I wonder if that was this week's 'big club news', that Brad Wheal has signed a new 2 year deal?! I hope not as that would be a bit of a letdown if so. He's someone who has done well in the white ball stuff in previous years but now seems to have lost his edge in that and has become very hittable and, in the Championship, is one of those players who does OK but that's all. It's all very well us having a soft spot for certain players and wishing the best for them but, if we are serious about winning Div 1, in my opinion he's simply not quite good enough to be in our bowling attack.
I want Neser confirmed as 2nd overseas for a good chunk of the season, Renshaw signed for the season (assuming that he can count as non-overseas with a British passport?) plus another domestic middle order batter. Easier said than done, though! Orr, Renshaw, Gubbins, new signing, Albert, Dawson, Brown, Neser, Fuller, Abbott, Turner/Baker. How could that fail to win the title?!
I expect it's us competing in some pointless overseas franchise slog-a-thon again... Please be a domestic new signing.
I did see something about Vince pulling out of the Big Bash and a cryptic post after that. Now, I may be way off the mark here, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Vince changed his mind about not playing red ball cricket. It would certainly be big (and welcome) news.
Yes, that is a possibility. However, one sticking point would be about his visa conditions - I think I read somewhere that he's now only allowed to 'work' a certain number of days overseas. So he'd obviously have to get his residency and formal paperwork sorted if that were to be the case. He'd have to start off in the 2nds and prove himself worthy of a place, of course
Renshaw is back in the Australian team, so there's little chance in him turning his back on them anytime soon (which he would to do to play as local player in the UK).
The Hundred to hold auction and increase salaries in 2026 - BBC Sport Good, Hundred needs shaking up and an auction does that and is always fun to watch.
I'm fine with the move to an auction, but a maximum of four retentions per team I'm less keen on. (And I'm sure a lot of sides will retain less than four, if they instead use some of those four slots to pre-sign new players, or simply don't use those four slots.) I appreciate going with less than the usual 10 or 11 retentions, to shake things up, but I'd have preferred around 6 or 7 retentions for continuity.
I like the maximum of 4 as long as that's not every year. It's not really an issue for us as the only absolutely nailed on keeper is Archer. There are likely keepers (Vince in particular) but I certainly don't want us retaining more than 4!
Yeah, purely from a selfish point of view it isn't a problem for our men's team (but it's a huge problem for our women's team). I'd be looking to retain Archer, Vince and Overton, and then using the fourth spot on a top new signing. Allowing sides to have a second "England" player in the squads (plus a fourth overseas player) could be very good for us. It will mean the ECB having to increase the number of players who are classed as "England" players; I'm pretty sure that there were only 10 last year, and there will need to be a minimum of 16 next year. There's no-one obvious from our 2025 squad who is likely to join Archer in being categorised as one, so we might be able to grab ourselves a quality player from a different team (eg the likes of Oval or Phoenix could easily find themselves with more than the allowed two). There are some seriously good names who weren't classed as "England" players last season, but might be next time. Hopefully they announce the list soon.
Benny Howell has signed for Notts. Fine, he's 37 now so happy for him to move on. Just means we may need to target an overseas all rounder in the T20.
Stokes with 4 wickets against the Lions, having bowled 12 out of the 52 overs so far. If that's not a good sign he's fit and fully firing ready for the Ashes I don't know what is.
Wood injury concern for England in tour match please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Mark Wood has taken 119 wickets at an average of 30.42 in 37 Tests By Stephan Shemilt Chief Cricket Reporter at Lilac Hill Published 13 minutes ago 16 Comments England have an injury concern over fast bowler Mark Wood after he suffered tightness in his left hamstring on the first day of the Ashes warm-up match against England Lions. Wood, playing for the first time since suffering a knee injury in February, left the field midway through the second session at Lilac Hill in Perth. The 35-year-old will have a scan on Friday. England hope he will be able to bowl on Saturday's third and final day. Wood bowled eight overs in two spells of four, which England said was a pre-planned workload. England v England Lions - scorecard (external site) He seemed in good spirits when he left the field, joking with England Lions batter Jordan Cox, whom he had just caught on the boundary. But any injury to Wood will be a huge worry to England given his injury record. Wood has not played a Test since August 2024, when he was ruled out of the rest of that year because of an elbow injury. He returned in white-ball cricket at the beginning of this year but sustained a knee injury at the Champions Trophy which subsequently required surgery. The hamstring problem is in the same leg on which Wood had the knee operation. The tour match against the Lions was Wood's first cricket of any kind in nine months and his first in whites for 15 months. Still, on a slow pitch he was immediately up to high pace, hitting 91mph in his first spell. The England selection for the tour game appeared to hint at their plans for the first Test, with Wood part of a five-man pace attack and frontline spinner Shoaib Bashir playing for the Lions. In recent years spin has played a diminished role in Tests in Australia, and Optus Stadium, the venue for the first Test against Australia starting on 21 November, is particularly suited to seam. Another England pace bowler, Brydon Carse, missed the first day of the tour match through illness but is expected to join the game in the coming days. England captain Ben Stokes claimed four wickets in the first two sessions in his first action since July. The all-rounder has been out since missing the final Test of the series against India with a shoulder injury. Australia captain and fast bowler Pat Cummins is out of the first Test with a back injury, while fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood has been cleared of a hamstring problem after an injury scare on Wednesday.
