FPT: Gloucestershire 254-8 lost to Durham 255-6 by four wickets
Gloucestershire went down by four wickets at Durham in their final Friends Provident Trophy group match, but still qualified top of Group C by virtue of Sussex's defeat to Surrey.
At the Riverside, there were echos of last season's pro40 match, as Glos were inserted and reduced to 13-3. It took another recovery operation from James Franklin (85) and Steve Adshead (87) to bail out the top four, who between them contributed just 19 runs.
Franklin and Adshead seem to like batting with one another, as another fabulous stand of 175 was built on a steady beginning, before good acceleration - particularly from Adshead who again played shots of a man in-form - pushed the score up to something very defendable. Taken on merit, the effort was decent considering they had been asked to bat and posted a competitive score, but delving deeper into the details shows just what an effort it was.
However, Durham managed this chase far better than their attempt at Bristol. A 63 opening stand set the tone for the reply, as meaningful partnerships were built to waltz the home side to victory. Glos couldn't find the wickets that were required to apply the pressure, and when they did pinch one, failed to bag another cheaply enough to enable the tension to rise sufficiently.
Gloucestershire have drawn Nottinghamshire at home in the quarter-finals. This game will take place at Bristol on Tuesday 16th June with a 12:00pm start.
Franklin, Adshead - Excellent all-round performance - becoming vital players.
ReplyDeleteAlex Gidman - alright bowling, but becoming a bit of a liability with the bat... Is he on the team on merit or reputation?..becoming our Harmison?
Who is our first choice attack? Lewis, Banerjee, Franklin certainly. Who out of Stayt, Kirby, Dawson, Gitsham, Saxelby, Ireland, Hussain, Brown?
What about an opening pair...what about something unexpected ... Porterfield and Franklin?
Stuart Clark would certainly be fantastic, is it realistic? If we'd had him bowling today we may have won.
Gloucestershire have been looking good this season...hope this blip isn't a sign of things to come.
It's a bit early to judge on the bowlers I think - they should all get their opportunity at some point this season though, so I guess it's a matter of who steps up and proves their worth.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of a traditional opening pair personally - one combination of Porterfield/Spearman/Kadeer, save Hamish, Alex and Chris for 3-5 ...but I also realise this hasn't exactly been great lately - I also hope it's just a blip.
But hey, at least we're in the quarters - spare a thought for Worcester who lost to Ireland and missed out! - haha!
No i think Hamish is good at the top of the order, but just needs to reign himself in slightly in order to fulfil his potential of scoring regular tons.
ReplyDeleteI like Porterfield at 3. He's good there and more steady than Gidman and Spearman. But perhaps Adshead has earned himself a promotion?!
Marshall, Spearman, Porterfield, Adshead, Gidman, Taylor, Franklin?! Give Hamish the non-pinch-hitting role.
Bowling: Lewis, Franklin, Saxelby, Banerjee for me.
Disappointing to lose, doesn't give us much momentum for the quarters, but we'll see how it goes. I guess it says a lot about expectations at the start of the season that they scheduled an ODI at Bristol on the day of the QF's.
ReplyDeleteI think Marshall and Spearman are too aggressive for an opening pair; I'd perhaps swap Marshall with Porterfield, put Taylor at four, then Gidman, Adshead, Franklin etc. Well as Ian Saxelby was playing before his injury, I'd be tempted to move Kirby back into the XI, if only because he's more experienced and our one bowler with genuine fast pace. Gidders, Taylor and Marshall can then take up the slack in the bowling.
Presuming you mean that Stayt would be dropped for Kirby. Anthony Ireland has had one big performance this season, but Saxelby has been consistantly good and has shown he has the potential to become a good number 8, and perhaps even a genuine all-rounder, so when Saxelby's fit does he knock Ireland out of the side?
ReplyDeleteIn his sole FPT appearance Saxelby took 4-31 and in the four-day game he has an average of just over 20 this season!
Notts? We've got a chance, especially if England are playing the same day- Stuart Broad is a special talent, and Swann isn't bad, but in all likelyhood Sidebottom'll be bowling and he'll certainly test us.
Tom Richardson is in talks this morning with the ECB about the date and venue of our FPT QF tie
No sorry, I was looking at the selections snowy had made above.
ReplyDeleteThe shire have been allowed to delay the Notts game, according to the Beeb.