DAY 1 Close: Glos 287-8 (Saxelby 54*, Snell 47; Wigley 4-68)
The Gloucestershire top order again failed on day one at Northampton, but Steve Snell and Ian Saxelby orchestrated a recovery that saw Glos put a score together and edge towards a third batting point.
The 300 mark should be surpassed in the morning and that is a sizable lead with a differing weather forecast. With the bowling attack hitting their straps thus far, working themselves into a strong position is very possible tomorrow.
136-5 was not what Alex Gidman had in mind when he won the toss and decided to bat first. The new ball claimed Kadir Ali and Hamish Marshall cheaply, but the remainder of the order, save Jon Lewis, worked themselves to a useful start, only to be dismissed.
Perhaps it is etched into the Shire's batsman; an ability to get one's eye in, look in good touch, play some nice strokes, but a lack of application to cash in on opportunities to score runs. This was certainly evident in the batsman today.
At least two of those players that found themselves in the high thirties have it in their job descriptions to produce a big total if scoreboard pressure is to be developed - I have mentioned this factor several times already, perhaps Mr. Bracewell should show the players this blog to identify that any old mug can see what they're failing to achieve!
Snell managed to knuckle down as far as 47 but it was number nine that was the first man to pass fifty. A controlled innings from Saxelby saw him reach an unbeaten 54 and saw out the close with Vikram Banerjee who successfully negotiated 29 balls for five runs.
Yeh it is a perennial Glos problem - starts but struggle to convert to 50+, although I have no idea what the solution is (other than telling them 'score more runs' or 'don't get out'!)
ReplyDeleteI was concerned by Saxelby's batting after the last games but I guess that was too soon to make the judgement on him and all credit to him for his innings today - 300 would be a good score to reach mentally as well as in terms of the match.
I can't think what it is either.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the mark for being "in" should be raised from the apparant current mark of 30, to 40, so until that point there should be a mentality of "I'm not quite settled just yet".