure I could see was £5.4 million for 2021/22. We have been gifted a 51% share in the Manchester Originals we are building Farrington when we have four perfectly good out grounds. I’m not an accountant but it looks to me as though there should be money available to improve our team yet we always seem to go for the budget options. Our DOC doesn’t have any significant experience outside of LCCC and was promoted to the position from assistant coach. We recruited an uninspiring head coach. We desperately need some experience in our squad but the only domestic players we have recruited this season and last are Michael Jones and Mitch Stanley. Our overseas signings have been mixed at best. So here we are in September probably about to lose a relegation battle.

[sillypoint]

It seems that the more senior players, brought up under Chapple & Vilas, have, for whatever reason, just not adjusted to the new setup. Probably time to start again, which now looks very likely to be in Div2. Get rid of the senior players, replace them with the best young hungry players in Div2, appoint a new young captain in Balderson, bring Chapple back as DOC and Tom Smith as head coach. The younger players we have here are more likely to thrive in that environment, than the current toxic one.

[man in the stand]

I can't see how Lancs are short of cash if we were able to pay Lyon for a full season? Nowadays it is very difficult to recruit a quality player... either he would be held back by the their Cricket Board or off on the francise circuit. The ideal recruit would be a Liam Dawson...a quality spinner who isn't going to picked for test cricket or ODIs.

Wells is just having an off season - I remember Neil Fairbrother having one of those. Thankfully he is contributing with the ball...CC average of 26.4 and a strike rate of 44 - best of the regular bowlers.

Balderson is now more a bowler than an all rounder now - only Lyon has bowled more overs this season.

If look back to 2022 we were 2nd the Championship; last year mid table there by our good batting performance - 29 batting points highest of all the clubs. This season the batting has failed and we are near bottom of the table. The bowling - 5 wicket hauls 2022 - 10 ; 2024 - 2.

I don't put our poor performance down to one factor e.g. the coach but I think losing Matt Parkinson was a key one...

[MarkG]

I do think you’ve both nailed it. The backbone of the team for the last couple of years has been Jennings, Wells, Bohannon, Bailey, Williams. Of those, Jennings is the only one who’s looked remotely like his ‘normal’ self. The other fours form hasn’t so much declined as collapsed.

As to why, I’ve no idea. I often blame the cricket coaching structure for how it seems to fail young talent, but why four such experienced players should all melt at once is beyond me. And Tom Bruce and Iyer didn’t perform below expectation, they didn’t perform at all.

I’m too old to approach each season with anything other than wariness. But I didn’t expect anything as mystifyingly bad as this.