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Post by theleopard on Mar 10, 2017 9:38:42 GMT
Unfortunately Davis didn't merely not make many runs, he had such abysmal performances as bastman and fielder as to make it obvious he was massively out of his class. I'd question too whether the Sussex attack he faced last spring when he made 65 for Leeds-Bradford was all that strong: Robinson, suffering from shin splints, Hatchett with all of his health issues, Shahzad with attitude problesm, and only the debutant Garton and Danny Briggs really fit and strong and switched on. Sorry he didn't make it and no doubt he was under pressure - as were Sussex with so many key batsmen unfit at the end of the season - but at age 24 he got a chance and wasn't able to live up to it. I'm afraid the 258 against a very weak Glamorgan second eleven side was over-flattering. Thanks for the very well-informed post. Maybe though he was very nervous - been top dog at uni for three years, best player and captain playing with mates, suddenly you are surrounded by strangers playing to get a job offer. Nick Browne in his first 1st XI season at Essex in 2013 scored 3, 0, 1, 0 and 22*, the latter chasing a mere 53 to win a match. There are countless other examples. Anyway, it is history now, so not much else can be said, except that with the limited number of professional opportunities it is extremely difficult for such players to get another chance.
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Post by coverpoint on Mar 10, 2017 21:21:03 GMT
If Machan's injured and we play six batsmen JB, that should leave Salt, Haines, Jenner, Rawlins (who is much more batsman than bowler) and Ward in reserve - the perfect back-up, young and from the academy, generally. Five batters in reserve there. Van Zyl and Evans have replaced Joyce and Taylor ain't they? Yeah I'm not impressed either. I agree an overseas batsman should be acquired later in the season though. We will surely sign a keeper. What happens if Brown gets injured? I have no idea who is supposed to step in, what am I missing on the keeper front? I'm not doing it, hurts too much. Joe Billings unless we re-sign Callum Jackson.
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Post by jonboy on Mar 11, 2017 10:39:00 GMT
If Machan's injured and we play six batsmen JB, that should leave Salt, Haines, Jenner, Rawlins (who is much more batsman than bowler) and Ward in reserve - the perfect back-up, young and from the academy, generally. Five batters in reserve there. Van Zyl and Evans have replaced Joyce and Taylor ain't they? Yeah I'm not impressed either. I agree an overseas batsman should be acquired later in the season though. We will surely sign a keeper. What happens if Brown gets injured? I have no idea who is supposed to step in, what am I missing on the keeper front? I'm not doing it, hurts too much. Joe Billings unless we re-sign Callum Jackson. Is there mention of us re-signing Callum? I know I'd certainly feel more confident, had we replaced Joyce with a solid overseas opener. The Nash/Joyce pairing was probably the main success story last season, which meant that we invariably got off to a good start. Now there are too many question marks over the opening pair. Presumably, Nash will continue to open, but who will replace Joyce? I favour a left right combination at the top of the order, so for me, it's probably a choice between Wells and Van Zyl. Both have done the job before, with limited success, but both prefer to bat lower down the order. If we plan to play with just the five batsmen, it's unlikely to be the skipper, and we know Evans will bat at five. Yes, Salt or Finch might push for a place, but unless we play the extra batsman, they will have to wait for their chance. If either Salt or Finch have serious designs on a top two place, then they need to be opening regularly for the seconds. As things stand then, I'd leave Wells at three, where he did OK last season, and promote Van Zyl to open the innings. Hopefully that partnership will blossom, but if it doesn't, we always have a get out of jail free card, in the shape of an overseas opening bat option later in the year
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Post by hhsussex on Mar 11, 2017 11:11:16 GMT
Joe Billings unless we re-sign Callum Jackson. Is there mention of us re-signing Callum? I know I'd certainly feel more confident, had we replaced Joyce with a solid overseas opener. The Nash/Joyce pairing was probably the main success story last season, which meant that we invariably got off to a good start. Now there are too many question marks over the opening pair. Presumably, Nash will continue to open, but who will replace Joyce? I favour a left right combination at the top of the order, so for me, it's probably a choice between Wells and Van Zyl. Both have done the job before, with limited success, but both prefer to bat lower down the order. If we plan to play with just the five batsmen, it's unlikely to be the skipper, and we know Evans will bat at five. Yes, Salt or Finch might push for a place, but unless we play the extra batsman, they will have to wait for their chance. If either Salt or Finch have serious designs on a top two place, then they need to be opening regularly for the seconds. As things stand then, I'd leave Wells at three, where he did OK last season, a nd promote Van Zyl to open the innings. Hopefully that partnership will blossom, but if it doesn't, we always have a get out of jail free card, in the shape of an overseas opening bat option later in the year I've heard no suggestion that we will resign Jackson. Van Zyl was not an opener until he became a prospect for the SA national side, and he had such a disastrous experience doing so that it affected his batting right up until the end of the last domestic season, which he ended by making three consecutive 100s batting in the middle order. It would be really silly not to learn a lesson from this. Finch played beautifully against the Pakistanis last year, opening with Wells and he has a good temperament that he showed in several smaller innings. I'd pick him like a shot, and let Wells, Van Zyl, Wright and Evans contest three places. Evans might be more at home in the white ball games where the order would change anyway.
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Post by jonboy on Mar 11, 2017 13:55:42 GMT
Is there mention of us re-signing Callum? I know I'd certainly feel more confident, had we replaced Joyce with a solid overseas opener. The Nash/Joyce pairing was probably the main success story last season, which meant that we invariably got off to a good start. Now there are too many question marks over the opening pair. Presumably, Nash will continue to open, but who will replace Joyce? I favour a left right combination at the top of the order, so for me, it's probably a choice between Wells and Van Zyl. Both have done the job before, with limited success, but both prefer to bat lower down the order. If we plan to play with just the five batsmen, it's unlikely to be the skipper, and we know Evans will bat at five. Yes, Salt or Finch might push for a place, but unless we play the extra batsman, they will have to wait for their chance. If either Salt or Finch have serious designs on a top two place, then they need to be opening regularly for the seconds. As things stand then, I'd leave Wells at three, where he did OK last season, a nd promote Van Zyl to open the innings. Hopefully that partnership will blossom, but if it doesn't, we always have a get out of jail free card, in the shape of an overseas opening bat option later in the year I've heard no suggestion that we will resign Jackson. Van Zyl was not an opener until he became a prospect for the SA national side, and he had such a disastrous experience doing so that it affected his batting right up until the end of the last domestic season, which he ended by making three consecutive 100s batting in the middle order. It would be really silly not to learn a lesson from this. Finch played beautifully against the Pakistanis last year, opening with Wells and he has a good temperament that he showed in several smaller innings. I'd pick him like a shot, and let Wells, Van Zyl, Wright and Evans contest three places. Evans might be more at home in the white ball games where the order would change anyway. Have to say, I'm not completely convinced about Finch as an opener. As a middle batsman, I think he can flourish though. He did have that good knock against the tourists, that suggests he might be worth trying. With so few genuine opening bats in the squad, I'd have thought he might have been used there for the seconds. As for Van Zyl, I agree, his struggles at the top of the order are a concern, that's why I feel there's too much uncertainty regarding that opening pairing. It's a specialist position, and sides with makeshift pairings, often struggle.
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Post by theleopard on Mar 11, 2017 14:39:45 GMT
Sussex ought to be able to rack up 400+ against most of the Division 2 sides, except Notts, and perhaps Durham, even if they had Briggs and Magoffin opening the batting.
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Post by joe on Mar 11, 2017 17:38:40 GMT
Sussex ought to be able to rack up 400+ against most of the Division 2 sides, except Notts, and perhaps Durham, even if they had Briggs and Magoffin opening the batting. They ought to have been able to do it last year with Nash, Joyce, Taylor and Wright but they didn't!
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Post by theleopard on Mar 12, 2017 11:56:18 GMT
Sussex ought to be able to rack up 400+ against most of the Division 2 sides, except Notts, and perhaps Durham, even if they had Briggs and Magoffin opening the batting. They ought to have been able to do it last year with Nash, Joyce, Taylor and Wright but they didn't! Things obviously went wrong on many levels last season. Nash racked up 1256 runs at 54, Joyce 1026 at 64, plus Ben Brown 854 runs at 50. But the Championship campaign never really got going and I expect a totally diffirent outcome this time.
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Post by jonboy on Mar 12, 2017 13:03:49 GMT
They ought to have been able to do it last year with Nash, Joyce, Taylor and Wright but they didn't! Things obviously went wrong on many levels last season. Nash racked up 1256 runs at 54, Joyce 1026 at 64, plus Ben Brown 854 runs at 50. But the Championship campaign never really got going and I expect a totally diffirent outcome this time. We have strengthened the lower order batting, but the top order is significantly weaker without Joyce and Taylor. It's a concern, but at least we do have the option of using the overseas route to remedy it later in the summer
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Post by hhsussex on Mar 12, 2017 13:25:09 GMT
Things obviously went wrong on many levels last season. Nash racked up 1256 runs at 54, Joyce 1026 at 64, plus Ben Brown 854 runs at 50. But the Championship campaign never really got going and I expect a totally diffirent outcome this time. We have strengthened the lower order batting, but the top order is significantly weaker without Joyce and Taylor. It's a concern, but at least we do have the option of using the overseas route to remedy it later in the summer Taylor made a fine contribution to the one-day games, but his habit of making good-looking 20s and then picking the wrong ball to hit was part of the problem in the championship, right up until the flat surface at Tunbridge Wells. Without that game his average would have been about 29, and that simply isn't good enough for a Test player, and not good enough for Division Two. Between Evans and Van Zyl that need should be met. I don't think there is likely to be either money or players available for the second half of the season.
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Post by jonboy on Mar 12, 2017 13:47:20 GMT
We have strengthened the lower order batting, but the top order is significantly weaker without Joyce and Taylor. It's a concern, but at least we do have the option of using the overseas route to remedy it later in the summer Taylor made a fine contribution to the one-day games, but his habit of making good-looking 20s and then picking the wrong ball to hit was part of the problem in the championship, right up until the flat surface at Tunbridge Wells. Without that game his average would have been about 29, and that simply isn't good enough for a Test player, and not good enough for Division Two. Between Evans and Van Zyl that need should be met. I don't think there is likely to be either money or players available for the second half of the season. Yes agreed, Taylor never really lived up to expectations, at least as far as the championship was concerned. Hopefully Van Zyl and Evans can contribute, but I fear Joyce will be a huge loss. As for no money being available, well we will lose Philander's wage, and it's possible that one of the, soon to be out of contract, bowlers might move on. I'm optimistic that a few of our young seamers will have come to the fore by then, and the perfect scenario for me would be, more game time for the youngsters, and free up the space, and wages, for an overseas batsman
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Post by deepfineleg on Mar 12, 2017 14:10:35 GMT
Taylor made a fine contribution to the one-day games, but his habit of making good-looking 20s and then picking the wrong ball to hit was part of the problem in the championship, I wonder if his eye problem that was operated on in the winter affected his shot selection
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Post by jonboy on Mar 15, 2017 9:26:35 GMT
With the seasons start fast approaching, how do people feel about our prospects? For me, in championship terms anyway, although I'm not convinced about our top order batting, we should have enough quality in our bowling to be there, or thereabouts. I don't think we have enough firepower, batting wise, to make any sort of impression in the T20 Although evidence suggests that the 50 overs will be our weakest format, I foresee a slight improvement in this competition.
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Post by deepfineleg on Mar 15, 2017 12:15:53 GMT
With the seasons start fast approaching, how do people feel about our prospects? For me, in championship terms anyway, although I'm not convinced about our top order batting, we should have enough quality in our bowling to be there, or thereabouts. I don't think we have enough firepower, batting wise, to make any sort of impression in the T20 Although evidence suggests that the 50 overs will be our weakest format, I foresee a slight improvement in this competition. The Chairman is more confident; on p3 of the Annual Report he says "our priorities for 2017 are to win promotion in the Specsavers County Championship and to win the NatWest t20 Blast"
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Post by joe on Mar 15, 2017 13:43:32 GMT
With the seasons start fast approaching, how do people feel about our prospects? For me, in championship terms anyway, although I'm not convinced about our top order batting, we should have enough quality in our bowling to be there, or thereabouts. I don't think we have enough firepower, batting wise, to make any sort of impression in the T20 Although evidence suggests that the 50 overs will be our weakest format, I foresee a slight improvement in this competition. I think a lot will depend on Machans fitness and Wrights form. Bowling wise I think we're strong with good back up.
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