Off the top of my head, I think Lancs have history of looking strong in the north group, only to finish 3rd (or 4th) and duly lose their QFs at Chelmsford or Taunton. If they lose on Sunday, their QF this year will probably be at one of those two grounds again.
And whilst it would be nice for the underdog in Leicester to claim the 8th and last QF place, in all likelihood they (or Derby) would get destroyed by Surrey. So it probably needs to be Yorks who win that game and qualify. (And if Yorks did, it might even be that Lancs drop all the way down to 4th. Having them and Surrey face off in the QFs would be very good news for the other six of us.)
Second game in a row that Dan Mousley has produced some brilliant all-round numbers for Birmingham tonight. And I think they're the only two times he's batted or bowled! If he makes it three in a row on Sunday, he could well be a very sought after 100 wildcard pick. A bit like how Lintott came from nowhere last season.
Essex have just switched into 6 hitting mode. They were going pretty quickly even before that - but suddenly everything must go.
Leicester deducted two points just hours before their de facto last 16 match with Yorks. They were essentially on a 12 month final warning as from last summer in relation to on field disciplinary breaches, and on Friday night they blew it. That knocks out Leicester, and in theory gives Notts a late reprieve. But Notts would still need a massive NRR swing in their favour today (in addition to hoping that they win and Yorks lose), to make up their two point deficit on Yorks.
Bairstow continues to churn out these brilliant, care free knocks - and I continue to wonder how long it will be until Buttler will be joining him back in the test team. Sangakkara even suggested Buttler as an opener. I've always said that Buttler's problem in test cricket is a lack of clarity over what his role is and what is expected of him. Nothing to do with not having the technique to succeed at test cricket. And I think it's pretty clear that McCullum and Stokes are providing total clarity.
Derby follow Essex in doing what they need to do. Now they too need a favour from their group leader.
I thought that the T20 match between Hampshire and Gloucestershire was terrific on Friday night. I think the longer format is more interesting but the match on Friday culminated in the kind of conclusion that the instigators of T20 would have hoped for when the devised it. Got to say that I feel pretty negative about The Hundred as feel that this will have the impact of distracting from T20 and perhaps crushing the Championship game too. If Hampshire aren't playing I tend to visit St Cross where I have found the standard of cricket to be really high - excellent setting too.
Off the top of my head, I think that's Mason's best set of four for the season. Both in terms of the actual figures, and how well he bowled.
I appreciate this is Surrey's weakest XI of the season. But it's still nice to see them getting thrashed.
I know it's only five balls, so it feels very harsh to say, but Albert might have played his way out of the QF with that innings. I'm guessing Vince and Birrell would be undecided whether to go with the five bowlers or six. And that little innings from Albert, coupled with Mason's good bowling earlier, might have made their minds up.
