Now need to hunt down the next bonus points (I.e. a win!)......... build a lead to, perhaps, declare this evening leaving Yorkshire a tricky 45-60 MINS at the crease under the lights with a new ball. And, with Fidel & Dale, both firing on all cylinders!
I'd be 99% certain he will play. Alsop has a maximum of three innings between now and then - albeit a different format against different balls - to add to his solid first innings here; and, for that matter, his most recent one-day innings against Somerset. He could make himself pretty much un-droppable for the final. But that doesn't mean it would have to be Lewis making way. It could be Jimmy. Who of course himself has got runs in this match. I absolutely don't see us throwing the gloves to effectively a part-time keeper for the final. But if sentiment clouds our thinking (Jimmy's farewell etc), then maybe it could happen. Certainly on batting alone, it's a no-brainer; I've never rated Lewis as a batter (or a keeper for that matter). But I just think it'll be too big a call to make for a final. Maybe actually how Alsop goes with the gloves over the next week will be more important than how he goes with the bat.
NOO! Steyn falls with Berg surely just slightly too far away from finally getting that maiden 100. Too much for Fidel to do here?
Ours scores this season before this one: 1st innings: 290, 147, 351-7d, 223, 231, 135 2nd innings: 244, 332, DNB, 265, 432-4, 175 So not only is that a vast improvement on our first innings attempts to date, but it's technically our highest score full-stop (although quite clearly we would have bettered that had the game at Taunton not come to an end). Let's pick a sackful of bowlers, and play against the pink ball, every week. You need to go back to the first week of July last season, when we last scored more than 443 (and Jimmy got a 100 in that one too).
If they are going to select Alsop, why not push him up to open?...Weatherley and Jimmy are clearly not working.
Might as well go and select Wood ahead of Joe next game. Just go all out with this strategy of picking bowlers who can bat. Seems a better strategy than picking useless batters. (Although Rilee might have his teeth fixed by then.)
