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4/13/2017 0 Comments Season Preview- Middlesex Division: One
Where? Lords, North London Ins: None Outs: Andrew Balbirine (Released), Max Holden (Northants, Loan) Key Man: Toby Roland-Jones 2016 season: Championship: Winners, RLODC: Group stage, T20 Blast Q/f 2017 odds: Championship 18/5, RLODC: 14/1, T20: 12/1 Let me take you back to 23rd September, all eyes were on Lords, not to mention particularly keen interest in Leeds and Taunton, three teams dreaming of Championship glory going into the final day of the season. With the stakes so high, 21,000 of the Middlesex faithful (not to mention a loyal group from Yorkshire) made their way through the famous entrances at Lords over the four days. After a contrived deceleration and 9 wickets following some superb bowling, Toby Roland-Jones beats Ryan Sidebottom’s defences to secure Middlesex’s first Championship since 1993. After such a roller coaster of emotions that only cricket can provide, no one can begrudge the celebrations that followed. This season will be an all together different challenge for James Franklin’s men, no longer able to sneak under the radar, they will no doubt be the prize scalp. Middlesex start their season with a trip down the M3 to face Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl. It is largely as you were on the transfer front, with the return of the ever-reliable Adam Voges as the overseas player a welcome one; especially now the Australian has hung up his baggy green cap and committed himself for a whole summer in NW8. Key to success in the Championship this year will be if Nick Gubbins can repeat his superb batting performances from the top of the order, he can’t possibly beat an average of 61.25, can he? With the ball, aside from Toby Roland-Jones, look out for the highly rated fast bowler Tom Helm, if the 22-year old can keep himself fit I can see him blasting through many a batting order. With the success of last year with the red ball, it is easy to forget that Middlesex successfully navigated their way through the T20 Blast South Group only to lose to eventual champions, the Northants Steelbacks in the quarter-final stage. Looking ahead to their white ball prospects, Middlesex should enjoy Eoin Morgan’s presence for the T20 Blast fixtures in July and August, after hopefully leading England to Champions Trophy glory in June. Add into the mix Paul Stirling and the return of Kiwi Brendon McCullum for the Blast to give catching practice to members in the glorious Lord’s pavilion and you have one exciting batting line up. Where I think Middlesex will finish: County Championship: 2nd One-Day Cup: 5th (South Group) T20 Blast: 4th (South Group) Preview written by Harry Hill – You can follow him on Twitter @HarryHill96.
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4/3/2017 0 Comments Preview: Gloucestershire 2017 Division: Two
Where: Bristol County Ground, Bristol Ins: Cameron Bancroft (Overseas, Aus), Michael Klinger (Overseas, Aus, One-Day competitions), Andrew Tye (Aus, T20 Blast) and Phil Mustard (Durham) Outs: Hamish Marshall and Tom Hampton (Both released) Key man: Liam Norwell 2016 season: Championship 6th, RLODC 8th, T20 Blast Q/F 2017 Odds: Championship promotion: 14/1, RLODC: 20/1, T20: 16/1 Your view: Jon Foster from @Glosfans looks ahead to a competitive looking season for Gloucestershire but hopes his side can sneak into finals day after missing out last season in the last eight. The County Championship looks to be very competitive, even with two promotion places available again. For Gloucestershire to be successful and challenge for promotion the squad would probably have to remain relatively injury-free and be more consistent with both bat and ball. Without Klinger and Marshall, the batting will lose plenty of experience. Chris Dent (1243) is the only available batsman who scored over 1,000 Championship runs last season and will be looking for more of the same, while others will need to become more consistent. Cameron Bancroft, with the prospect of a full season of Championship cricket this time, will have the task as overseas player of attempting to fill Michael Klinger’s sizeable boots! He did look to be adapting to early season conditions in his short spell last season, although it is a lot to ask. The arrival of Phil Mustard, who scored steadily last season, including a century, after rarely featuring in the Championship side for Durham, could allow Gareth Roderick to discard the gloves and concentrate on his batting and captaincy of the four-day side. Without a specialist batsman brought in to replace Marshall, this should allow opportunities for other batsmen to stake a claim, in particular, George Hankins, who after being named England’s player of last season’s Under 19 series against Sri Lanka went on to score a maiden Championship century and show plenty of promise. Graeme van Buuren in his first season of county cricket adapted well and was scoring consistently as well as picking up wickets until an injury ended his season prematurely and he should feature strongly again. A return to fitness and form for Will Tavare who had an injury plagued season last year would be an added bonus, while Ian Cockbain and Benny Howell, who have become more one-day specialists recently, may also be given more opportunities in the longer format. On the bowling front, a lot looks to depend on the pace quartet of Matt Taylor, who spent the winter at the England pace bowling Academy, Liam Norwell, David Payne and Craig Miles. While Matt Taylor was injured for much of last season the others all picked up plenty of wickets, but they will probably need to fire as a unit more consistently, without so many off sessions/days, if Gloucestershire are to mount a serious promotion challenge. Jack Taylor and Graeme van Buuren who should both be included as all-rounders are the most likely spin options in four-day cricket. The Gloucestershire squad probably looks better suited (on paper at least) to achieving success in ‘white ball’ cricket, particularly in the shorter T20 format. In defence of 2015 One Day Cup, the county got off to a poor start in the 2016 group stages losing the first 3 games a start that the club never really recovered from and finished a disappointing 8th in the group. With a better start, this season the county should be looking to reach the knock out stages again. In last season’s T20 competition Gloucestershire topped the South Group with 10 wins before a disappointing defeat to Durham in the home quarter-final. They will be looking to qualify from the group again and then hope to go one better this season and reach their first Final’s Day since 2007. Gloucestershire’s strength in One Day cricket over the years has been built on team spirit, rather than individual ‘stars’, with all being capable of playing their part when it’s needed and with the fielders backing up the bowlers and putting pressure on the opposition. While this applies very much today it would be surprising if Michael Klinger, after another successful Big Bash and now concentrating on white ball cricket, didn’t score heavily again. One day specialists Ian Cockbain and Benny Howell, after a winter in the Bangladesh Premier League, will also look to feature strongly again as will the big hitting Jack Taylor. Andrew Tye will bring his Aussie winning mentality to the T20, while Matt Taylor also developed well and proved to be a more than capable bowler in the early power play overs and ‘at the death’. While Gloucestershire will look to be competitive in all competitions, with a relatively small squad, the T20 competition might be where their best chance of success lies. After dominating the South Group last season before falling at the quarter-final stage there could be more emphasis and a desire to go further this time. Predictions: Championship – 4th or 5th RLODC – Quarter Finals T20 – Final’s Day, then anything can happen! 4/2/2017 0 Comments Preview: Somerset 2017 Division: One
Where: Taunton, Somerset Ins: Dean Elgar (Overseas, South Africa), Steven Davies (Surrey) and George Bartlett (Academy) Out: Alex Burrows (released) and Chris Rogers (retired, joined coaching team) Key man: Craig Overton Last year: Championship 3rd, RLODC Q/F, T20 Blast 9th 2017 Odds: Championship 8/1, RLODC 12/1, T20 Blast 14/1 Your view: Our West-Country correspondent Dan Kingdom hopes his Somerset side will be celebrating a successful season come September following a near miss in the Championship in 2016. He pens his views below. After exceeding expectations last season with an incredibly near miss in the County Championship, coupled with a close RLODC semi-final defeat to Warwickshire, Somerset fans are hoping that the club can win its first major trophy in twelve years in 2017. Tom Abell is the man charged with leading the team to their first ever County Championship title, with the talented 23-year-old batsman taking over the captaincy from Chris Rogers in a move that raised a few eyebrows. Despite his youth, Director of Cricket Matt Maynard is confident that Abell is already mature enough to lead the side effectively, and he will have Rogers there to help him – the now-retired Australian has been recruited as a batting consultant until 30th June. It is Dean Elgar who will be taking up the mantle of overseas player. The South African opening batsman had a lean spell with Somerset in 2013, but since then he has improved significantly, securing a regular spot in his country’s test side. He will open the batting with club legend Marcus Trescothick, who will be playing his 25th season with Somerset, while Tom Abell will drop down to number three to give him some time to clear his head after leading the side in the field. Somerset’s other big winter signing is England wicketkeeper, Steven Davies. He will deepen the side’s 4-day batting line-up, while also adding extra firepower at the top of the limited-overs sides. However, fans will hope that Ryan Davies, the club’s other wicketkeeper, will continue to get chances having ended 2016 strongly. There are encouraging signs coming from the club’s young bowling attack. Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton recently starred for MCC in the Champion County match, including a hat-trick for the latter. Jamie Overton had a good season last year before injury; if he stays fit this could be the year he realises his potential. And offspinner Dom Bess burst onto the scene late last season with 13 wickets from two matches. He is sure to get more chances in 2017, especially if the Taunton pitch continues to favour spin. The only concern comes, ironically, from Somerset’s 2016 player of the year Jack Leach. The left-arm spinner took 65 wickets at 22 last season, but he has been forced to alter his bowling action after a small kink was found during a routine ECB test. Recent signs have been encouraging, but it will take a huge effort for him to match last season’s performance. If he does, an England call-up cannot be far away. Somerset’s t20 cricket was a disaster last season, with just three wins and a bottom-of-the-table finish to show for their efforts. Steve Davies will improve the side, but with Maynard quiet on the subject of a t20 overseas player, it could be another struggle unless the quick bowling significantly improves and more contributions are made with the bat by players such as Jim Allenby and Peter Trego. It is probably the RLODC that is Somerset’s best chance of one-day success, after topping their group in last year’s competition and having shown good 50-over form in pre-season. But it is the County Championship that the supporters really want, and 2017 probably represents Somerset’s best chance in years of securing the elusive trophy. Predictions: County Championship: 3rd RLODC: Runners-up T20 Blast: 7th You can follow Dan on Twitter @DanKingdom96 3/30/2017 0 Comments Previews: Warwickshire 2017 Division: One
Where: Edgbaston, Birmingham Ins: Olly Stone (Northampton), Jeetan Patel (NZ, Overseas), Colin de Grandhomme (NZ, for T20 Blast), Grant Elliott (NZ, for T20 Blast) Outs: Richard Jones (Leicestershire), Recordo Gordon (Released), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Luke Ronchi (Leicestershire) Key Man: Ian Bell 2016 Season: County Championship 6th; Royal London One Day Cup: Winners; T20 Blast Group Stage 2017 Odds: County Championship: 11/2; RLODC 10/1; T20 Blast 12/1 Your View: Our Warwickshire correspondent Charlie Jennings predicts a tricky season under the new coaching duo of Jim Troughton and Ashley Giles, and believes relegation is a distinct possibility. Following an inconsistent 2016, a winter of change ensued – Ashley Giles returned to Edgbaston as Sports Director, while Jim Troughton has replaced Dougie Brown as First Team Coach. Despite these changes, it looks set to be a difficult season ahead for the Bears. 2016 was a strange year for Warwickshire, a below-par County Championship season left the Bears fighting relegation going into the last round of fixtures. A win against Lancashire secured their first division status for another summer, 2016 MVP Keith Barker, and CC leading wicket-taker Jeetan Patel overpowering a Lancashire side which survived by the skin of their teeth following other results. Giles and Troughton will be relying heavily on their bowlers again, as they look to improve on last season's write off – and will look to the more experienced names in their squad to give them the batting solidity that they lacked so much during last year's campaign. Keith Barker – one of the most dangerous bowlers on the county circuit – should flourish again with ball in hand, while with the bat can be expected to provide more than useful runs. Jeetan Patel, fresh from returning once again to the New Zealand Test side in early 2017, will no doubt use his experience and follow up a brilliant 69 wickets in 2016 with plenty more this year. Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain will have a heavy burden on them to provide the runs to support the bowling attack, last year they only managed 4 hundreds between them – this will need to improve as Warwickshire last year called far too often on Barker, Patel and Chris Woakes to provide invaluable lower order runs. Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke are the only other recognisable experienced batsmen in the top 7, with both opening positions up for grabs – maybe we will be seeing William Porterfield's belated return to the side, and hopefully to form. Youngsters Alex Mellor, Andy Umeed, Ateeq Javid and Matt Lamb will be looking for further opportunities to showcase their talents and particularly for Umeed and Mellor - two regulars in the side towards the end of last season – will be looking to prove their doubters wrong when facing the new ball. The sale of Laurie Evans to Sussex has undermined what already looked a frail batting lineup, and I would expect the batting to be examined thoroughly this season against some very intimidating bowling line-ups. In the shorter forms of the game, Warwickshire are fairly consistent; last year being crowned Royal London One Day Cup champions despite never really putting a full performance together – and should performance levels improve, the Bears can be expected once again to be there and thereabouts in regards to the 50-over competition – the loss of Laurie Evans will reduce the firepower with the bat, but if Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell can again provide the volume of runs they did in last season's competition, qualification from the group stage would be the very least I would expect. The acquisition of Olly Stone from Northamptonshire looks to be very shrewd and will provide useful death bowling options in both 50 over and 20 over competitions. As for the T20 Blast, the signings of experienced pros Colin de Grandhomme and Grant Elliott for the entirety of the competition should provide what was lacking so often last season – quick runs at the back end of the innings. Ian Bell and Sam Hain will again be key to any hopes the Bears, under their Birmingham guise, have of progressing from the group stage. Bowling shouldn't be a problem. Jeetan Patel, young leg-spinner Josh Poysden and Ateeq Javid were all solid performers last year; whilst seamers Olly Hannon-Dalby, Olly Stone, Chris Wright and Mark Adair will be looking to fill the void left by Chris Woakes' rise to stardom over the last year or so. Warwickshire can expect a tough season, with relegation a distinct possibility. Relying heavily on their bowling last season, they will need their batsmen to stand up and be counted. Predictions: County Championship: 5th Royal London One Day Cup: Semi Final defeat T20 Blast: Group Stage exit . You can follow Charlie @AVCJX on Twitter 3/21/2017 0 Comments Previews 2017: Hampshire Division: One Where: Ageas Bowl, Southampton Ins: George Bailey (Aus, overseas), Asher Hart (Durham) Fraser Hay (UK Passport), Kyle Abbott (Kolpak), Rilee Rossouw (Kolpak) Outs: Adam Wheater (Essex), James Tomlinson (Retired), Andy Carter (Retired) Ryan McLaren (Lancashire), Tino Best (released), Gareth Andrews (released), Yasir Arafat (released), Joe Weatherley (Kent, season-long loan) Key man: George Bailey 2016 season: Championship: 8th (survived due to Durham's points deduction), RLODC: 5th, T20 Blast: 8th 2017 odds: Championship: 12/1, RLODC: 10/1, T20 Blast 12/1 Your View: Our Hampshire correspondent Hector Cappelletti believes Hampshire could enjoy a better summer this time around but can't help but feel the cricketing world wants the Southampton-based club to spectacularly fail following a controversial winter. It’s not a great time to be a Hampshire fan at the moment. Indeed, the club has managed to achieve the status of persona non grata in the English domestic game courtesy of the Kolpak controversy whilst supporters feel as welcome in the cricketing community at large as a bad smell in a small lift. Best not mention Durham or First Division cricket in the same sentence. Sotto voce utterings and an almost traditional Hampshire slow start to the summer is all but obligatory to the point where one almost hopes that the season doesn’t start too well. Time was when Hampshire was known as ‘Happy Hampshire’ and were one of those clubs that supporters from elsewhere liked to see do well. Now the club lives in the hideous carbuncle currently known as the Ageas Bowl and, one feels, is viewed as Oscar Wilde’s cynic: price of everything, value of nothing. Not all is doom and gloom, though. Despite the headline grabbing signings of Kyle Abbott and Rilee Russouw dominating the winter column inches Hampshire’s squad has quietly enjoyed impressive progress. Left-handed opening batsman Tom Alsop performed reasonably well with the England Lions whilst leg-spinner Mason Crane ripped through Australian grade cricket line-ups before earning a most surprising call-up to the New South Wales Sheffield Shield team. Alsop is likely to receive plenty of game time as he appears a natural successor to the evergreen Jimmy Adams but questions remain as to whether Crane will be marginalised by English cricket’s distrust of spin bowlers and its penchant for producing unfriendly wickets. James Vince will once again captain the team and, after a brief, unsuccessful spell with the England test team, is likely to play much of the season. Adams and Alsop are likely to fill two of the top three slots with the third hopefully occupied by the recovered Michael Carberry; a welcome and pleasing return for the erstwhile England batsman post fighting off a cancerous tumour. Russouw and Australian George Bailey are likely to challenge for the final spots in the batting line-up with crowd favourite Sean Ervine. Another player enjoying stellar progress is wicket-keeper Lewis McManus, now the number one gloveman after Adam Wheater’s return to Essex. The former Dorset player impressed during the final weeks of the 2016 summer after establishing himself in the Second XI team. Bowlers will once again be an issue for Hampshire, particularly with regard to fitness. Recent times have not been favourable to Hampshire’s attack as rarely have the club been able to regularly field their strongest line-up. Left-armers Chris Wood and Reece Topley both return from long-term injuries to join the precocious Crane, another evergreen performer in former Middlesex seamer Gareth Berg, Kolpak signing Kyle Abbott, veteran Barbadian Fidel Edwards and the rapidly developing Brad Wheal. Somewhere in amongst that line-up there is a place for all-rounder Liam Dawson. As ever, much will depend on players remaining fit. Such an advent is very much a case of if’s and buts and pots and pans though. Should new coach Craig White be able to call upon his strongest side for much of the season then Hampshire should possess more than enough to avoid relegation. (again) Perhaps the biggest conundrum is whether Hampshire can rediscover their T20 mojo, though. Finals Day incumbents for half a dozen consecutive summers, the short format squad bombed during the 2016 campaign and never remotely troubled the knock-out stages for a seventh season. The absence of Carberry, Vince and Wood for much or all of the campaign certainly affected the club’s chances but the likes of Alsop, McManus and Wheal enjoyed plenty of match time in the competition and appear to be the next batch of players from the Hampshire Academy to make the step up to the first team. Times may well be a little uncomfortable for Hampshire supporters at the moment but once the business of playing begins there could be more happier times than the deflating disappointment of twelve months previous. Predictions: Championship: 5th RLODC: Group stages T20 Blast: Finals Day You can follow Hector at @YahoooverCC on Twitter. 3/18/2017 0 Comments Previews 2017: Durham Division: Two
Where: Emirates Riverside, Chester-le-Street Ins: Stephen Cook(Overseas, first half of season), Tom Latham (Overseas, second half of the season), Cameron Steel (Youth Product) Outs: Gordon Muchall (Retired, Mark Stoneman (Surrey), Phil Mustard (Gloucestershire), Scott Borthwick (Surrey), Asher Hart (Hampshire), Guzman Randhawa, Calum MacLeod, Jamie Harrison (Released) Key Man: Keaton Jennings Last Year: Specsavers County Championship: 4th (200 points)*, Royal London One-Day Cup: Group Stage Exit (5th Place), NatWest T20 Blast: Runners Up (Lost to Northamptonshire in final) 2017 Odds: County Championship: 25/1, RLODC: 12/1, T20: 16/1 Your View: Our new Durham correspondent Tom Simmonds looks ahead to a difficult season for the Chester-Le-Street based county. At first, last season seemed a success for Durham CCC. A fourth place finish in the County Championship combined with an unexpected T20 Finals Day appearance had left an upbeat and positive atmosphere around the North Eastern club. However, in late October the atmosphere ceased to exist. Durham’s financial struggles were well documented, but until then no-one knew that the board had agreed to financial support from the ECB. As a result, the club was handed crippling penalties by the sport’s governing body. Relegation to Division Two was confirmed and Durham will be forced to start the 2017 season on the back foot due to a 48-point penalty. Even before this, everyone knew that 2017 would be a struggle for Durham in the County Championship. Opener Mark Stoneman and leg-spinning all-rounder, Scott Borthwick, both announced moves to Surrey in an effort to reportedly chase England call-ups. Both have regularly passed 1000 runs in recent seasons and the latter has been helpful, contributing regular wickets in the bowling attack. A large part of Durham’s hopes for the season will be dependent on those chosen to replace these two. In terms of One Day hopes, it seems to be another season of mediocrity for Durham. Whilst last season’s One-Day Cup wasn’t great overall for Durham, there were occasional flashes that this was a side heading in the right direction. But with the removal of Stoneman and Borthwick, it seems Durham will have taken a couple of steps backwards in their squad building. These departures combined with a 10 points deduction for the RLODC makes any hope of ending this season with a visit to Lord’s unlikely. For the T20 Blast, it seems that Durham supporters should probably be braced for the worst. Even the most optimistic fan wouldn’t have predicted Durham’s fairytale run to the final, and whilst the addition of overseas opener, Tom Latham, yet another points deduction just seems to make another long cup run a distant fantasy. International call-ups will either make or break Durham’s season. Keaton Jennings, almost singlehandedly, dragged the club to success last year with a mammoth haul of over 2000 runs in all formats including 1548 runs at an average of 64.5 in the County Championship. However, the opening batsmen toured with England during the winter and after a scintillating century on debut against India and many reports suggesting England plan to keep him in the squad at number three could mean that Durham spend large amounts of the season without their 2016 hero. Mark Wood is in a similar boat. The Northern paceman is almost certainly going to spend most of 2017 with England, providing his injuries don't resurface. It would be yet another big loss for Durham, the recovering paceman was a regular threat last season with his rockets providing a constant threat to county batsmen, the bowler was an especially key figure in Durham’s T20 Blast success. Of course no-one is expecting Ben Stokes to make a regular return to Durham colours any time soon, the Durham all-rounder now being the England Test vice-captain. Where I think Durham will finish: County Championship Division Two: 6th One-Day Cup: 6th (North Group) T20 Blast: 8th (North Group) By Tom Simmonds (@Studentsonsport & @MiddleOffStump) 3/17/2017 0 Comments Previews 2017: Essex Division: One
Where? The CloudFM County Ground, Chelmsford. Ins: Adam Wheater (Hampshire), Simon Harmer (Kolpak), Neil Wagner (New Zealand – First half of season), Mohammad Amir (Pakistan from June 19th) Outs: David Masters (Retired), Graham Napier (Retired), Jaik Mickleburgh (Released). Key man: Jamie Porter Last Year: County Championship: Division Two Winners, RLODC: Q/F defeat to Warwickshire, T20 Blast: Q/F defeat to Nottinghamshire. 2017 Odds: Championship: 20/1, RLODC: 14/1, T20 Blast: 14/1 Your View: Our Essex correspondent David Bowden airs his views on a testing upcoming season for the Eagles. After a successful 2016 which saw the Eagles finally take flight and reach the promised land of Division One after falling at the final hurdle for a number of years, the Chelmsford-based team will be looking for a steady Eddie season which will see them consolidate their place in the top flight. Chris Silverwood has quietly assembled a solid looking Division One outfit with some shrewd-looking deals over the winter that will surely boost their survival hopes. The most notable of these are the two overseas arrivals for the campaign, the experienced duo of Neil Wagner and Mohammad Amir will add vital bite and variation to a weak looking bowling attack with only Jamie Porter a recognised experience four-day pace bowler. It will be a big season for Porter who will look to establish himself as the promising bowler that many are saying he is. Having only excelled in Division Two cricket, however, this will be his greatest challenge yet. He, alongside Aaron Beard and Matt Quinn, make up the rest of a bowling line-up that lacks a great amount of experience and variation for Division One cricket, so needless to say the wickets of Wagner and Amir will ultimately decide their fate. What they lack in experience with the ball, they make up with the willow as a number of Division One regulars and England hopefuls give the Eagles hope for plenty of big scoring innings. The arrival of Varun Chopra and Adam Wheater further adds to the class the Eagles possess with the bat, and that is without mentioning former England captain Alastair Cook – who they will hope to see far more of following his stepping down as leader of the national team. The club will be under no illusions as to how tough this campaign will be having tasted relegation in their last foray into the top flight at the first time of asking, but it seems that there is a real plan in place for the Eagles to keep them afloat this time around. The signing of Simon Harmer finally gives them a spinning outlet to hold an end up whilst the seamers plug away at the other end. This squad seems to be the most competitive the county has seen for some time. These are exciting times to be following four-day cricket as an Essex fan and I see no reason why they can’t scrap survival if they can keep their key men fit. As for the white ball game, they will be looking to end their Quarter-Final hoodoo, and with a strong looking line-up with the likes of Tom Westley, Ryan Ten Doeschate (the new limited overs skipper), Nick Browne and Ravi Bopara in their batting ranks runs shouldn’t be an issue. It is with the ball where the worries lie, the loss of Graham Napier will hit them hard, and once again they will be relying on the fitness of Jamie Porter and the canny wicket taking abilities of their overseas pros and all-rounders. Whilst limited overs cricket may not be the priority for the Eagles this summer, the extra finances from a cup success wouldn’t go amiss for Ronnie Irani and co. This is a big year for Essex and they will need to get off to a flying start to avoid playing catch up in what is a very competitive top flight. VFTO Predicts: Championship: A plucky last gasp survival (6th) RLODC: Q/F defeat T20 Blast: Group Stage By David Bowden (@Bowdenwhu) 3/13/2017 0 Comments Preview 2017: Northamptonshire Division? Two
Where? The County Ground, Northampton Ins: Rory Kleinveldt (Overseas, all formats), Seekkuge Prasanna (T20 Overseas), Nathan Buck, Max Holden (loan) Outs: Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Monty Panesar (Released) Key man: Ben Duckett Last Year? Specsavers County Championship: 5th (184 points), Royal London One Day Cup: Q/F loss v Surrey, Natwest Blast: Winners 2017 Odds:*: County Championship: 16/1, RLODC: 16/1, T20: 12/1 Your View: Our Northamptonshire blogger Harry Hill had his say on the season ahead, here are his views. Overall last season was a success for Northamptonshire CCC and hopes are high coming into the new season. Despite the notable departure of Olly Stone to Warwickshire, its been a quiet winter on the transfer front for the club. Instead, there has been a focus on retaining the core of the squad, with new contracts for Rob Newton, David Murphy, Richard Gleeson, and perhaps most significantly, for last year’s PCA players’ player of the year, Ben Duckett. The season starts for Northants as they welcome Glamorgan to the County Ground in Division Two, not before a pre-season tour to Barbados to find some form and top up the tan. Looking ahead to the potential strengths and weaknesses of the playing squad, Northants possess an exciting batting line-up, which scored 300 plus on regular occasions last season. Much of the strength that the squad enjoys comes from its versatility, with all-rounders Rob Keogh, Steven Crook and Rory Kleinveldt offering invaluable depth to both the batting and bowling departments. In the County Championship last year, Northants drew nine games and perhaps missed a ‘strike bowler’, with genuine pace able to rattle through the opposition, particularly on some of the flat pitches they found on their travels in Division Two. The signing of Nathan Buck from Lancashire is a great addition to the squad and will add another dimension to the bowling attack this season. There are several players to look out for this season, despite a difficult tour with England to Bangladesh in the winter, Ben Duckett remains one of the country’s most exciting young prospects and the 22-year-old would have learnt a lot from the experience. Graeme White had a superb season in 2016, winning ‘national player of the year’ in the One-Day Cup and was rewarded with a call-up to the England Lions squad for the tour to Sri Lanka in March. Additionally, Saif Zaib is another talent out of the academy, and the left-handed youngster will be no doubt be pushing hard for a regular spot in the team this season. Due to having one of the smallest playing squads in the country, Northants have prioritised One-Day and T20 cricket in the past few seasons, and to considerable success, culminating in T20 victories in 2013 and 2016. I suspect more of the same for the coming season with hopes of reaching the knock-out stages in the shorter formats. The explosive Ben Duckett, Richard Levi and Adam Rossington will always get Northants off to a fast start and reliable skipper Alex Wakely will always secure the innings if required. Steady progress will be the aim in the County Championship, with the heavyweight additions of Nottinghamshire and (albeit points-deducted) Durham joining the reformed 10 team Division Two party. Turning draws into wins will be the demand from Head Coach David Ripley if Northants are going to make a push for promotion into Division One. Where I think Northamptonshire will finish: County Championship Division Two: 4th One-Day Cup: 4rd (North Group) T20 Blast: 3rd (North Group) |
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