But they were easily the best earlier in the season that's my point. Sussex didn't qualify because they messed up too often. I'm more pissed off though because Nasher has injured himself in this 2 bob tournament and will be doubtful for the next CC game where we really need him
Hants are good when we need to be, tonight was shameful, but really Somerset needed to win much more than we did. We absolutely hammered Glamorgan last week when it was everything to play for. Hopefully we can get Mason back for the Q/F and with a bit of luck finals day if we get there, he is a massive player for us.
I think we won two out of seven at home, but five from seven away. So an away draw is probably a big tick. And whilst Derby have clearly done a great job in qualifying, they're inexperienced and a KO match is a whole different ball game. Just go back to 2015 - Worcs did something similar to Derby now, we got them away in the QF, and we beat them fairly comfortably. We had the big game experience, and the big game players. Unfortunately what we cannot ignore is how bad our middle order still is. Bailey, Alsop, Dawson can all knock the ball around no problem. But ask them to go at 8 or 10 or 12 an over? Little chance. We rely so, so heavily on our top three. And with two of them injured, we are somewhat screwed. Fortunately Dickinson stepped up to the plate last week to help Vince out, but we can't expect him to do that on a regular basis. That said, as bad as the batting was tonight, the bowlers arguably let us down the most. 190 is way, way beyond par on the Rose Bowl. Even with Rilee and Carberry in the side, I'd have said they got 30 too many. But without them, it was more like 50 or 60 too many. I can't be bothered to check out the stats, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the ten biggest domestic scores at the Rose Bowl. The match was over at the half way stage. I predicted 120 all out. Alas, with our middle order we couldn't even make that.
But they needed to be good tonight for a guaranteed home tie for the quarters. I would have thought that was pretty important, not just for the best chance to get to the finals, but a whole load of moolah to be made in ticket sales and overpriced crap lager.
By the way, you could really tell that Somerset were right up for it, and knew they had to win (and win well). Fair play to them. Like us, another experienced t20 outfit. (In fact, aside from Northants, arguably all of the t20 big hitters of the past have qualified. Not all of whom are as good as they once were)
I agree. Always want to win, but sad to see the Windies this poor. Of course I could live with Australia being crap.
Having watched our batsmen being thoroughly done over, and our bowlers clobbered, by the Windies of the 70s and 80s, I can honestly say that I am delighted to see the boot on the other foot. True, I would like to see more of a contest, but that's only for entertainment not pity.
Conspiracy theory alert, do you think that we might've threw the game against Somerset because we knew that we might lose Mason for the Q/F if we played at home on the Friday?
Fair comment , but I fear for the future of West Indies test cricket . The more teams the better imho .
