Sunday, September 27, 2009

Pro40 Division 2 champions : Warwickshire!

So what if it is the last year of a dead competition, so what if some teams didn't really care, so what if some teams picked youngsters? Warwickshire are division 2 champions and that is all that matters! So all in all it ends a reasonable year, survival in the CC D1 and a one-day trophy. A work in progress, there are still some things that need changing and a couple of players will need to be bought in but the King Of Spain and the boys have done a good job overall, if not produced much in the way of exciting cricket.

But i'll take CC D1 and a cup over excitement and defeat at the end of the day. Lets just hope for a bit of sunshine cricket in 2010!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Edgbaston gets Pak-Aus T20s

Australia will face Pakistan next year with the UK acting as the neutral venue. 2 T20 internationals will be held between the two sides at Edgbaston. The two tests will be held at Headingley and Lords's (but they are also getting one of the England-Bangladesh tests - does this mean they'll end up with 3 test matches in a year?!)

Trott gets incremental contract

Jonathan Trott has been awarded an incremental contract by the ECB as central and incremental contracts were renewed. Ian Bell retains his central contract while Tim Ambrose, Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar miss out entirely. As Graham Swann now has a central contract and Adil Rashid an incremental it may be a tough road back for Monty.

September cricket musings

Oddly enough September is one of my favourite cricket months. There is, of course, the sense of the season drawing to a close. The final battles for glory or defeat take place. The weather is usually better than it has been in the "Summer" too with clear blue skies! I also am able to see more cricket than i have been for the previous few months. For various reasons April, May and September are much easier for me to get to the games than the 3 Summer months.

The Pro40 has been a revelation this year, some of the best cricket i have seen on TV this year, and for sure the best i have seen live, has been in this format so i am glad that this format will continue in future. Is it just me or are P40 scores on average quite a bit higher than they have been in the past? Maybe it is the T20 effect.


In the county championship Warwickshire are edging their way to safety and might even end up quite high up in the table. The bore draws at Edgbaston will be (almost) worth it if the Bears stay up. Lets hope with a bit of strengthing in the batting and bowling departments the team can be more competitive next year. Durham seem light years away at present but you never know...

The England-Australia ODIs have been a bit poor, England just can't seem to get a settled one day side. When you see Alaistair Cook score back to back centuries in the P40 you wonder why the test opener isn't in the one-day team. I also wonder why Trott isn't, but at the moment i'm glad he is scoring runs for the Bears!


Next season the pavilion will be rubble and the new domestic structure will be in place. It will be an interesting season for sure.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The end of the (home) season

So that is it then for 2009 as far as home games are concerned at the "home of cricket" (Knight 2008). Warwickshire beat Derbyshire in an excellent Pro40 game. I went along determined to finally see a P40 game before i die. I also wanted to take some pictures of the old pavilion and the other members' facilities before the redevelopment begins.


I believe the bulldozing begins in November. Botha hit a 6 onto the pavilion roof, likely to the last time anyone ever does that. Bell (below) scored a great ton. Why isn't he playing for England in ODIs? Indeed why not Alaistair "Back to back 100s in the P40" Cook for that matter!


So thats it then. Next April half the ground will be a building site. I'll miss the old facilities which were old, inadequate and crumbling but had a charm even if they were hidden behind scaffolding.



I have to say though, Derbyshire were rubbish and what is it with that outfit? Bright yellow and light grey? I think that horrific colour clash must have sapped their strength! A group of their rowdy fans gave some good entertainment though before being silenced by the "Green Army". When they started singing "I am the one and only" at Chesney Hughes it was inspired.


Derbyshire's players are informed next year they will have a different strip

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bears vs Pears

The "must-win" game at the bottom of division 1, in football they have 6 pointers so i guess this is a 28 pointer. Play was delayed but started after 11 and lasted for an hour when curiously the players came off it seems because they thought it was going to rain.


Some more pics.