I will start this week with an apology - for the first time in 21 weeks I have failed to get this post out on a Monday. Actually, why am I apologising? I make an effort for a good 5 months to get a good quality blog entry out and no bugger reads it! Anyway, next week's will also be delayed, as I am away for a few days and will need to catch up with highlights of the Test match before doing the podcast.
Moving on to the Pakistan tour, we had another one of those pointless two day warm-ups, from which we learn nothing - just give these poor overworked players a few days off to enjoy their surroundings! As it is, Pakistan perhaps could have done with a bit of time to sharpen their fielding, but the Worcester weather allowed for no such thing:
Pakistan 112-2 drew with Worcestershire
That is literally all the cricket we managed in two days. At least Mohammad Yousuf was able to play an innings of some substance for the first time in six months in preparation for his return from international exile. He made 40*. Expect fun and games at the Oval - scene of Ball Tamper Gate four years ago and with Kamran Akmal coming back into the Pakistan side now Zulqarnain Haider has broken a finger. Presumably while dropping a catch. England unchanged.
There is something galling about losing out when you know you were so close to victory. Saturday threw up two fine examples of this, although I am apparently banned from discussing Graeme's disappointing day any further on this blog. Let us instead turn to T20 finals day. Here's a question - what kind of a way is loss of wickets a method of tiebreaking? When has it ever been used before in preference to a super over or a bowl out? No, the first time it gets used is to Somerset's detriment in the final against Hampshire, a team who went 8-8 in getting to the knockout stages, hardly the form of champions. Here's the story - 11 to win off two overs in a chase of 174. Easy. Ben Phillips bowls a heroic penultimate over to take it to 8 from the last. Aussie Dan Christian pulls a hamstring and needs a runner from the last ball, 2 to win, 1 to tie (and therefore win). Zander de Bruyn bowls, plumb lbw not given, leg bye scrambled. Christian, forgetting his injury, tore up the other end along with his runner. If Craig Kieswetter had only taken the bails off, it would have been a run out and a 1 run victory for Somerset - injured batsmen with runners cannot leave their batting crease. It was a pretty tense day all round - Somerset beat Notts in the second semi by just 3 runs under Duckworth and Lewis, a superb catch from Kieron Pollard tipping the calculation in their favour. Jos Buttler's 55* off 23 was breathtaking (or so I'm told, I was at a certain football match at the time). Hampshire's 6 wicket win over Essex was far more formulaic, in stark comparison to their next game.
I suppose I should probably congratulate Hampshire - not a flashy side, but with plenty of effective players. And I do love Dominic Cork their captain. Enough to make him my Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week. LAD
RM
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